disco eliminator axle seal problems

I got the front axle disconnect eliminator conversion my 1990 xj. The seal on the driverside for the axle at the diff is fine, it uses the stock seal. however on passenger side, the seal is not stock as the axle diameter is different than stock. the non stock seal on the passenger side are not as nice as the stock driverside seal. single lip seal verses double lip seal, plus the driver side seal has a cone shape to guide the axle into place during install

Well my passenger seal is leaking again, that seal is junkola.

what grease seal might be the best for this application? it is a big pain to replace, but by golly, I want a better seal. seeing as it is impossible to see the seal once the diff carrier is installed, it is not possible to know if the axle has folded over the lip of that seal or not. that is what happened last time, the seal got folded over despite care in inserting the axle ( never an issue with the stock driver seal with the two lips and guide cone )
any suggestions on what brand seal will work that might have a double lip and or a guide cone on it? This latest seal started leaking within a month, or at least it took a month for the diff oil to work its way out and drip on the ground.

thanks

Get the dimensions on a replacement seal and the go to the manufacturers sight (a good one like Timken) and look for a seal by those dimensions. From there they are listed by the different seal types.

The problem appears to be the design of the seal, even if it is of the correct size for the shaft. it appears that because the seal lacks the cone of the stock seal, which serves as a guide for the shaft install, that the install goes wrong too easily, and since you cannot see the seal once the shaft is in place, one has no way of knowing if it is right or not, until much later when it leaks.

what I really want is a seal with the stock style cone, but it must of course be sized for the aftermarket shaft.

the seal prior to this leaker had leaked because a portion of the seal lip got folded over on install.

Again you will have to search for that option by size.

It’s been a long time since I did a one piece conversion but I remember at the time any seals that fit didn’t have the ramp. The preferred method back then was to grind out the seat to fit the same seal as the left side.

IslanderOffRoad said:

It’s been a long time since I did a one piece conversion but I remember at the time any seals that fit didn’t have the ramp. The preferred method back then was to grind out the seat to fit the same seal as the left side.

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You know I have heard that too. That might be my best bet at this point. I wish I had done that when I had the axle dissassembled out of the jeep two years ago when I regeared.

I suppose a session with a dremel grinder might be in its future. Problem is that I will need to keep the newly cut seal seat concentric with the original, else the seal and shaft will be radially offset.

I wonder what the offset tolerance is of an oil seal? Does anyone have a source for that info?

I wish it It would be easy to put the axle on a mill with a head attachment to allow a precise hole to be cut, but my only practicle option is hand held grinder.

Golly seems like just last month I had that carrier out, oh yes, it was last month, time to do it again!

Hey wait a minute. IDEA! why not adapt the cone type driver side seal to fit the smaller passenger side seal bore?

The driver side seal is a stepped design, the larger diameter step is what fits the driver side bore, but the seals smaller diameter step is smaller than the passenger side bore, so......

On a lathe, or other tool, cut off the larger diameter step of the driver side seal, then machine a ring to fit as an adaptor. press the driver side coned seal with its step cut off, press it into the adaptor ring, the ring pressed into the diff housing. no need to grind the housing, and concentricy is maintained by accurate turning on a lathe of the adaptor ring!

I think I will try this, if I screw up, I only ruined a seal, not my diff case, and I can do this in the comfort of my shop, not laying under my jeep to grind my diff case.


happy day, unless someone has a found a flaw in my plan? thoughts?

The adaptor ring will need to be 2 inch outside dia. with about .07 inch wall thickness.

So a 2 inch outside dia. steel tube with 1/8 inch wall should work as my starting material, Then turn down the inside diameter to 0.07 inch wall thickness and I should be good.

I got a spare driverside seal, so I will cut the step portion of it off. then press it into my adaptor ring.

Here is a link to another post where I placed a photo of the drawing of the adaptor I want to make....

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/leaky-axle-disconnect-eliminator-seal-262198/

the adaptor is simply a ring with a step to give two diameters, the small dia. for pressing into the seal, and the large diameter for pressing into the 2.0 inch bore in the differential case. The adaptor will slip inside the stock driver side seal, (the bottom seal in the aforementioned photo) the larger diameter part of that seal will be trimmed away next. (the stock seal has two diameters, it is stepped, the large step is too big dia. to press into the passenger side of the diff. case, the smaller diameter is too small to press into the case. the large dia. of the seal will be cut off) the adaptor with the seal will be pressed into the seal bore on the passenger side differential case.
I think this is easier and will give a very concentric seal placement to the bearing.

From what I have gathered, for a typical oil seal like the jeep uses, for a 1 inch shaft diameter, the tolerance of concentricy is about 0.006 inches. to hand grind to that tolerance from the diff. case with a dremal, when layimg under the jeep when you need to take off an eighth of an inch is dicey. The adaptor will be easy to make holding 0.001 inch concentricy on a standard lathe.

any comment or recommendation on this adaptor design before I start?

My fix (with photos).....

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/modified-dana-30-disco-eliminator-oil-seal-262413/#post3648995..