HuntinXJ

2001 XJ 4wd Sport. I had to pull the short axle to replaced crossthreaded lugstuds. When I put all back together, I noticed that a small amount to diff fluid was leaking onto the knuckle. Is safe to assume that the inner axle seal in shot?

Turbo X_J

The seals are fragile, if you hack it up with the axle splines, then it's goodbye.

NM-XJ

To help avoid such events in the future, apply a thin coating of grease to the shaft splines and seal seat before installing.

freegdr

Give it a good wipe up 99 percent of the time there undamaged just oil that got past seal during process.