Looks like my front drive shaft is leaking oil where it enters the front differential. Looks like i need to replace the seal. Is this an easy task and does anyone have any directions or helpful hints for me? Thanks!!

 

I would suggest you get the Haynes manual. It does not cost much and it helps. You will need a new seal and a new circlip. I also suggest you buy two of each in case you damage the new seal somehow. On my Kodiak I only had to remove the wheel and a few bolts so the drive axle was hanging free. Then I "jerked" it out. Pry out the seal and replace it and the circlip and grease the seal. Jam it back in and reassemble everything. When you refill the diff you might want to drain it and fill it according to factory specs. On mine the front diff does not fill to overflowing. It takes a certain amount to fill it correctly. All in all it is a easy job.

 

Got my front diff sitting on the garage floor right now because of the same problem. I removed the entire a-arm assy from both sides. I started by removing the shocks, and the tie rod ends at the wheel (no need to remove from the steering ) this is probably the hardest part of the whole thing because the tie rod end is held in by a tapered bolt. To remove this I removed the kotter pin in the nut, removed the crown nut completely and flipped it over so I could hit it with out damaging the nut. There is probably a puller or a special tool to do this but that's how I did it.
Next I took the 2 bolts holding the brake caliper assy to the wheel and the allan screw holding the hose to the top a arm. Now you can remove the 4 bolts holding the top and bottom a-arms to the frame. Once you have those out, you can pull the cv shaft out of the diff. They can be kinda tough to get out and it may seem like they don't just pull out but they do. I think there's room to pry on the green hub of the cv shaft gently and it should pop right out. From there you take the bolts out that hold the diff to the frame. remove the electrical and the breather line. The drive shaft is a splined setup on both ends and just pulls apart when you remove the diff.
check those splines on the driveshaft and on the diff and tranny for wear. That's the other reason mine is out is due to the wear on these parts. Might be a good idea to see how much slop is in that shaft before you take it all apart. If you can get all 4 wheels off the ground, fire up the quad in 4x4 and roll the drivetrain over while watching the front driveshaft. Mine wobbled like mad and was really easy to see.

 

Oops did I misunderstand. The diff to wheel shaft is an easy job. If you are talking about the engine to diff drive shaft, that is a different deal all together.