Tried googling but nothing really specific on the JK's with dana 44's. I like photos lol.

Are there any special tools required to replace the rear pinion seal on the JK with a 44 in the back?

My understanding of what is required is...

1. Remove diff side of driveshaft
2. Mark spot on nut and diff
3. Count number of rotations it takes to undo nut
4. Seal should be there and can be pryed out?
5. Simply put in new seal
6. Put blue loc tite on threads and put in the same number of rotations and torque down to 170 foot pounds.

That right? I've read some folks using pinion pullers and others going to 10 inch pound increments and stuff...

I don't have any pullers at home in the garage so would have to rent one before the weekend. Any suggestions or flaws in the steps?

 

Whenever I replace a pinion seal I tighten the nut to the proper bearing preload for used bearings (12-16 in-lb for a JK D44 rear). This however will require a beam type in-lb torque wrench. I also use Red locktite on the treads not blue.

I'm not sure what all the turn counting is about... I use an impact.

The rear seal can be tricky to get out when you can't punch at it from the inside. Make sure you don't scratch or scar the face of seal area removing the old seal. I have a sacrificial chisel that I use to work around the seal to try to unseat it then I pry them out with a piece of UHMW under the pry bar on the pivot side. I have had absolutely no luck with seal pullers.

 

^^^This exactly. Measure the preload before removing and then increase it around 5 in-lb when re-torquing.

The real trick is finding a beam style torque wrench that is accurate to 1 in-lb.

 

Why beam style? I need to do my front seal, and figured to just use this that I already own ...

https://m.mscdirect.com/mobileweb/pr...S_010=75230474

 

So that makes sense... except measuring the preload portion.

Once the driveshaft is disconnected and the wheels are off the ground. I use the I beam torque wrench to measure how much in-lb it takes to turn the pinion? That being the outer portion that all the bolts connect to it with right? Center being the pinion nut and simply gets torqued down to at least 160 ft-lbs and double check how much in-lbs it takes to turn the out pinion portion again until I get to 5 in-lbs over what it was before taking it apart

 

A clicker style will not give you an accurate preload reading until you've surpassed it.

Skip the 160 ft-lb part on the pinion nut when setting for bearing preload.... That number is pulled out of the air and is assumed to hold the yoke/flange in place while not crushing the crush collar further. It is a fairly safe number though. (It usually takes over 400 lb-ft to crush the collar.)

 

The problem with my suggestion on tightening the nut to the bearing preload is I forget not everyone is comfortable with pulling the axle shafts and carrier which will need done to get an accurate reading.

 

Steps to remove the driveshaft, axle shafts, carrier (so you can measure the pinion itself). You then use a beam style torque wrench and rotate to see how much preload there is (i.e. how much effort it takes to turn the pinion). That tells you what it was set at from the factory - every setup is a little different. Then you do what needs to be done to the axle. Then when you re-install the pinion nut, you can start at around 140 ft lbs and test the pre-load. Keep increasing the nut torque until you are about 5 in lbs over the original setting.

 

Which they'll have to do if they get it wrong and burn up the pinion bearing or worse

 

Alright, so looks like it'll be a bit more work then I was expecting lol.

So once the axle shafts are pulled and carrier removed. Then I get the preload measurement on the amount of force it takes to spin the pinion round and round right?

That is my biggest worry in this whole thing. Never had to do anything with the pinion preload before so don't want to burn anything up down the road.