NOTE: Since this article was written a number of years ago, Alloy USA has undergone some changes. In my humble opinion, it is not the company it use to be and the quality isn't there anymore. Ron Stobaugh, who was the driving force behind Alloy USA, has parted ways with them and started a new company, Ten Factory. Ten has hooked up with Motive Gear. Were I in the market for new shaft components, I would be contacting them for my needs. I've left this write-up on my site simply because it documents what is needed to do this work.
While the trail mud situation isn't nearly as bad here in Arizona as it is in other parts of the country, we do get a bit every now and then. When it comes, it comes pretty fast and is usually the result of summer storm induced flash floods. Water crossings do occur (a group of my favorite trails is located on the other side of a river) and so getting debris and such in the axle tubes is a reality. I don't envy the folks that live in the really muddy parts of the country as it simply must be nasty to clean up your ride after a good trail run.
If you've looked at the factory Dana 30 shafts, they come with a plastic disc (shown in the above photo by the arrow) that is slipped over the axle shaft. The plastic disc keeps the larger chunks of rock and wood out of the axle tube. They don't help when it comes to mud, water crossings, etc. as they do not make a tight seal against the entrance to the axle tube. As such, moisture, dust, mud, etc. can work its way into your axle tube. Later, when you remove and reinsert the axle shaft, it will normally drag through the debris and get into the diff seal. Not a good thing to have happen.
Alloy USA has a solution to the problem, billet aluminum CNC machined axle tube seals. They fit both Dana 44 and Dana 30 TJ axle tubes. Shipped two to a box, a pair of seals and a simple one page instruction sheet give you everything you need (except for a couple of wrenches) to install the seals in the ends of your axle tube.
I spoke with Ron, owner of Alloy USA, and found that the seals I was installing were actually the third generation design. In an attempt to build a better and more reliable product, the seal has been refined over time. From a few photos I've seen, the previous design had a couple of o-rings on the section of the seal that fit into the tube. This version now has a grooved sleeve that fits over the aluminum seal and engages the inner surface of the axle tube. From the looks of it, it should do a good job of ensuring nothing gets past the seal to axle tube interface.
The sealing surface between the seal and the axle shaft is a fairly flexible two lipped rubber seal that provides a sizable pocket that is filled with grease. As seen in the above photo, a standard grease fitting provides easy filling for the inner sealing area. The "seal of grease" also helps ensure the rotating axle shaft does not wear the sealing surface away as well as making a tight seal to keep out debris and moisture.
Many TJ mods require an assortment of tools and sometimes power equipment (welders, drills, grinders, etc.). The axle seal installation required just two tools.....a lug wrench to remove the lug nuts on my front wheels, the other a twelve point 13 millimeter socket to remove the brake calipers and the unit bearing (the Warn hub in my case) from the knuckle. It doesn't get much easier than that.
OK....on to the installation itself.
You'll need to remove each front wheel in order to install the axle tube seals. For these kind of jobs, I have a small set of 2 ton jack stands. They fit nicely under the front axle with the help of a floor jack and allow me to raise the front axle enough to get the tires off of the ground. Be sure to use a jack stand (you can do just one side at a time as I did) as you don't want to trust a floor or bottle jack as your only support. And please, do not use cinder blocks if you don't have jack stands. Simply put, they are NOT strong enough to do the job and injuring yourself simply isn't an option when wrenching on your vehicle.
With the tire removed from the driver's side, slide the brake rotor off of the wheel studs. The next item on the list to remove was the brake caliper. The 13mm socket works fine for this. There are two bolts located near the top and bottom of the caliper that must be removed.
If your caliper is stubborn to remove once the two bolts are out, use a small pry bar or a big screwdriver to help coax it off of the rotor.
Set the caliper out of the way. Using the twelve point 13mm socket (or wrench), remove the three bolts on the back side of the knuckle that hold the unit bearing (or hub) in place. With the three bolts removed, the unit bearing (or hub) can now be removed. Grasp the rotor and pull straight out and away from the knuckle.
Once the bolts are removed, you may find yourself in a situation where the unit bearing assembly doesn't want to come out of the knuckle. It's not uncommon for the unit bearing to become rusted into the knuckle.
