How long did it take you to change them out, on a scale from 0-10 , 10 being hardest thing to repair . $ow would you rate the difficulty?

 

It took me about 4hrs to do both sides. I would put this at probably a 6 on a 1-10. The only thing that I was worried about was when I put the axle shafts back in that I didn't break the seals. I am not telling anybody to or not to do this on there own.

 

Check YOUTUBE a XJ owner did his ball joints and video it pretty strait forward the press and other tools he bought at harbour frieght.


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took me a looong time. like 12+ hours but 2/3 of that was spent busting through rusted and fused components and with a diff drain, clean and refill.

I bet it can be done in 4-6 if your jeep is not too rusty and you dont have to waste more time driving to find the right socked after you started (like I did).

 

how easy is it to damage the seals? what would happen if I did damage them while I was replacing the ball joints i.e.are they an easy cheap fix?

 

If you damage the seals gear oil will leak out of the end of the axle. You will have to pull the diff cover and replace the seal. I am not sure what is involved once you get the diff cover off.

 

The axle seals are on the cheaper side but to fix it you would have the gears out of the axle to fix it. If you take your time and be careful you shouldn't have any problems. Whne is replaced mine I noticed that the axle shafts have a a gid ring or its a dust cover closer to the splines. This helps with the install.

 

Yes, the guide keeps the shaft somewhat aligned with the seal as you push it down the tube.

 

Looks like a fun project. Hope mine fail soon!