Front axle leak tell me what I need to do.

MericaMade

MericaMade

Active Member
Well I woke up this morning walked out to my garage and found oil on the floor. Was quickly able to trace it and see there was a pool of axle oil sitting in the lower passenger front knuckle.

I have a Rubicon stock front axle on 37's with 3.5 BS rims.

Is this just an O-ring gone bad or am I looking at something more?

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TrailHunter

TrailHunter

Hooked
Have you ever removed the stock axle shafts and put them back? Maybe to change your ball joints?


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MericaMade

MericaMade

Active Member
TrailHunter said:
Have you ever removed the stock axle shafts and put them back? Maybe to change your ball joints?


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No, I haven't had to do anything to my front axle so far. I know running 37's is putting a strain on it and was expecting this but what do you suggest is the best route of things to do now?

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jesse3638

jesse3638

Hooked
Sounds to me like a front axle seal is in order. I'd replace both while you're at it as it's not the most fun thing to do. There is several write ups on here about doing it.

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MericaMade

MericaMade

Active Member
All right just watched a few videos a little bit more involved than I thought but nothing really worries me. Out of curiosity how much do you think a shop would charge me to replace those?

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TrailHunter

TrailHunter

Hooked
MericaMade said:
No, I haven't had to do anything to my front axle so far. I know running 37's is putting a strain on it and was expecting this but what do you suggest is the best route of things to do now?

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When I put in new ball joints I pulled my stock shafts out... like a dumbass I left the plastic guides on. Sure enough soon after the passenger side started to leak. Being the Jeep is only a 2017 with low miles.. I wasn’t convinced it was a bad seal. So rather than install new seals (which requires removing the gears) I decided to try cleaning everything first. I took the opportunity to install chromoly shafts and new unit bearings...

When I pulled out the shafts the passenger plastic guides were shredded up a bit... and the tubes had a good amount of dirt in them. So I used my old Jeep antennae with shop towel taped to the end and carefully cleaned the tubes and the seals. The last few times using fresh rags and a bit of oil on the rag to clean the seals best I could.

Installed the new shafts & unit bearings... and it hasn’t leaked since. Maybe I got lucky.. I don’t know.
 
rubiDave

rubiDave

Active Member
If you haven't regeared for 37s yet then now would be the time since they'll have pull the carrier to replace the seals. I bet a shop would bill you a couple hours labor at least just for the seals.
MericaMade said:
All right just watched a few videos a little bit more involved than I thought but nothing really worries me. Out of curiosity how much do you think a shop would charge me to replace those?

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MericaMade

MericaMade

Active Member
Hell if I'm going to put money into the front axle I might as well just buy once cry once and step up. I just called Dynatrac and he said I potentially could have bent the front axel thus causing the leak.

I guess it could be possible because out last week coming down one of the open dirt roads about 45 miles an hour hit a gnarly hole on that side of the Jeep and now its leaking. Heading back home to see if it's visually bent.

I know it sounds a little ridiculous to go from a inner seal leak to buying a front PR44 but I'm also the type of person that says why throw money at something when it's going to give me a potential issue down the road.

I still need to put C's on it, now i need to replace a seal, and if it is more than a seal it just more to spend.

I've been holding off gearing my Jeep because I didn't want to throw money into the stock axle well now hear is my opportunity.

New inner seal come in a PR44 so that should fix that problem.

I was looking at pulling the trigger on the Evo coilover kit in the upcoming months but looks like the axle is going to take place first.

Wow that escalated quickly.

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wjtstudios

wjtstudios

Hooked
MericaMade said:
Hell if I'm going to put money into the front axle I might as well just buy once cry once and step up. I just called Dynatrac and he said I potentially could have bent the front axel thus causing the leak.

I guess it could be possible because out last week coming down one of the open dirt roads about 45 miles an hour hit a gnarly hole on that side of the Jeep and now its leaking. Heading back home to see if it's visually bent.

I know it sounds a little ridiculous to go from a inner seal leak to buying a front PR44 but I'm also the type of person that says why throw money at something when it's going to give me a potential issue down the road.

I still need to put C's on it, now i need to replace a seal, and if it is more than a seal it just more to spend.

I've been holding off gearing my Jeep because I didn't want to throw money into the stock axle well now hear is my opportunity.

New inner seal come in a PR44 so that should fix that problem.

I was looking at pulling the trigger on the Evo coilover kit in the upcoming months but looks like the axle is going to take place first.

Wow that escalated quickly.

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That’s how my front seal went. Not much you can do if that’s the case short of replacing the housing. It was visibly bent on the passenger side at an slight upward angle when I bent my housing.


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler
 
Brute

Brute

Hooked
MericaMade said:
Hell if I'm going to put money into the front axle I might as well just buy once cry once and step up. I just called Dynatrac and he said I potentially could have bent the front axel thus causing the leak.

I guess it could be possible because out last week coming down one of the open dirt roads about 45 miles an hour hit a gnarly hole on that side of the Jeep and now its leaking. Heading back home to see if it's visually bent.

I know it sounds a little ridiculous to go from a inner seal leak to buying a front PR44 but I'm also the type of person that says why throw money at something when it's going to give me a potential issue down the road.

I still need to put C's on it, now i need to replace a seal, and if it is more than a seal it just more to spend.

I've been holding off gearing my Jeep because I didn't want to throw money into the stock axle well now hear is my opportunity.

New inner seal come in a PR44 so that should fix that problem.

I was looking at pulling the trigger on the Evo coilover kit in the upcoming months but looks like the axle is going to take place first.

Wow that escalated quickly.

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TrailHunter said:
Lol.. I like the way you solve problems.


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Can you please post the flow chart on this process?...
 
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