I have an 09 unlimited Rubicon. I have the franken lift from Northridge that resulted in a little more than 3" of lift. I have a coast 1310 front drive shaft and run 35" tires.

I know I have replaced my pinion seal twice in two years and it may have been three times. My off roading generally consist of riding on logging roads and in some open fields. In the summer the grass in the fields and on some of the roads may be has high as my hood. I have had two different sources tell me that high grass can get wrapped around the front drive shaft and cause damage to my pinion seal. I have the AEV rear dif skid in the back and have never had to replace that seal.

Has anyone else heard of grass causing this problem? Is there a skid for the front dif and drive shaft similar to the AEV rear dif skid?

Edit / Delete

 

I have a Kubota tractor that I just had the PTO shaft seal replaced due to this exact reason. The dealer said that when driving through high grass it gets wrapped around the shaft, overheats, then melts the seal. The only solution he provided (other than replacing the seal frequently) was to fabricate a sheet metal shield to keep the grass out, but I don't know how you would to this for a Jeep.

 

The "old" jeeps- MB, CJ, M seies had a grass guard in the shape of a disc to keep grass from winding around the pinion ujoint and getting past the seal. Old should be new again.