Need advice -- changing seals (again) on my front axle

Hi,

Long-time lurker (did my waves back in 2015)... Now I need your advice.

My front axle seals keep leaking. I have a Dynatrac ProRock Unlimited with RCV 30 spline shafts, factory rubi e-lockers, Reid Knuckles, and Poly ball joints. Axle/ball joints have 21K miles on them with 37" MTRs. Diff breather tube is clear. Geared at 4.88. Jeep is a 2009 unlimited with an LC9 and 6L80E. Everything, other than the leaking, is running beautifully. I don't see any scoring on the shafts, either.

I wheel once a month and usually do the 'red trails' and rock shelves around Northwest Arkansas -- nothing too tough--enough to get the 6-year old in back excited but not scared. Have had lockers on maybe 3 times in the past year. I'm very easy on the skinny pedal.

I'm putting the Jeep in a reputable shop in my area late this week because I want a pro to get this fixed. I'm not having luck with it.

My questions:
1) Should I direct shop to put RTV or Marine grease around the outer edge of the oil seal? (Chilton Book I'm using say keep it dry.)
2) Some of the other boards recommend using the slightly smaller Yukon YMSS1009 seal versus the Dana seal for a tighter fit. Dana's haven't been working great so far. Anyone have experience with them?
3) At 21K miles and with 37s, should I swap out anything else while the axle is apart as a preventive measure? (Ball joints, u-joints, etc.)

I like my factory e-lockers, so I'm not really thinking about going to 35 spline.

Thanks,

Steve

How many times have you changed the seals out before this?

This will be the third time in two years. I changed them last week, one side didn't hold. I'm sure the Dana seal wasn't damaged. I did not put any grease or RTV the outside of seals.

Is it both sides that go? Or just one specific side? What diameter are those axle shafts? Maybe a shaft is bent??

JeepinLife said:

Is it both sides that go? Or just one specific side? What diameter are those axle shafts? Maybe a shaft is bent??

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Last week, the passenger side was leaking. So, swapped out both. Now, its the driver side leaking, so it must be the way I'm doing it or it doesn't like Dana seals.

The Dynatrac axle is the half-inch thick one, and I'd be shocked if it was bent. I'll check to see if the RCVs are bent, but I doubt they are because the seal problem isn't specific to one side.

Cubewarrior said:

Last week, the passenger side was leaking. So, swapped out both. Now, its the driver side leaking, so it must be the way I'm doing it or it doesn't like Dana seals.

The Dynatrac axle is the half-inch thick one, and I'd be shocked if it was bent.

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Not the sleeve the shaft. Maybe the shaft diameter is slightly different then the seal? I've used the dana's and haven't had an issue but just have the stock 44. I've put a very light coat of triple guard grease on the shaft to help them slide through the seal with out any issue. I think that could only help. Which Dana seals did you use? They have two different ones out that you can get. One is old and one piece and the newer seals are a two piece seal.

Also do the Dana seals press in the axle firmly? Someone else would have to chime in on the prorock set up. Maybe they require a bigger seal? Sorry just throwing out random thoughts.

JeepinLife said:

Not the sleeve the shaft. Maybe the shaft diameter is slightly different then the seal? I've used the dana's and haven't had an issue but just have the stock 44. I've put a very light coat of triple guard grease on the shaft to help them slide through the seal with out any issue. I think that could only help. Which Dana seals did you use? They have two different ones out that you can get. One is old and one piece and the newer seals are a two piece seal.

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Jeepin -- it was the two piece set with the letter matched to an 09 Dana 44. I'm thinking the same about the shaft diameter -- that's why I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the smaller Yukon seal. I didn't coat the shaft with triple guard, so its possible that I could have nicked the seal when I put it in.

Cubewarrior said:

Jeepin -- it was the two piece set with the letter matched to an 09 Dana 44. I'm thinking the same about the shaft diameter -- that's why I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the smaller Yukon seal. I didn't coat the shaft with triple guard, so its possible that I could have nicked the seal when I put it in.

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Did you happen to clean out the sleeves well before sliding the shafts back in? I thought I cleaned mine well and it's amazing the crud you can still pick up on the splines if you run in against the sleeve. Other then the seal size being to big or small for the housing or shaft. Check for bent shaft. I assume you've gotten pretty good at pressing those seals in but maybe it became miss shaped a bit when installing? Keep us posted.

Cubewarrior said:

Jeepin -- it was the two piece set with the letter matched to an 09 Dana 44. I'm thinking the same about the shaft diameter -- that's why I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the smaller Yukon seal. I didn't coat the shaft with triple guard, so its possible that I could have nicked the seal when I put it in.

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I would try the one piece seal. I fucked up a couple of the 2 piece seals trying to install them and gave up. As much as I hate 4 wheel parts, they had them in stock so I grabbed a couple and threw them in. Simple and no leaks.