icrashbikes

So, tell me if this is normal. The driver side rear axle shaft seal started leaking into the brake assembly around 95k miles. I figured that was ok and I traded up for a set of 4340 Revolution shafts. Those shafts never really seemed to be right. I had one replaced under warranty probably a year later, but due more to runout issues than anything. at 102k miles I had the rear axle trussed for a long arm lift. No immediate apparent issues aside from what had already been going on, which I figured if the axle housing had been warped during the welding I'd have noticed something different. Now I'm at 123k miles and the same axle seal is leaking again, on the replaced-under-warranty Revolution shaft. I'm not here to bad mouth anyone, but those Revolution shafts gave me trouble from day one, including the replacement. I'm done with them anyway, chalk that up to a learning experience. I just ordered some ten factory shafts which seem to be pretty well received in the community, and they seem to have good customer service. My question is, is there something I'm missing? Some reason that I can't seem to have rear shafts that work properly since the stock seal first failed? Or is this just something I'm going to have to deal with every 30-90k miles? I run 37s on them and I wheel moderately, but I'm surprised at how poorly this system seems to be holding up. I just want it to work. I'm pretty sure I'm installing them properly, and I keep the axle with enough oil in it. I have aftermarket diff covers but every time I pull the shafts everything seems properly lubed so I don't think that's a problem. Any thoughts?

karls10jk

That's not exactly the kind of post I like to see (just installed the USA made shafts 5/4). On yours though- are you manually seating the shafts and then tightening the 4 retainer nuts? I've heard of people adding RTV to the rubber axle seal but I haven't had issues there. I went Revo after bending a flange with 35's

icrashbikes

When I put them in I line up the splines, slide the shaft back until it stops and then tighten the nuts incrementally to seat as evenly as possible. I've removed and installed axle shafts enough for a fleet of Jeeps. Have you checked your runout? I was chewing up rear pads badly, it's worth taking a look.

karls10jk

I haven't checked runout yet but it's definitely a lot better than the bent flange. I'll check it and keep an eye on it. So far I'm at 2 weeks without a leak.

icrashbikes

An update, I ditched the Revolution shafts and picked up a pair from Ten Factory. Huge difference. I could tell right away that these were right. There was no play axially when pushing or pulling on the flange. With everything put back together there is zero noise from the rear end. Finally, the nightmare seems to be over. Now I can focus on one of the other dozen nightmares