little axle plastic doohickey

while changing my axle ujoint yesterday, i broke the little plastic thing that goes around the shaft at the point where the shaft enters the axle tube.
is this a big deal that I need to replace? I can't imagine that that little plastic thing actually seals the axle tube and keeps anything from getting in there, but that seems to be it's purpose. Any suggestions??

It really only helps keeping large debris from getting in there. Theres a company that makes aluminum ones that completly seal the shafts.

"doohickey".....damn all these technical terms..i'll never get 'em all straight...lol

robz95xj, awesome link, that's what I was wanting to know and I'll order those seals.

thanks

Dave

Just a little information, if you go mudding much, the muddy water gets in there, water evaporates and leaves dried slime. The slime builds up after every baptism and the tube fills almost completely with dried mud.
I leave mine off and wash out the tubes periodically with a high pressure washer.
I did soak a piece of hemp rope with grease and stuffed it in the axle housing then put the cap back on. Worked pretty darned good for years (in my last XJ). Though it did polish my axle in one spot, it stayed put and didn´t migrate.

Throw them out, leave them out.

JMHO

Rev

Rev Den said:

Throw them out, leave them out.

JMHO

Rev

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thats what i did, just more crap thats in the way, and besides mine slid around so easy that debri could get in but not out.

Take a knife or a drill and make holes where the little tabs that used to hold it together are (which are presumably what broke off). Now put it back on and clamp it together with a wire tie. It will last forever and stay tight, and you can replace the wire tie next time you have the axle off if need be.

Matthew Currie said:

Take a knife or a drill and make holes where the little tabs that used to hold it together are (which are presumably what broke off). Now put it back on and clamp it together with a wire tie. It will last forever and stay tight, and you can replace the wire tie next time you have the axle off if need be.

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Matthew's advice here is very good, and works better than the goofy snap fit as designed.

I am sure that when dealers work on the front axles, they just break off these old rock shields and install new ones rather than screw around with the cheesy snap fit.

BTW, not putting these back on may be a bad idea if you live in an area with lots of rocks and sand like I do. All that junk tends to migrate down near the oil seals near the diff, and that's not good for the seals! On my '92, I had one that had broken off, and when I looked down into the axle tube when doing the u-joints, the amount of large rocks, gravel, etc, that was down there was scarey.

These plastic stone shields are REAL cheap at the dealer, and are worth it, in my opinion.

90xjDave said:

while changing my axle ujoint yesterday, i broke the little plastic thing that goes around the shaft at the point where the shaft enters the axle tube.
is this a big deal that I need to replace? I can't imagine that that little plastic thing actually seals the axle tube and keeps anything from getting in there, but that seems to be it's purpose. Any suggestions??

Click to expand...

The original doohickey is a one piece part. The Jeep replacement is a two piece snap together $5 part. I replaced one of mine, had a helluva time with the dealers finding the correct part.