Hey all, just wanted to ask for advice or additional maintenance to perform while I replace the inner seal in my 2013 JKU Sahara. I've already replaced much of the front suspension (Mopar 2" lift, drag link, tie rod, track bar, ball joints, brake rotors and pads). The Jeep only has 82K but 3 ocean voyages under its belt. It seems like a bit of work to do nothing else except $20 seals.

 

Yup, you're spot on here. Remove wheels, remove brakes, remove ABS sensor, remove unit bearing bolts from knuckle and pull bearings and axle shaft out as a unit. Drain diff, remove cover, knock out one end of TR and get it out of the way. Remove bearing cap bolts and bearing caps keepsing careful track of everything and making sure it all goes back in exact same place. Pull carrier out (keep track of the carrier bearing shims). Boom, you're ready to get the old seals out and the new ones in

 

I'd urge you to go to the newer style seal instead of those old style. They're more expensive but you get a better, longer lasting seal IMO. Make sure when you install them that you use a good RTV in there. I use the Mopar RTV but it too is expensive. It works, but it's expensive.

As far as other work- antiseize everything. In particular, the hubs and mounting surfaces. If you're really feeling adventurous, you could replace the u-joints though they're not necessary until they're necessary....but you stand less chance of boogering up your axle seals if you replace them while the shafts are already out on a bench instead of stabbing them back in, pulling back out, and stabbing them in again in a year.

Russ- I've started cheating and not dropping the tie rod. You can get the gears out and come up over, then rotate over the tie rod, at least with the open diff. The rubi/ locker may complicate that.

 

What's the difference between new and old style? I'm ordering through amazon or rockauto due to my APO address. Also, is a seal press worth the cost?

Just so I don't miss anything.
Inner Seals - 3 or 4 incase I screw up
Diff cover (old is badly rusted)
Diff fluid
RTV sealant for diff cover and inner seals

If I get the u-joints, just the spicer 1310s for the dana 30?

 

The old style fits the housing and there's a seal where the shaft slides through. The new style also fits in the housing but there's a sleeve that rides on the axle shaft and spins with the shaft. That rides in between two seals. One is stationary while the other goes with the shaft and stays within a groove.

I'm a fan of the seal press. I purchased the all thread, washers, larger nuts but when it came time to do it, I had a friend loan me the correct Mopar tool. Having used it once, I went ahead and bought one. It installs the new and old style seals with no fuss. You could alternatively order just the caps and use allthread in the middle with nuts and washers to push on the caps to evenly press them in.

Seals- with the tool, I've only messed up one, and it was the first one I put in. After that, you just keep an eye on them going in straight and give small taps to the tool to help them settle as you're pushing them in.

Diff fluid- it takes just over a quart for the front so you'll need two. Also brakeleen to clean everything up.

I don't know about your budget but I'm a fan of LubeLocker's in place of RTV on the diff cover. There's far less mess when you're changing fluid. You'll never recoup money wise, but time wise- you make up for it the first time you change the fluid after installation.

On the u-joints, I'll have to look for the correct part number. The early ones used a 5-297/ 5-760 but somewhere in 2012 they changed the part and I've got a screenshot, I just need to find it.

 

5-7166x would be the u joint for the super 30s. I have a 13 sahara as well. It was fun finding the part. Dealer gave me wrong joint twice. Double check and measure the x cap groove to cap groove. 1310s (old) are 2.188 and 1350s (new) are 2.406. Again, it was hard to find the correct info for a mid-13 so those number are burned in my head.

 

Thanks for the help. The lubelocker sounds like a no brainer. I'm going to get the u joints as a precaution. It will be a decision after removing the axles if I want to change them.

 

Just give the axle a slow rotation on the axis and if it sounds crunchy, replace it. I had one axis that was good, the other was crunchy- replaced and now there's less vibes from the front end. At 80k miles, you're probably not in a bad place to replace them. If they still look/ sound good, maybe keep them as trail spares?

 

I wanted to provide an update. With everything going on in addition to work (online degree program, online military education, military exercise prep) my time has been booked. I ended up having a shop do the job. Here in Europe, parts and oil are extremely expensive, so they actually recommend purchasing the parts and bringing them in. This worked out since had everything, I just couldn't make the time.

Here is what has happened so far. I drop the Jeep off at this guy's home on Friday, and he takes it to a shop. I know it sounds sketchy, but I previously let the guy do all the work to get the Jeep to pass the Belgian inspection (mount rear fog lights and other safety issues for the Belgian authorities). The inspectors typically dislike Americans and are very strict with our vehicles since we can't speak French, Flemish, or Dutch so having him do the work is less of a headache for everyone. He is a good dude that knows how to get things done in Belgium. Anyway, I drop the Jeep off Friday morning and I was thinking it would be done that day. Nope, its a long, dirty process and he goes on explaining what the shop is doing as sharp described. I responded that I know the process and I thought a shop would be able to do that in one day. He responds that the shop is very thorough and typically the local Jeep dealerships will not even do this repair. The dealerships charge (4-5K Euro) where these guys are only 600 Euro. Okay, fine. My next question is when will it be done. Monday is his reply.

Monday comes, and I message the guy around 3pm asking for an update. The shop isn't finished. It should be Tuesday as they recommend 3 days to do this job. I'm irate as I do not see how this job takes 3 days even when changing out the axle u-joints. He says that I do not understand what is involved, which I reply I absolutely do and if it wasn't for my schedule I would have done it myself. He mentioned that there are multiple types of Jeeps, and you need to know all of them, not just mine. My retort was they should have asked. I can give them every detail as I installed the lift kit, new steering components, and changed the brake system. Did they need me to say it was a Sahara JKU, Dana 30 with an open diff? He brings up the price savings again and I just verify that it should be completed Tuesday. I hope to get the Jeep back tomorrow, as it has been a pricy lesson learned.

 

Wow. I have no clue how it could take any mechanic 3 days to make this repair unless they spent 1 hr on it a day. I could talk my wife and 2 of 3 of my teenagers through this repair in a single full day, and they can barely identify the wrench I might be asking them to fetch me. This should be no more than 2-3 book hour repair.

They could have joined here, posted in french, and still gotten some quick detailed instructions on what to do