Time to take off the differential covers

DasBuxxx

DasBuxxx

New member
Okay, so last night I took ol' Crash into the dealership to get my rear axle looked at because i noticed fluid on the passenger side rear caliper. Being that i'm still under warranty decided to have them take a gander. In fact it was as expected, the seal is busted and they said that they are replacing the bearing too. I was planning on doing my diff fluid this weekend , which they reminded me. I plan on removing the covers and cleaning out both front and rear and want to know what everyone suggests for a seal. I looked a little and saw in the solid write up that they provided an RTV Tube. Does anyone suggest anything specific other than this, or advise against removing the covers to clean out the diffs.?

Bux
 
I see that you have a '12, how many miles? If you have low miles and don't suspect anything being wrong I'd just pull the drain plug. It's good practice to pull the covers from time to time but not necessary in my opinion every time. For the sealant, grab yourself a tube of rtv sealant from the auto parts store.
 
wayoflife said:
This write-up will help you out:

http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-ups/jeep-jk-wrangler-solid-differential-cover-installation

But, I would recommend that you pick up a bottle of The Right Stuff by Permatex. It works so much better. Also, don't let anyone talk you into getting a Lube Locker gasket. Trust me, I've been doing this for a long time and the Right Stuff is the best gasket you can use.
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Thanks man. I figured you would have an "ask me how I know" on this one. always appreciated

Atch said:
I see that you have a '12, how many miles? If you have low miles and don't suspect anything being wrong I'd just pull the drain plug. It's good practice to pull the covers from time to time but not necessary in my opinion every time. For the sealant, grab yourself a tube of rtv sealant from the auto parts store.
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I'm sitting @ 24K (i got the 12 in October of 11) I figure that this not being the first change would be good to check them out.
 
The attached link says to fill with 2 quarts. The Amsoil site says to fill the front of a 09 rubicon with 2.3 pints. What is the correct amount for my rubicon with stock diff covers, front and rear?
 
Jkrubi said:
The attached link says to fill with 2 quarts. The Amsoil site says to fill the front of a 09 rubicon with 2.3 pints. What is the correct amount for my rubicon with stock diff covers, front and rear?
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Ultimately, you just need to fill your diffs so that the oil reaches the bottom of your axle tubes. If you're running factory covers, you can just fill them till they ooze out of the fill hole.
 
wayoflife said:
This write-up will help you out:

http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-ups/jeep-jk-wrangler-solid-differential-cover-installation

But, I would recommend that you pick up a bottle of The Right Stuff by Permatex. It works so much better. Also, don't let anyone talk you into getting a Lube Locker gasket. Trust me, I've been doing this for a long time and the Right Stuff is the best gasket you can use.
Click to expand...

bah! I was thinking this was going to be my next move to go with the reusable gasket. I want to take a look in the diff but don't feel like scraping and resealing each time. What was your issue with the gasket?
 
I really don't know what the issue was with a Lube Locker, other than the price. I have had one on my Cherokee now for about four years. I have had it off three time switching out a lock right to a real LSD. I also put them on my 2012 JK, front & rear. Much nicer than scraping RTV off. Just wipe off the parts, and put it back together.
 
ilikeguns said:
bah! I was thinking this was going to be my next move to go with the reusable gasket. I want to take a look in the diff but don't feel like scraping and resealing each time. What was your issue with the gasket?
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First off, the JK axles come with drains, there is no need to pull off the cover every time you want to service it. 2nd, I've never seen scraping and resealing a diff cover as being a hassle. Even if it were, I personally prefer a diff that won't leak over one that is easier to reseal. While I would be the first to admit that regular RTV won't do a very good job of taking rock abuse, The Right Stuff is extremely strong and enough so that separating the cover for internal inspection can be difficult to do - that's a quality problem in my eyes. It's bad enough that a rock can grab the bottom of a diff cover and cause a leak but to help it along by creating a gap between the housing and cover with a thicker gasket will only make this easier to happen. At least, that's what I have seen and you can take it for what it's worth.
 
wayoflife said:
First off, the JK axles come with drains, there is no need to pull off the cover every time you want to service it.
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Agreed.. I just changed the oil last weekend but after taking some abuse, I wanted to do a visual inspection on the gears on my puny d30, but laziness and lack of sealant made me skip that part.

