Rear pinion seal

[Nightpath]

I've looked around (search here isn't working for me for some reason) and I was wondering how you guys change the rear pinion seal. I've heard several different ways but I want to know what you guys recommend.

I was told to just pop the drive shaft off, mark where the nuts, etc are and measure the torque + turns, remove, replace the seal, and pop everything back on.

Another way was removing the axles, brakes and so on and then doing the driveshaft to get at the seal.

Those are abrupt versions of what I've seen...how would you recommend it be done by a first timer?

[dan]

mark which side is which on both the driveshaft and the pinion yoke. just a quick line on each for alignent purposes is all you need. unbolt the end of the driveshaft at the pinion, and set it down out of the way. no need to even remove it from the t-case.
if you have a good impact gun, removing the pinion nut is a breeze. just spin it off with the appropriate sized socket on the impact gun, I think it's either 1 1/8 or 1 1/4. otherwise, you will need a good sized pipe wrench to hold the pinion, and you will have to break it loose with a strong-arm and possibly a pipe for extra leverage.
once you remove the nut, give the back side of the pinion yoke a tap, it should come loose. pull it off, along with the washer that was behind the nut.
use a screwdriver or prybar to pop out the old pinion seal.. be cafeful to not jam your pry-tool into the bearing. that don't want to hurt that.
.give the surface that the seal seals on a good cleaning with emery cloth or sandpaper, make sure all the rust and dirt is gone. use a piece of pipe or a large deep socket to tap the new seal in. the socket or pipe should fit sin the deep ring area near the outside diameter of the seal. that way it won't deflect any of the seal when you hammer it in. (I have used a block of wood flat on the outside to hammer it in carefully, juist walking the piece of wood around in a circle as I tapped. it works.) make sure you don't hit it in crooked, or else you might bend the seal, and it won't seal properly.
once the seal is in, take the pinion yoke, and clean the sealing surface really well with emery cloth or sandpaper. you want to smooth out any bumps, or high and low spots, and clean it up nicely. Then you can put it back in on the pinion, followed by the washer, and the nut.
tighten it up, and you will feel the pinion flopping around some. continue to tighten it up and you will feel the slop getting less and less.
tighten to the point where the free play and slop *just* stops. this should give you the amount of load or preload that you had before you took it apart. I often make it just a tiny bit more tight after that, to give it a little more preload, to compensate for gear and pinion wear.
bolt up your driveshaft again.

[Nightpath]

Thanks Dan. I see 2 types of rear pinion seals (look different physically) for my stock Dana 35. UAP Napa wants $30 give or take for one, Canadian Tire says $15.

Here's what Rock Auto has for the part number Canadian Tire has, which is the same as they showed me : www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=257081


But the same part number brings up a different looking rear pinion seal : www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1117195


NAPA's pinion seal looks like Rockauto's, while Canadian Tire's look like the 1st one.

Help me out lol...does anyone know where I can get a decent one for a good price? Heading to Cape Breton tomorrow (not in the Jeep though) so it'll be a few days.

Maybe stop at APJ's along the way...hmmm

[dan]

they both have the same ID and OD's. they should both work, but I would go with the second one, the Timken part. another one that should be the same is SKF #18472. I have one sitting in front of my right now, I have had it in the glovebox of the Yj for like 3 years now. It looks the same as the Timken part.

[itsakeeper]

good price from C.Tire - same as my National/Timken pricing - no stock right now but will be back in next week probably
CR is sometimes cheaper but Timken have the better quality imho

[dan]

I have never been a real big fan of CR seals, we get the occasional truck that comes in to work from an auction with CR seals, and we change them all out to Stemco.
as for my personal stuff, I try to stick with wither SKF, National, or Timken. they seem to have the goodz.

[itsakeeper]

ummm SKF is CR; one and the same - National is Timken also

[dan]

so they are.... they don't even look the same. they are still swo separate products though, are they not?

[mostheman]

Does Timken / National own Koyo as well?

I googled and couldn't find anything. Last set of toy bearings I pruchased were national, one had the same color grease seal on it as the koyo coming out.

[Nightpath]

Got it from the stealership for $20

Going to replace it soon as I can, might take the back off and clean it out while I'm rolling around underneath it. If fluid can seep out then fluid can seep in, so lord knows what could be in there.

[mrg]

Mar 23, 2012 19:45:34 GMT -4 Nightpath said:

Got it from the stealership for $20

Going to replace it soon as I can, might take the back off and clean it out while I'm rolling around underneath it. If fluid can seep out then fluid can seep in, so lord knows what could be in there.

Probably ghosts and a few lost socks. ;D

[Nightpath]

I KNEW my socks were going somewhere!!

[itsakeeper]

Mar 16, 2012 7:07:20 GMT -4 dan said:

so they are.... they don't even look the same. they are still swo separate products though, are they not?

SKF bought CR a few years ago and are slowly changing designs and part no's - unfortunetly to useless numbers that no longer mean anything except the metric ones

Timken bought National and left them alone except for packaging

[itsakeeper]

Mar 16, 2012 11:30:39 GMT -4 mostheman said:

Does Timken / National own Koyo as well?

I googled and couldn't find anything. Last set of toy bearings I pruchased were national, one had the same color grease seal on it as the koyo coming out.

Nope, Koyo are Japanese and are huge in that part of the world - quality seems good but stock and support is suffering in Canada - they also bought Torrington needle bearing division from Timken and now that division is suffering.

[Nightpath]

So I changed the rear pinion seal, put the pinion nut back on and turned it back to where it should be but now when I decelerate I get a whining/buzzing...anyone able to help me? I really need my jeep, it's my daily driver. Is it too tight or too loose? Did I destroy something?

Sweet jesus...