Leaky rear axle seal

[satcomr]

Well, I noticed that my rear axle bearing seal was letting fluid by. Of course it had to happen while I was on my way to camp towing my little trailer and all my gear. I checked the diff fluid, topped it up - it was only a few ounces shy of full. After the weekend I drove it home.

Finally got it apart today and man.... what a mess. As soon as i pulled the diff cover and saw all the glitter I knew it might be a bad day. I gave the pinion gears a good look and no unusual wear. Got the tire off and had alot of vertical play in the axle. Slid the axle out and was greeted by a nice deep groove.

I am hoping that is where the glitter is from. Ordered an axle and will install tomorrow. Then I'll pull the otherside and see what that looks like.

 

[Rubiconned]

Do you have a magnetic fill plug on your diff cover?

 

[satcomr]

Do you have a magnetic fill plug on your diff cover?

No, I have this stupid rubber plug. I will stick my neodynium magnet on the outside of the diff cover after I put everything back together. I'll probably run a couple hundred miles and drain and refill again. The magnet should catch everything

 

[WV Native]

Had the same issue with a Dodge Ram my cousin owns. All I did was clean everything up as good as possible and luckily its been doing great ever since.

 

[satcomr]

Had the same issue with a Dodge Ram my cousin owns. All I did was clean everything up as good as possible and luckily its been doing great ever since.

View attachment 571825

lol we'll just call that a bearing race! If i didn't have a few extra bucks, I would have done the same thing. Luckily the axle isn't terrible and it is an easy fix since it is apart.

 

[Gilaguy23]

Its really not hard to pull the carrier to do a really good job cleaning the crap out of the tubes. If that one looks that spent Id do both axle bearings and seals and check the carrier bearings for damage from the metal.

 

[WV Native]

lol we'll just call that a bearing race! If i didn't have a few extra bucks, I would have done the same thing. Luckily the axle isn't terrible and it is an easy fix since it is apart.

I obviously replaced the axle shaft and bearings/seals - all I did to eliminate the glitter was clean everything up really well.

 

[satcomr]

Well, I noticed that my rear axle bearing seal was letting fluid by. Of course it had to happen while I was on my way to camp towing my little trailer and all my gear. I checked the diff fluid, topped it up - it was only a few ounces shy of full. After the weekend I drove it home.

Finally got it apart today and man.... what a mess. As soon as i pulled the diff cover and saw all the glitter I knew it might be a bad day. I gave the pinion gears a good look and no unusual wear. Got the tire off and had alot of vertical play in the axle. Slid the axle out and was greeted by a nice deep groove.

I am hoping that is where the glitter is from. Ordered an axle and will install tomorrow. Then I'll pull the otherside and see what that looks like.

View attachment 571812

View attachment 571813

View attachment 571814

 

[satcomr]

Well, I had meant to post earlier, buuuut it seems my local parts folks (napa) only have the axle with anti lock brakes available. Dorman only lists one part # for the TJ axle and it is the one for antilock option. I now know more about my axle than I ever wanted too lol. The replacement should be here tomorrow!

 

[satcomr]

Well, I had meant to post earlier, buuuut it seems my local parts folks (napa) only have the axle with anti lock brakes available. Dorman only lists one part # for the TJ axle and it is the one for antilock option. I now know more about my axle than I ever wanted too lol. The replacement should be here tomorrow!

The jeep is back together amd on the road again. My cheap amazon bearing driver set is worth it's weight in gold!