Part ID, and how screwed am I?

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GreggNY

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Installing dynatrac ball joints and had a hell of a time getting the drivers side axle shaft out. I needed to use a pry bar and definitely took some effort. This ring/seal came out with the shaft and not sure what it is? Looks mangled and want to know if I need it or need to replace it? Inner axle seal?? I’m pretty positive it wasn’t on the shaft when I installed these ten factory shafts over the winter. So the shaft is still out (ball joints went in easy), and waiting to hear what I should do about this. The shaft will not slide back in easily at all right now. Help!?


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Looks like you removed part of your seal. So that will need to be replaced. The mystery to me is that collar. No idea what that is. I would take off the diff cover and take a look. You may need to take out your carrier. If you do that, be sure to keep track of the bearing caps and shim stacks, right and left. Everything will need to be reinstalled the way it came out, assuming your gears are set up correctly.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. The widest part of that ring/collar is metal and the smaller diameter section (facing the hub/wheel side) feels like hard rubber. That any help?

BTW- this is on a ‘16 JKUR

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I think the rubber part is part of the seal. Just going by the photos, the metal collar hung up on the seal and prevented the shaft from coming out. You forced it out, but destroyed the seal in the process. Seals are cheap so no big deal. You’re going to have to extract the carrier to replace the seal, and when you do that you will discover what other problems you may have. I might guess that the metal collar is part of your carrier bearing, but you need to get it apart to be sure. Were you hearing any weird noises while driving, such as grinding or whining sounds?
 
No problems/noises at all. The jeep is actually driving great. I was only doing the ball joints as preventative measures because I’m heading to Colorado in August.

That collar is pretty seized up on the shaft though. Can’t even get it off right now


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what you have there is part of the axle shaft seal, 68304271AA

The axial seal comes in two parts.

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You will need to remove the carrier to get in there to replace the seal. I would recommend making your own tool to press in the seal. I used a threaded rod (long enough to go partially through the adjacent shaft opening ) with some large washers to press mine in. Kind of like this (not exactly what i made but close):

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GreggNY said:
Thank you! That is definitely the piece. One problem solved. Now to figure out what the hell to do about this...

Any workaround to have the jeep driveable until I get the seals?

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Leave the axle shaft out and plug the tube with a rag. Just make sure it's plugged good enough that the fluid doesn't leak out and can drain back into the pumpkin.
 
GreggNY said:
You guys are awesome. This is the part, correct? Different number than sassmouthposted above so just confirming.

https://www.quadratec.com/products/52426_1117.htm


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That is a one part axle seal which uses a spring to keep the rubber boot over the shaft. It is an older part number. I think the newer seal is better. When i replaced my axle shaft i ended up dragging the end of the axle on the boot and the damn spring came off.

The other seal part number, 68304271AA, is the one specified for your 2016. You can find the part at many of the online mopar dealers like moparpartsdeals.com or moparpartsamerica.com, etc.
 
I'm tackling this project very soon. I'm leaking fluid and decided it's a good time to upgrade the axle shafts at the same time. Now I'm wondering if I should put in dynatrac ball joints since I'm taking nearly everything apart already...

I picked up the newer seals from rock auto and had them in a few days.

View attachment 305010
 
zimm said:
I'm tackling this project very soon. I'm leaking fluid and decided it's a good time to upgrade the axle shafts at the same time. Now I'm wondering if I should put in dynatrac ball joints since I'm taking nearly everything apart already...

I picked up the newer seals from rock auto and had them in a few days.

View attachment 305010
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I was all worried about the ball joints being a miserable job but pressing the factory garbage out and the Dynatrac’s in was cake. Def worth doing while you have everything apart (which was the longest part of the process). Dewalt cordless impact gun made quick work of the pressing. I rented a press kit from advance auto and bought the dynatrac install kit for $10. Didn’t even need the jeep adapter kit so I’ll be returning that


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My Jeep is my daily driver so couldn’t be laid up waiting for parts. In case anyone is wondering how bad the dealer will bend you over for the seals. I bought an extra just in case. Might just do both though

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Any suggestions on diff fluid and what to seal it up with? Luckily I have the next couple days off to get this done.


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Well I just pulled the trigger on the pro-steers, press, and adaptor kit. I didn't want to spend the money, but murphy's law is after I swap in new seals and axle shafts, the ball joints will go. I'm at 40k miles and on 37's, might as well.

If I ever have to upgrade to pro-rock D44, I should be able to swap in my upgraded axle shafts and ball joints too.

As for lube, any old 80w90 gear oil will work. I'm running a lube locker, I'll see how it holds up after being re-installed. You can seal a pumpkin cover with just rtv and be good to go. The RTV in the squirt can is better than a tube. "Right stuff" or something like that. It also doesn't go bad after using it, just pull out the hardened rtv with a cork like "pop" and use the can again.
 
GreggNY said:
My Jeep is my daily driver so couldn’t be laid up waiting for parts. In case anyone is wondering how bad the dealer will bend you over for the seals. I bought an extra just in case. Might just do both though

View attachment 305014

Any suggestions on diff fluid and what to seal it up with? Luckily I have the next couple days off to get this done.


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You want to do both seals, while You are in there.
 
GreggNY said:
My Jeep is my daily driver so couldn’t be laid up waiting for parts. In case anyone is wondering how bad the dealer will bend you over for the seals. I bought an extra just in case. Might just do both though
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Rock auto was $27 shipped, just to make you feel better. But if you need 'em the same day, you gotta pay.
 
Figured I’d update- the seal change went smooth and the jeep is up and running. The ball joints feel great and are a noticeable improvement over stock. My factory ones weren’t totally shot but definitely getting loose. The jeep front end feels nice and tight now, and no diff fluid leaking anywhere so win/win.

A couple things learned -

-Dynatrac ball joints are greased from them so no need to load them up after the install.

-If doing the ball joints and seals at the same time, one of the press cups from the ball joint kit fits perfect to press the seals in

- My carrier was really tight to get out of the diff. I used a block of wood against the housing on either side and held a pry bar against the bolt heads on one side and inside the ring gear on the other to tap back and forth to pry it out straight. Not sure if that makes sense.

-At this point I was wondering how much it would cost if I had to flatbed my Jeep to a shop lol. Scariest sight I’ve seen so far while working on the jeep:

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-This forum is the sh!t for jeep knowledge. I really don’t know how I would have got the answers, part numbers, and info as quick as I did to fix this mess literally overnight. Thanks again


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Great news. I'm doing the same thing next week after the pro-steers arrive. Of course they're shipping fed ex home delivery, which must be via horseback judging by the expected date.

The only part that I'm unsure about so far is how the rubi locker connector comes apart and how the mysterious "plunger" goes in. Hopefully it'll be obvious when I get to it.
 
zimm said:
Great news. I'm doing the same thing next week after the pro-steers arrive. Of course they're shipping fed ex home delivery, which must be via horseback judging by the expected date.

The only part that I'm unsure about so far is how the rubi locker connector comes apart and how the mysterious "plunger" goes in. Hopefully it'll be obvious when I get to it.
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I was confused about this too. The electrical plug disconnects from the top of the diff like any other plug. Then inside the diff you’ll see the plunger part, which from what I read, needs to be kept open or pulled out during reassembly. You can see the plunger in the back of the pic. This is how mine was before I took anything out and I put it back the same way. I didn’t have to do anything special to hold it but haven’t tested the locker yet so I guess we’ll see lol

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And there’s a YouTube video explaining it, but like I said mine went back in the same spot without doing anything. So I’m assuming it’s where it’s supposed to be

https://youtu.be/3oAFc-_g3ZA


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