Dana 30 DIff Fluid Leak - Help needed

[Cliffy23]

I have a problem where I have diff fluid coming out of my front-passenger side axle tube right below the shaft. It is not coming out fast but appears to be moving quicker than before. I am thinking this is an oil seal issue within the tube. I do not see fluid splatter on the shaft itself, just under it and then pooling a bit on the bottom of the knuckle area below the shaft.

I have alloyusa shafts, 4.1 gears and different u-joints. I have an ARB in there as well.

My question is, is this something that seems like a rookie could handle in swapping that seal (factoring it is a seal) or should I take it to someone and have them do and if so, whom? Anyone with experience here want to make some money on the side if appropriate?

I worry that going through the little stream/river going to forest lake up AF canyon may have allowed water in the diff and that is why I am focusing on this now.

I have looked at the Stu Olsen site (http://www.stu-offroad.com/axle/d30seals/seal-1.htm) on this and the swap seems tricky and complicated.

Furthermore, a friend told me to get these (http://www.quadratec.com/products/52420_900.htm) as a way to prevent this in the future. Are these a good idea?

Thanks!

 

[Col Mustard]

Replacing the seal isn't that difficult.

To replace the inner axle seal, you'll remove both shafts so that you can pull your carrier out of the diff. Then it's just a matter of installing a new seal.

The bearing caps should be marked so that the left and right side parts stay on their respective sides. Just make a note of how everything came out (bearing caps, shims, ect.) and put them back in the same way. You'll need a torque wrench to tighten the bearing caps when you put it all back together. The carrier may be in very very snug. Don't scar the ring teeth when you're pulling it out. Sometimes it will come out with a little prying, maybe with a slide hammer. To put the carrier back in, use a deadblow hammer. Don't hit metal with metal.

It's a job that takes time more than anything.

As far as the axle tube seals that fit in the outer end of the tube, I don't like them for a couple reasons. Others may have experience with them and be able to counter my thoughts but here is my thinking.

With the end of the axle seal plugged, how do you know when your inner seal needs to be replaced? I think you could burn up a diff due to all the gear oil now sitting in the axle tube.
How do you know when that outer seal is bad? What if it allows water and crud into the shaft and that all finds its way into the diff.

 

[Cliffy23]

Thanks for the information on swapping those seals. I do worry about doing that myself since I have not did anything such as that EVER. For now I have simply tested the fluid in the DIFF to see it is milkly-like to see if water has went in there and it doesn't seem like it had. So... I simply added some fluid to the diff since I felt it was a tad low (due to the seal issue).

Thanks for your take on the alloyusa outer seal add-on idea. I would like others opinion on the matter because they do seem to have a lot of positive feedback on other sites.

Also, I found a lot of people on other sites with a leak such as mine and they seemed to simply deal with it by checking gear oil levels monthly or so and watching the leak area. I will continue to watch it and see how bad the leak is now that I have cleaned the area and just added fluid to the DIFF for the first time since I bought the jeep in November 08.

I also checked the fluid in the rear diff and it seems full and the oil is not milky in color.

Thanks, i'll see what others think about the alloyusa seals.