Rear axle yoke leaking after 2" lift

I have about 250 pounds of stuff in the back trying the get the RE leaves to break in (I'm at about 3 1/4" in the rear). I figured that I'd be fine without a t-case drop in the meantime. Wrong. My 8.25 is leaking (more like slinging) oil due to the prop. shaft angle. It's not being driven again until I get the drop in, which will only be there until I can afford an S.Y.E. My question centers around whether or not this is "normal," considering it's a '99, and is the axle screwed (regardless of whether it's normal or not)? I've been searching here like a monkey, but I can't really find out if this has happened to others as a result of lifting. Any advice is appreciated.

After I lifted I had vibes bad enough that I couldn't drive until I did the TC drop and shimmed the axle. Even after that I had very minor vibes. I had some pinion whine, particularly when going 50ish and then letting off the throttle. I never had problems with any leaking though. It's possible that it was just time to leak, despite the install. See if anyone else has .02.

I'm sort of leaning that way ("just time to leak") because I have some slight vibes--slight enough that my wife thought I was nuts because she didn't feel anything. The leak is pretty bad, though. It's gotten gear oil all over the rear underside of the Jeep.

Timber said:

I have about 250 pounds of stuff in the back trying the get the RE leaves to break in (I'm at about 3 1/4" in the rear). I figured that I'd be fine without a t-case drop in the meantime. Wrong. My 8.25 is leaking (more like slinging) oil due to the prop. shaft angle. It's not being driven again until I get the drop in, which will only be there until I can afford an S.Y.E. My question centers around whether or not this is "normal," considering it's a '99, and is the axle screwed (regardless of whether it's normal or not)? I've been searching here like a monkey, but I can't really find out if this has happened to others as a result of lifting. Any advice is appreciated.

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Ummmmm??? You can't really change the position of the yoke on the axle because its held in position by the pinion shaft and nut. If the t-case end was leaking that would be different. I would say this is not normal, but the axle shouldn't be screwed. If anything the yoke will be scored from the lack of a rubber seal. Sounds to me like you need a new pinion seal.

CMNCHE said:

You can't really change the position of the yoke on the axle because its held in position by the pinion shaft and nut.

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Actually, this is exactly what I think has happened, albeit to a minor degree. The t-case end is fine as far as I can tell. Tonight after I get home from work and put the kids to bed (by then it'll likely be 10 p.m.) I'm taking off the prop. shaft and checking the yoke for play. I'm most concerned about having screwed up diff's internals. I figure I'll have to replace the seal, at the least.

Timber said:

Actually, this is exactly what I think has happened, albeit to a minor degree. The t-case end is fine as far as I can tell. Tonight after I get home from work and put the kids to bed (by then it'll likely be 10 p.m.) I'm taking off the prop. shaft and checking the yoke for play. I'm most concerned about having screwed up diff's internals. I figure I'll have to replace the seal, at the least.

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If the pinion bearing is toasted it could cause the yoke to move around. But driveshaft angle due to lifting can't move the yoke. If you can grab it and move it up and down then the pinion bearing is probably shot.

my XJ went through 2 pinion seals when it was stock in the first 60k. it was a lemon, what can i say. i'm glad i got the 60k extended warranty.
now its got 68k and it needs another one. i just looked at the factory service manual for the 2000 cherokee and doing the pinion seal on an 8.25 (according to the book) requires the removal of the pinion. i think i'll leave that one up to the professionals.

if its leaking very badly, i wouldn't go mudding or do any water crossings with it. if fluid can get out of it, other fluids can undoubtedly get in. water/muddy water and gear oil don't mix well.

as a halfassed fix, i put some super thick lucasoil diff fluid in both my axles. i think its like 90w140 vs the factory 80w90 or 85w90. it still leaks, but just barely. the whole pumpkin isn't wet, it just looks like this:

maybe the thicker gear oil trick would at least slow it down until you can get it fixed.

dynamite44 said:

my XJ went through 2 pinion seals when it was stock in the first 60k. it was a lemon, what can i say. i'm glad i got the 60k extended warranty.
now its got 68k and it needs another one. i just looked at the factory service manual for the 2000 cherokee and doing the pinion seal on an 8.25 (according to the book) requires the removal of the pinion. i think i'll leave that one up to the professionals.

if its leaking very badly, i wouldn't go mudding or do any water crossings with it. if fluid can get out of it, other fluids can undoubtedly get in. water/muddy water and gear oil don't mix well.

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If your on your 3rd Pinion Seal in 68k miles, do you think there may be another root cause that needs to be fixed to get the next seal to last longer than 20k miles?

I'd get a set of pinion bearings and have them changed with the seal. Make sure its a good mechanic that can set pinion depth, a bad mechanic will just half-a$$ it and throw it all together, which means the axle will grind itself up if not adjusted properly.

No offense, Dynamite44, and I appreciate you looking into it, but I don't think you read it right. It looks like removal is just a matter of
"PINION SEAL REMOVAL
(1) Raise and support the vehicle.
(2) Scribe a mark on the universal joint, pinion yoke, and pinion shaft for reference.
(3) Disconnect the propeller shaft from the pinion yoke. Secure the propeller shaft in an upright position to prevent damage to the rear universal joint.
(4) Remove the wheel and tire assemblies.
(5) Remove the brake drums to prevent any drag.
The drag may cause a false bearing preload torque measurement.
(6) Rotate the pinion yoke three or four times.
(7) Measure the amount of torque necessary to rotate the pinion gear with a (in. lbs.) dial-type torque wrench. Record the torque reading for installation reference.
(8) Hold the yoke with Wrench 6719. Remove the pinion nut and washer.
(9) Remove the yoke with Remover C-452 (Fig. 13).
(10) Remove the pinion seal with suitable pry tool or slide-hammer mounted screw."

Now, the installation looks to be quite interesting and that's still a bit harder than I'd like it, but it doesn't sound too bad--and I've never really torn into a diff. before. I've changed my oil (like a good boy) once a year and cleaned out the vent opening but nothing like this.

Okay, so I disconnected the rear prop. shaft at the rear axle and there wasn't any abnormal stress on it. So, that leads me to believe that it really was just a matter of the seal blowing due to just being time to blow. Can anyone verify my previous post about removing the pinion seal? Or maybe I should ask, is this one of those deals where it's ten times harder than it sounds?

Timber I've never done that one but those that I've talked with that have made it sound do-able. You sound like you have a grasp on things. I'd try it.