Here is the business end of the steering knuckle with the unit bearing (or hub) removed. Hopefully your axle tube isn't too dirty. I had my front axle apart this past year and when it was, I took the opportunity to clean out the axle tubes. If you have a bunch of debris in yours, you'll need to determine the best method to clean it out. Remember, there is a big hole way down there where your axle shaft goes through the shaft seal and into the differential. You do NOT want to get carried away with an air or water hose. At a minimum, clean the first couple of inches at the axle tube opening as you want to ensure the RTV will adhere well to the axle tube.
Time to get your fingers sticky with a bit of RTV sealant. I used some blue RTV that was left over from some other project. Apply a film (enough to fill the grooves) over the black sleeve.
I was able to push the seal into the end of the axle tube with just my hand. No reason to beat it into position.
The installation is now complete except for two things:
#1. Let the RTV cure. The tube I used states full cure is reached in 24 hours. You don't want the seal to spin in the end of the tube when you drive away.
Note: If you are using Warn hubs (as am I), you can drive (in less than the cure time) as along as you have the hubs unlocked and you don't use 4WD. Since your axle shafts will not be turning, the RTV will have time to properly set up.
#2. Apply a liberal amount of grease on the black inner sealing surface. This will help the axle shaft slide into position when you reassemble everything. A very fine coating of grease (applied via a rag) on the axle shaft will prevent the ever typical rust that forms on unprotected shafts.
Once the axle shaft is installed, use the grease gun and apply grease to the fitting until resistance is met or you see a small amount seep past the edge of the seal.
That is it....all done with the installation! Time to put this side back together.
Screw the 3 bolts back into back side of the knuckle and into the unit bearing (or hub). You may want to use some anti-seize on the knuckle surface where the unit bearing mates up, especially if you had problems getting them separated. If you did, spend a couple of minutes with a wire brush and clean off the rust as best you can before the anti-seize goes on.
The unit bearing bolts are torqued to 75 foot pounds. Slide the rotor over the wheel studs.
Next install the brake caliper over the rotor. The brake caliper bolts are torqued to just 11 foot pounds (yes, that is not very much).
Now....repeat the same process at the other end of the front axle. This one should go even faster now that you are a one seal veteran!
This is a pretty straight forward installation but can seem a little over whelming as quite a bit of hardware comes out of the front axle. Don't worry, lots of folks do it and you can too!
While the trail mud situation isn't nearly as bad here in Arizona as it is in other parts of the country, we do get a bit every now and then. When it comes, it comes pretty fast and is usually the result of summer storm induced flash floods. Water crossings do occur (a group of my favorite trails is located on the other side of a river) and so getting debris and such in the axle tubes is a reality. I don't envy the folks that live in the really muddy parts of the country as it simply must be nasty to clean up your ride after a good trail run.
If you've looked at the factory Dana 30 shafts, they come with a plastic disc (shown in the above photo by the arrow) that is slipped over the axle shaft. The plastic disc keeps the larger chunks of rock and wood out of the axle tube. They don't help when it comes to mud, water crossings, etc. as they do not make a tight seal against the entrance to the axle tube. As such, moisture, dust, mud, etc. can work its way into your axle tube. Later, when you remove and reinsert the axle shaft, it will normally drag through the debris and get into the diff seal. Not a good thing to have happen.
Alloy USA has a solution to the problem, billet aluminum CNC machined axle tube seals. They fit both Dana 44 and Dana 30 TJ axle tubes. Shipped two to a box, a pair of seals and a simple one page instruction sheet give you everything you need (except for a couple of wrenches) to install the seals in the ends of your axle tube.
I spoke with Ron, owner of Alloy USA, and found that the seals I was installing were actually the third generation design. In an attempt to build a better and more reliable product, the seal has been refined over time. From a few photos I've seen, the previous design had a couple of o-rings on the section of the seal that fit into the tube. This version now has a grooved sleeve that fits over the aluminum seal and engages the inner surface of the axle tube. From the looks of it, it should do a good job of ensuring nothing gets past the seal to axle tube interface.
The sealing surface between the seal and the axle shaft is a fairly flexible two lipped rubber seal that provides a sizable pocket that is filled with grease. As seen in the above photo, a standard grease fitting provides easy filling for the inner sealing area. The "seal of grease" also helps ensure the rotating axle shaft does not wear the sealing surface away as well as making a tight seal to keep out debris and moisture.
