• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

[Tech Writeup] Replacing the seals on your Dana 30

Could it be gear oil that leaked into the tube when you pulled the axle out and was just sitting in there until you raised the other side?
 
corbinafly said:
Could it be gear oil that leaked into the tube when you pulled the axle out and was just sitting in there until you raised the other side?

Whoa. I honestly did not think about that, it very well could be! I should have left if jacked up to see if it slowed, or emptied all the way out. I'll have to check next weekend, thanks for the thought.

Hell, I might just dive in and replace them anyways, 197,000+ miles, might be due.

Thanks for the tip!

James
 
tigerShark said:
this is why we need a tech archive. admins can move the worthy posts into this section. its almost like the FAQ sticky but much deeper. it can have those FAQ's and the great write ups that show up from time to time. it could even be categorized, i think this is something that this forum really needs to consider because this forum gets older and there are so many great posts that are impossible to find. check out this great write-up that was never even replied to. must have been posted and disappeared into the abyss of NAXJA.
X2 There are more than a few write ups that I have needed and could never find. I have spent 3+ hours looking for a writeup before. I mean we could put "Tech Writeup" in the title as users but there are enough admins on everyday that they could move them to a write up forum for us. Or maybe a place where we could submit the thread for a write up before it is even posted.
 
1985xjlaredo said:
X2 There are more than a few write ups that I have needed and could never find. I have spent 3+ hours looking for a writeup before. I mean we could put "Tech Writeup" in the title as users but there are enough admins on everyday that they could move them to a write up forum for us. Or maybe a place where we could submit the thread for a write up before it is even posted.
this topic has been brought up before in the members forums, nobody wants anything to do with it :dunno: 5-90 is working on usefull writeups page on his website so hopefully the good ones wont be lost forever.
 
Blaine B. said:
Could be a screwed seal too.

If I lift the driver's side, gear oil pours out the passenger side....even with the shaft in. Any my passenger side seal IS screwed!

The passenger shaft is the long and heavy one. It is possible to push the seal out without realizing that you did. I always try to feel it getting centered before I push in.
I mean, if the seal is there it is not going to pour out. No matter what it would be a slow leak.
 
Great write up, it really helped me! I did my axle seals today, not too bad. One question; why in the world did you drop the drive shaft? I don't really get that unless it allowed you to inspect something, please enlighten me.
 
nitchkabob said:
Great write up, it really helped me! I did my axle seals today, not too bad. One question; why in the world did you drop the drive shaft? I don't really get that unless it allowed you to inspect something, please enlighten me.
i dropped the driveshaft because i had a squeak in the front end, which ended up being the double cardon joint... i guess i forgot to mention that in the writeup ;) glad it helped you out, that is why i wrote it. you dont need to remove the front shaft, but it does make it (slightly) easier to put the carrier back in.


:D
 
GrimmJeeper said:
man, that was some good carne asada, now back to work.

clean the housing out as good as you can. get the brake cleaner and wash it out completely. dont forget to clean the axle tubes out. we did this by shoving a rag into the tube from the inside, then using the broom stick from before to push it all the way to the outside of the tube. do this a few times, shaking the rag off each time and shooting some brake cleaner in there. once youve got it all cleaned out wipe out the surfaces where the seals sit and it should look like this:

CIMG3057.jpg


make sure to clean all the old silicone off the diff cover and the housing, i used a scraper and an abrasive disk mounted to a drill, the kind you clean old gaskets off with. a wire wheel on a grinder works very well too. make sure you clean all the little pieces of silicone out of the housing after this step.

rub a small amount of fresh gear oil all over the seal to make it slide in easier, and to pre lube the rubber seal surface so the axles dont tear the rubber when you put them back in. put the seal in from the inside with the horn shaped side facing towards the outside.

CIMG3062.jpg


this part will take two people, but hey, thats why you bought so much beer right? place a 36MM socket against the seal, and slide your broomstick in from the outside of the axle tube. line the stick up on the socket...

