MGoers

Hey guys, noticed this the other day. Axle seal of some kind gone bad? Its splattered on the whole back side of the tire. Something that needs to be addressed immediately, and how?

Thanks y'all!

salad

Either axle seal or wheel cylinder. Needs to be addressed immediately as you've got oil inside the drum, which will cause that brake either to be useless or just lock up.

Little Red XJ

Had the exact same look on the inside of my tire....time to change both axle seals!!

Bustedback

If it's the axle seal, chances are pretty high you'll need bearings and an axle shaft too.

MGoers

Are the bearings something I can do myself? Where's the best place to get those parts? Also, will I need to go into the brakes to any large degree? I've never dealt with drums before.

Thanks guys!

Bustedback

If you don't know where to find the parts, I suggest taking it to a shop. Never heard of a parts store, like NAPA, O'reilly's, or Autozone?

MGoers

I was assuming there was a better/cheaper place to get them, but that works.

Bustedback

They will be about the same price everywhere, NAPA tends to be a little higher, but offer better quality.

MGoers

Yeah that's another reason why I asked. I'm not too confident in auto zone.

Thanks for the replies. I'm assuming the bearings are pressed in? I've changed shafts before but never bearings.

CCKen

You'll also need to rent the bearing/seal removal/install tooling to change the bearings and seals.

You'll also need maintenance instructions to go by.

Chilton/Haynes manual? Of course the FSM is the best.

Bustedback

Get a good manual, it will help a lot if you have never done anything like this before. If my step-daughter's boyfriend can do it, you can too.

MGoers

Haha, thanks. I'm pretty capable and would prefer to do it myself, but I also don't want to mess anything up either!

Love this forum.

mtulett1

this is the Michigan eLibray link when you get there go to the chilton library link it has it all there for free!!

http://mel.org/index.php?P=SPT--Brow...s&ParentId=617

Big David

It's pretty hard to mess it up.

You can get Yukon bearings with seals for $40, you'll also need gear oil & RTV gasket maker or similar, 13mm 6 point socket for the diff cover bolts, 8mm wrench for the bolt that holds the cross shaft in, remove the bolt, remove x shaft, remove the C clips, remove tire & drum, slide the axle shafts out, remove the seal with a screw driver or seal remover, you will need a bearing puller, you can use the old bearing to seat the new bearing into the axle tube, install seal.

The hard part is over, now re-install in reverse order & you are good to go.

The only thing you are missing are rear disc's to replace those drum brakes.

salad

Rear axle bearing and seal change is really easy. Aside from the tools to get into the diff and remove the shafts the actual job I did with a rented slide hammer puller, a rubber mallet, 2.5" ABS pipe, and a pry bar.

Wheel cylinders I'm not so sure. If you're rusty there's a change you'll break the brake line when you try to unscrew the fitting.

First stop is to yank the drum off and find the leak.