Hello, so I noticed oil drops on my passenger side knuckle so I am lead to believe my axle oil seal needs replacing, and sorry for the super noob question, but if oil is leaking past the outer seal than does that mean the inner seal is leaking as well or an I just thinking over thinking it?

 

You don't have an outter seal in the front, unless there is an aftermarket seal, but yes, the inner seal is leaking. This isn't all that uncommon. See you have an '08, but not specified if rubicon or not. If you're even somewhat handy, this is a DIY job that takes a couple hours.

 

Oh, good to know. It is not a Rubicon. I was reading up on how to do it and it seems pretty easy, I am just worried about messing up the gar wear pattern? Is that a thing? Basically as long as I put the shims back exactly as they came off it shouldn't alter the wear pattern right?

 

You have no worries about the gear pattern. Take things out, keep them organized, and put them back EXACTLY as they came out. If you have factory gears, you're likely talking 1 thick shim on either side. The bearing bolts need to go back in the same place, and an easy thing to remember is the bearing caps machined side is always "in". It is a straightforward task. No need to remove the axle shaft nut either.....pull the unit bearing and axle shaft as 1 unit. You'll need a 12pt 13mm socket to get the bearing bolts out. Other than that no special tools. needed. It is nice having an actual press to get the seals in, but you can make a homemade "tool" to do it too, google.

Here's a link to torque specs on my google drive. i keep those printed and laminated in the jeep. Handly to have.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

 

Awesome, thank you so much! I do have Yukon 4.56 gears with Detroit Tru Trac, there is nothing extra I need to do for that right?I would assume not, just figured I'd double check.

 

No, but but since it has been regeared, don't be surprised if there is a shim pack (multiple shims together) on each side of the carrier bearings. Just keep them as they are....the thinnest ones should be sandwiched between larger shims.

Also, if the axles shafts come out and they don't have a plastic "guide" on them at the ends, just take a look in the tubes and make sure they didn't fall off. Since regeared, they may have been removed already. They just help to guide the shaft back in but are basically superficial. If you don't already know.....put some grease on the splines and the shaft when you put those back in, and don't just jam em in there. be patient, be careful.....they are passing through a brand new seal that you just replaced.

 

Okay 2 questions, if the plastic guides are not there should I get new one to help a novice like me install them correctly? And what type of grease? Just a basic Valvoline synthetic multipurpose grease?

 

No, if the guides are not there, don't go get them. They are probably something stupid like $18 for one. The driver's side is NBD at all cuz that shaft is so short. The passenger side seems to be the one that commonly leaks first, and I can only guess due to leverage of a longer shaft, but maybe that is a bad observation on my part. hold the outer end with one hand, and the inner end with another, and just try to get the shaft centered in the tube. LOL, could reference back to first time having sex....same idea here. Just don't go jamming that thing in recklessly and you'll be fine. It's really so much easier in reality than make it out in your head....just like a lot of things. There's no special grease. whatever you have on hand is better than nothing. Usually red bearing grease is what most of us have around due to other items, but it's really nbd. You're just looking for anything as to not slide that through dry. If you have nothing at all, I'd bet even some gear oil is fine.

 

That sounds almost exactly like the first time I had sex, especially the "don't go jamming it in" part. Haha. Thank you for all the info. I think I can do it!

 

What? the axles are held in the diff by circlip? Thought they floated and the unit bearing took the side load.