wayoflife said:
2nd, I've never seen scraping and resealing a diff cover as being a hassle. Even if it were, I personally prefer a diff that won't leak over one that is easier to reseal. While I would be the first to admit that regular RTV won't do a very good job of taking rock abuse, The Right Stuff is extremely strong and enough so that separating the cover for internal inspection can be difficult to do - that's a quality problem in my eyes. It's bad enough that a rock can grab the bottom of a diff cover and cause a leak but to help it along by creating a gap between the housing and cover with a thicker gasket will only make this easier to happen. At least, that's what I have seen and you can take it for what it's worth.
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The thicker gasket logic does make sense. How are you getting the diff off with the stronger sealant? In the past, i've just been beating them with a rubber mallet.
 
ilikeguns said:
The thicker gasket logic does make sense. How are you getting the diff off with the stronger sealant? In the past, i've just been beating them with a rubber mallet.
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You'll have to use a heavy dead blow to get it off. Or, you can give it a softer tap with a good 2 lb. hammer.
 
wayoflife said:
2nd, I've never seen scraping and resealing a diff cover as being a hassle. Even if it were, I personally prefer a diff that won't leak over one that is easier to reseal. While I would be the first to admit that regular RTV won't do a very good job of taking rock abuse, The Right Stuff is extremely strong and enough so that separating the cover for internal inspection can be difficult to do - that's a quality problem in my eyes. It's bad enough that a rock can grab the bottom of a diff cover and cause a leak but to help it along by creating a gap between the housing and cover with a thicker gasket will only make this easier to happen. At least, that's what I have seen and you can take it for what it's worth.
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I just did my diff cover with a lube locker. I've done enough mechanical work (not an expert) to know if I try to seal a device in place with gasket sealant, I will fail and it will leak. On the other hand if I have the engine or axle out of the vehicle I can seal it perfect with sealant. For those of us that are weekend mechanics, the lube locker makes perfect sense.

BTW, a rock peeled my rear diff back enough to make it leak. It was sealed with RTV and it wasn't much of a strike to make it leak. The problem seems to be the stock diff covers aren't very strong on the edge and bend easy.
 
danrb said:
I just did my diff cover with a lube locker. I've done enough mechanical work (not an expert) to know if I try to seal a device in place with gasket sealant, I will fail and it will leak. On the other hand if I have the engine or axle out of the vehicle I can seal it perfect with sealant. For those of us that are weekend mechanics, the lube locker makes perfect sense.
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Assuming you have a automatic, good luck finding a lube locker for your sump pan.

BTW, a rock peeled my rear diff back enough to make it leak. It was sealed with RTV and it wasn't much of a strike to make it leak.
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As I said back on post #9, "I would be the first to admit that regular RTV won't do a very good job of taking rock abuse". The Right Stuff is no regular RTV and it is why I recommend it instead of regular RTV.

The problem seems to be the stock diff covers aren't very strong on the edge and bend easy.
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The problem with stock covers is that the lip hangs down enough from the bottom of the housing to get caught on rocks. If you remove the cover and grind the lip down a bit so that the edge sits just a tad above the housing lip, you will reduce your chances of this happening. Conversely, if you run an aftermarket cover with a lube locker, you will create enough of a gap that a rock can still grab your cover and separate it enough to cause a leak. But hey, you can believe what you want to believe. :yup:
 
mikefishes said:
JK I found that same Permatex at Advance Auto in a pressurized can with a nozzle on it. Was like using a pressurized caulk gun. Was super easy and worked great
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Yup, that's the Right Stuff and yes, it's like "diff whiz" :D

Install it properly and it will serve you well.
 
wayoflife said:
The problem with stock covers is that the lip hangs down enough from the bottom of the housing to get caught on rocks. If you remove the cover and grind the lip down a bit so that the edge sits just a tad above the housing lip, you will reduce your chances of this happening. Conversely, if you run an aftermarket cover with a lube locker, you will create enough of a gap that a rock can still grab your cover and separate it enough to cause a leak. But hey, you can believe what you want to believe. :yup:
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So you're saying that the 4500 lbs of the vehicle sitting on a rock, falling onto a rock, etc, that your gasket sealer, you can remove by hand will better survive the forces than RTV? Like you said, "you can believe what you want to believe." Once a sealant separates, it leaks. Gaskets have the ability expand and contract without losing the seal. It's engineering, not opinion.
 
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