My heep has an 8.8 swap in the rear end and it's drivers side axle seal is leaking diff fluid pretty significantly in my opinion. Been sitting for over a month but I consider that a major leak.... Anyways I was wondering if this is a project I should tackle myself or should I take it to a shop? The repair seems straightforward enough to me. I'm mechanically inclined but I've read about horror stories of the cross pin breaking on these. my buddy's shop gives me pretty good prices on repairs (prob just feels bad for me/my jeep honestly lol) so I wouldn't necessarily be searching for a shop to fix it... Basically looking for an A: sack up it's simple answer or a B: if you know a good place take it there answer. Lol thanks everyone

 

Not a bad job to to on your own, I actually did my first 2 on a D35 and a 8.8 on a explorer.

 

Done a few... did an 8.8 on a ranger. Pretty straight forward and easy to do at home since its a c-clipped axle.

 

its a simple job to do yourself.
and if they've never been replaced before i would replace the outer axle bearings also. and be sure to polish up the seal surface on the axle shaft

 

Here's a write up for a c8.25 seal replacement. Its pretty much the same unless you pull the diff cover to find a limited slip. But even then still easy just don't remove the spring in between the spiders because it's a pita to put back in. You can get the c-clips out with it still in.
Also you might wanna get a outer bearing and check the surface were the bearing rides on the axle shaft. if it's worn then that will be the reason for the leak.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/ch...alation-94699/

 

I just put an 8.8 in mine. Be prepared to replace that pinion pin shaft bolt after EXTRACTING it. There are kits online that make it a ten minute job. Even if you are fortunate enough to have that bolt coming out without breaking, replace that thing... I spent hours on it, without including the wait time on that thirty dollar kit to extract it. All that for less than ten bucks in seals. While you're there take a close look at those parking brakes while you still have access..just a couple words of advice/warning.

 

ouch, ive never had one break on me

 

This is exactly what scares me about this job... Thanks for the viewpoint though