Many TJ mods require an assortment of tools and sometimes power equipment (welders, drills, grinders, etc.). The axle seal installation required just two tools.....a lug wrench to remove the lug nuts on my front wheels, the other a twelve point 13 millimeter socket to remove the brake calipers and the unit bearing (the Warn hub in my case) from the knuckle. It doesn't get much easier than that.
OK....on to the installation itself.
You'll need to remove each front wheel in order to install the axle tube seals. For these kind of jobs, I have a small set of 2 ton jack stands. They fit nicely under the front axle with the help of a floor jack and allow me to raise the front axle enough to get the tires off of the ground. Be sure to use a jack stand (you can do just one side at a time as I did) as you don't want to trust a floor or bottle jack as your only support. And please, do not use cinder blocks if you don't have jack stands. Simply put, they are NOT strong enough to do the job and injuring yourself simply isn't an option when wrenching on your vehicle.
With the tire removed from the driver's side, slide the brake rotor off of the wheel studs. The next item on the list to remove was the brake caliper. The 13mm socket works fine for this. There are two bolts located near the top and bottom of the caliper that must be removed.
If your caliper is stubborn to remove once the two bolts are out, use a small pry bar or a big screwdriver to help coax it off of the rotor.
Set the caliper out of the way. Using the twelve point 13mm socket (or wrench), remove the three bolts on the back side of the knuckle that hold the unit bearing (or hub) in place. With the three bolts removed, the unit bearing (or hub) can now be removed. Grasp the rotor and pull straight out and away from the knuckle.
Once the bolts are removed, you may find yourself in a situation where the unit bearing assembly doesn't want to come out of the knuckle. It's not uncommon for the unit bearing to become rusted into the knuckle.
Here is the business end of the steering knuckle with the unit bearing (or hub) removed. Hopefully your axle tube isn't too dirty. I had my front axle apart this past year and when it was, I took the opportunity to clean out the axle tubes. If you have a bunch of debris in yours, you'll need to determine the best method to clean it out. Remember, there is a big hole way down there where your axle shaft goes through the shaft seal and into the differential. You do NOT want to get carried away with an air or water hose. At a minimum, clean the first couple of inches at the axle tube opening as you want to ensure the RTV will adhere well to the axle tube.
Time to get your fingers sticky with a bit of RTV sealant. I used some blue RTV that was left over from some other project. Apply a film (enough to fill the grooves) over the black sleeve.
I was able to push the seal into the end of the axle tube with just my hand. No reason to beat it into position.
The installation is now complete except for two things:
#1. Let the RTV cure. The tube I used states full cure is reached in 24 hours. You don't want the seal to spin in the end of the tube when you drive away.
Note: If you are using Warn hubs (as am I), you can drive (in less than the cure time) as along as you have the hubs unlocked and you don't use 4WD. Since your axle shafts will not be turning, the RTV will have time to properly set up.
#2. Apply a liberal amount of grease on the black inner sealing surface. This will help the axle shaft slide into position when you reassemble everything. A very fine coating of grease (applied via a rag) on the axle shaft will prevent the ever typical rust that forms on unprotected shafts.
Once the axle shaft is installed, use the grease gun and apply grease to the fitting until resistance is met or you see a small amount seep past the edge of the seal.
That is it....all done with the installation! Time to put this side back together.
Screw the 3 bolts back into back side of the knuckle and into the unit bearing (or hub). You may want to use some anti-seize on the knuckle surface where the unit bearing mates up, especially if you had problems getting them separated. If you did, spend a couple of minutes with a wire brush and clean off the rust as best you can before the anti-seize goes on.
The unit bearing bolts are torqued to 75 foot pounds. Slide the rotor over the wheel studs.
Next install the brake caliper over the rotor. The brake caliper bolts are torqued to just 11 foot pounds (yes, that is not very much).
Now....repeat the same process at the other end of the front axle. This one should go even faster now that you are a one seal veteran!
This is a pretty straight forward installation but can seem a little over whelming as quite a bit of hardware comes out of the front axle. Don't worry, lots of folks do it and you can too!