CIMG3065.jpg


and hit it with the hammer to seat the seal. it will take awhile of tapping and repositioning the broomstick against the socket to get it to seat completly. once you get one side in move to the other one and do the same thing. make sure the stick you are using is small enough in diameter to fit through the seal for when you need to do the other side. we had to switch to a piece of conduit pipe to get to the second side.

CIMG3071.jpg


CIMG3072.jpg


once you get the seals seated make sure to knock over the bottle of gear oil just past the edge of the drip board, then use brake cleaner to make the stain bigger.

CIMG3070.jpg


clean the bearings and races for the carrier off with brake cleaner to make sure you didnt get dirt on them when you were checking the bearings, then put it back together and pop the carrier in. put the caps back on and get out the torque wrench. tourqe the cap bolts to 60ft/lbs. you really need to use the tourque wrench here, you cant get away with just making them as tight as you think they need to be. improper torque settings on these bolts will cause uneven wear on the bearings, and more problems for you down the road. do it right the first time.

CIMG3074.jpg


slide the axle shafts back in slowly, making sure you dont tear those nice new seals you just spent all day putting in.line up the bolt holes in the rotor backing plates and the unit bearings. make sure you are putting the backing plates back on facing the correct way. if you dont get them on right the calipers won't go back on and you will have to tear it all back apart.

CIMG3075.jpg


place a nice even bead of silicone on the diff cover and let it sit for about 30 seconds to get tacky, then pop it on and tighten it up.

CIMG3076.jpg


put the calipers and rotors back on, put the tierod back on the knuckle and tighten the nut to pull it back into place, put a new cotter pin in it, and you're done!

CIMG3077.jpg


refill the axle housing until oil just starts to come out of the hole, and put the plug back in. put the tires on, take it for a drive, and enjoy your leak free housing.
Awsome write up! way more informing than my crappy manual .(haynes) Thank you ! I'm off to get beer and some parts . Cheers.....
 
I have to say it as well, excellent writeup!

One question though-

The seal around the edge of the axle tube, pictured here in reddish/orange, any specs/info on it?
CIMG3057.jpg


Mine was gray and came out in chunks with the axle seal.

Thanks
-Destroyer
 
that is silicone the factory puts around the axle tubes before they press them into the housing. you can put some silicone around the outside of the seal if you want, but its not required. we didnt do it and its not leaking so far :D
 
Nice write up, I do like the bolt against the Ujoint to remove the unit bearing. I recently changed a unit bearing (that didn't turn out to be the problem...), I used a slide hammer my friend made. Real simple tool, a lug nut welded to some pipe, with a large piece of square tube at the end. Then we used a brake rotor as the hammer. Just do not remove the axle nut before using the slide hammer, it will damage the unit bearing. Oh, and I was installing and later removing a lockright, we didn't remove the tierod... I was ab;e to work the ring gear and housing around it just fine.
 
I must say that this is a quality write-up!! And I agree that this forum NEEDS a Tech/Write-up section for just this kind/quality thread!! Thanks again GrimmJeeper!!
 
Great write-up. Are the torque specs for the bearing caps 45 lbs. ft. or 60? On Stu's webpage and gojeepxj they both list the torque specs to be 45lbs. ft.??
 
thanks!

the jeep FSM we used lists them as 60, but i would check to see what the factory specs are for your model year just to be sure.
 
Great write-up. Are the torque specs for the bearing caps 45 lbs. ft. or 60? On Stu's webpage and gojeepxj they both list the torque specs to be 45lbs. ft.??

Check my site - I've been gathering FSM specs as I gather FSMs. I've got most of the Dana FSMs as well - not all, but I have a contact at Dana (and I do need to ping her again...) who is getting me stuff that isn't on the site.

Oddly, the D30 Dana FSM is not on the site!
 
Back
Top