93 xj - oil in rear drums

Hi, I have a 93 xj with a dana 35c rear axle. I was changing the rear drums today and I noticed both drums were covered in gear oil inside. I was wondering if this is due to faulty axle seals and how hard they are to change. as well, I have a chrysler 8.25 limited slip axle i can swap it out with, but I am unsure if this axle is still good as it has been sitting behind my garage for quite sometime. What would the best option for me? replace the whole axle with the limited slip or try to fix the seals (if this is the problem)? Thanks

Swap in the 8.25 if its a 29 spline (out of a 96+). No sense in polishing a turd.

Any 8.25 is better than a 35 first of all, just clean it up and put in some new gear oil since it has been sitting awhile. Clean the carrier and differential really well, and clean the brakes as well, maybe do new brake shoes and hardware as well.

Are you sure it's not brake fluid from a dying wheel cylinder?

anodyne33 said:

Are you sure it's not brake fluid from a dying wheel cylinder?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure. I took the drums all apart and cleaned and dried everything up and filled the diff with oil and let it sit overnight. when i checked in the morning, there was oil on the ground below the drum and the seals around the axle were all oily. As it looks right now, i think i will go check out that 8.25 and see what condition it is in and do a whole axle swap. thanks for the input guys