Is this a do it yourself project or not ??

Here is the deal---->> Passenger side front is leaking again, it was fixed under warranty by the dealer after we went round and round, they tried to get me to pay for the work by saying the lift, weight of the after market bumper and winch led to increased stress on the seal making it fail....I said BS prove it and they backed down and fixed it, I'd rather not deal with that hassle again and would like to try and after market seal this time because what ever they did obviously didn't work..

Funny thing is they won't admit there is a problem, but it took a few days to get the new seal in so that tells me there is a problem, plus many of us on here and other Jeep forums have had seals go bad as well..

 

Yes it is. Takes about an hour for two people to do. That's only becase you have to take the axle apart. No special skills required.

If you can change an axle shaft (another easy thing) you can do this.

 

actually, you have to take the axle out and the carrier as the seal is located where the axle tube and diff connect. while this is something you can do on your own, it is not what i would consider to be easy and making sure that you get your carrier installed back in right is something you will need to be concerned with.

 

You also might want to add these to your axle, they keep stuff from getting into your axle tube and use the heavy duty green marine greese.

http://www.northridge4x4.com/proddet...rod=SA-EV33FSL

 

I did this, but people should be aware that once the extra seals are in place, it'll be more difficult to detect a failure with the inner seals. You have to be more diligent and check your front diff fluid level more often. Hm. That reminds me... :-)

js.

 

Anything that takes about an hour is easy. It's way easier than putting on a lift. It may look scary, but it's not. Getting the carrier back in right requires no special tools, measuring or ability. I can't see why anyone would pay $200 to do this. It an $8 seal. The only thing special required to put the carrier back in is two cardboard boxes and a marker.

Step one, take the axle shafts out. This is the hardest and most time consuming part. There are write ups here to do this.

The carrier is next. And this does require special attention. But all you need are two cardboard boxes and a rub a dub pen. Mark one box PS (Passenger Side) and one box DS (Drivers Side).

Take to diff cover off.

Since you've never done this before, take a picture of the carrier now and print it out. This will help you when you go back to reinstall everything and you're worried you're doing it wrong. You probably won't be, but it looks scary and it's not. The picture is just for your peace of mind.

If your bearing caps aren't marked mark them with a stamp. (Yours should be marked for sure) This is important! Look for a stamped "A" or "V" on the cap. They line up so you can put the caps back exactly as you took them out.

I mark my bearing cap bolts with the marker (not required, but I do do this) DT (drivers top), DB (drivers bottom), PT, & PB.

Take the bolts off and put them and the bearing caps in the appropriate boxes.

Take a pry bar and carefully pry the carrier out. (It's a little heavy so be careful with it.) The bearings and shims need to go in the marked boxes. Again this is important the bearings and shims need to go back in in the same spot they came out of. I take may carrier out by pulling forward and then sliding towards the drivers side then up and over the tie rod.

Once the carrier is out carefully pull the old seal out with a pry bar. You can buy a seal puller, but it's no required. Just be careful.

While you've got it apart, clean the diff housing with brake cleaner. Inspect the axle tubes and clean them as well if needed. I have the superior outer seals and one thing I've noticed about them is they keep stuff like mud and sand in once they get past the seal better then they keep it out. You're going to have people tell you that this is the fix for your inner seal problem. It is not! It's an $80 part masking a 10 dollar problem. (You could have bigger problems like a bent shaft or tube but then none of this really matters)

Now that the housing and tubes are cleaned you can put the new seals in. There are people that use all sorts of methods to put the seals in. You can buy the same tool that the dealer uses for 100 bucks. You can use the socket and broom stick method (I used to do this) but you take a chance of bending the seal. I use a home made tool that I saw on on the Internet. It cost like 7 bucks to make. I've only used it once, but it works real well.



It's a 10" piece of ready rod with washers that fit the seal. I took a seal to Home Depot and bought two washers that fit the inner diameter of the seal to act as a guide, two that covered the seal (these do the work) I also got washers that fit the inner diameter of the larger washers to hold them in place. A couple of nuts and washers to hold it together and a coupling nut to make the tool easy to wrench.

Use the tool to to push the seals into place (Do both seals) You'll hear two pops as they seat themselves. Put some diff fluid around the seals to help the shafts slide back in.

Reinstall the carrier just like you took it out. This is why we used the boxes. Use a rubber mallet to get the carrier and shims back in.

Put some diff fluid on the end of the shafts before you slide them back in and then reveres the order of your axle shaft removal.


So..

Remove Axle shafts
Remove the carrier
Remove old seals
Clean
Put new seals in
Put carrier back exactly as it came out
Put shafts back in
Seal and fill
Done

This is easy, I may be a little more willing to do things, It may not be as easy as changing oil, but I would have no problem letting my daughters do this.

 

Very nice write up. Thanks.

 

Thank you for taking the time to do the write-up much appreciated..

 

NP, that's what it's all about. When I have to do it again, I'll take pictures, but hopefully it will be a while.

 

Edive, that is a nifty assed tool. I wish I'd seen that when I was doing mine three times. I have to disagree on the hour though. From drain to fill, I'd plan on about three. Take your time on this. You don't want to have to do it over. Use your search, there are a couple of write ups around here with pictures.