Howdy all,

First time poster and not to sure this is where this thread needs to be, apologize if not.
I recently bought a 1994 jeep grand cherokee 4.0. Am going through fixing what needs to be fixed as the previous owner treated it like hell. Am currently working on the brakes and some of the front steering / suspension pieces. As I am doing so, I notice something that doesnt look right. Takes me a while to figure out what they are called in order to even ask this question. Front outer axle tube seals... After finding out and doing some reading up on em, they dont seem all that important for a daily driver. BUT I would still like to understand what I am seeing. There is about a 1/4 in gap between the seals and where they would seal (sorry dont know what the piece would be called). The seals are very tight on on the axle. If these are suppose to help keep stuff outta the axle tube, are the suppose to be butted up tight or is there suppose to be that gap? Like I said, they are tight on the axle shaft and didnt want to try and force them to move down the axle if they are not suppose to move. Here is a picture.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Is that a 2WD vehicle?

 

Oops! No, its a 4x4.

 

There are either CV joints (like shown in my image) or universal joints at that location.

The boot is to protect the joint lubrication and limit contamination.

The axle seal is far inboard.

The common solution to a boot failure is to swap out the entire assembly for new axle half shafts, w/ new joints and boots. I got mine for a very reasonable cost off eBay.

 

The purpose of the white ring in question is to keep debris like stones from entering axle tubes. Having a small gap between ring and axle tube is normal.

 

Yeah, they are just there to keep large stones from getting into the tubes and damaging the axles themselves. They won't keep mud or water out. My 97 didn't even have them installed.

 

Thank you guys. I appreciate the replies. This being my first Jeep, I am still learning whats suppose to be what. Am not much of a mechanic but at $300, I couldnt pass up buying it and having a go with getting this thing back on the road.

 

IDK what your location is, but keep an eye on the "frame" for rust, especially around the control arm mounting brackets. My 97 was ridden hard and put away wet too many times so one of the lower rear control arms tore out of the frame. After plating and welding it back in, my mechanic told me to start looking for another one because it wouldn't pass inspection the following year. THAT was MY first jeep! I live in the salt belt and they don't last long anyway.

As far as the 4.0 is concerned, you've got to really try hard to kill one. My current jeep has 235K miles on her and still running strong.

 

Live in a desert climate with an average of 10 inches of rain a year and little to no snow. Rust is never an issue with cars here But thanks!