Axle tube seals for CJ D30s?

Anyone ever looked into machining the tubes so an axle seal can be installed? One of the things I've been pondering lately (popped up when I was cutting the cylinder ridges on the 225). We do a lot of water here and it would be nice to not have to check the diff after every run.

 

Would it be easier to pressurize the axles and keep the water out? I had thought the main reason water gets drawn in is the negative pressure produced by cooling the axle.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/water-proofing-ignition-axles-hubs-ect-675585/#post6395695

 

http://www.4wd.com/Jeep-Drivetrain-...aspx?t_c=12&t_s=237&t_pt=101188&t_pn=ALY11102



Don't they make a seal for the end of the tubes now? They have them for the tj front Dana 30. Is there much difference between the Dana 30s over the years?

 

The D30 already has an inner axle shaft seal.
It seals water out away from the carrier section.

I noticed that there is no outer axle shaft seal for the axle tube.
Not having an outer tube seal allows water and mud to get inside the axle tube.
Mud gets in between the axle tube and the axle shaft.
Once in between it can not easily dry out and that leads to corrosion.

 

That's the deal, crap gets in the tube, and wear on the seals. I rebuilt my D30 a couple of years ago and I'm already changing out gear lube every time I go down to the river.

 

There should be a special washer fitted onto the end of the front axle shaft near the universal joint.
This shielding washer is all that is normally used to help keep dirt and mud out of the axle tube.
It is not a true seal, it is merely a shield.
It has a 1.375 I.D. and is a light press fit around the axle shaft.
The outermost D30 axle tube is shallowly counterbored at 2.50" I.D. to accept the 2.45 O.D. of the thin shield.
This outer tube counterbore could possibly be increased in depth to allow installation of a seal with a 2.50" O.D.
I suggest one might increase the outer tube counterbore depth to accept a neoprene type seal.
Then find a seal with correct I.D. and O.D.

The flanged 44 uses an inner axle seal located near the outer portion of the tube.
This seal #994261 has an O.D. of 2.5" and an I.D. of 1.5".
One might consider sleeving the outer axle shaft with a 1/16" thick bushing.
Then one could use the #994261 seal.

 

I have another simple idea if you want to know.....

 

Do tell.

 

To date I have tested none of my ideas for better sealing of the early narrow track D30.
I have not run a D30 for over 35 years but have recently been contemplating a D30 build in my future.

Well you know there's that pair of inner axle seals that is located inside the carrier.
One needs to remove the differential case in order to access them.
The standard seals are positioned to keep lubricant inside the carrier section.
They are not positioned to keep slurry out of the carrier section.
If you look you can see that the seal counterbore is rather deep.
In essence I suggest doubling the seals.
The seal pairs are installed in opposing directions.
Position the outermost seal lip to deter slurry from entry.
Position the innermost seal to keep lube inside the carrier.
Pack grease between the stacked pair of seals.
One will likely need to trim down some of the seal flange so that two will fit in the counterbore.

Yet another very simple idea is merely to pack the area between the axle shaft and the axle tube with grease.
That should help keep dense slurry out away from the inner carrier seals.

Also the late type D30 outer axle shaft seals shown in the link above should work if the early CJ axle tube diameter happens to be the correct I.D.
But then again it looks like those particular seals would set way too far outboard.
So that brings it full circle. Right back to my first idea.

 

Keep in mind that when you turn the wheels the yoke for the outer axle forces the yoke for the inner axle off center. This means a seal put in the tube not only needs a LOT of flexibility but the inner axle needs to be of a standard diameter and actually concentric. My experience has been that there are lots of variations in diameter and actual concentricity of the inner axles of CJ Dana 30's. later Dana 30's from YJ's, TJ's, XJ's, etc are much more standardized. I believe this may be the reason the aftermarket has not embraced the tube seals available for the later Jeeps for the CJ's. I considered manufacturing them for CJ's but when I saw all the variations decided it wasn't realistic because a large portion of purchasers would get a product that wouldn't work. Just too many variations.


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I like Ken's idea of using two seals and facing them in and out. I will try it and see if it works. In theory, I can't see a drawback to it as there is plenty of room for two.

 

Yeah I must agree with Nick.
Installing an outer seal alone probably will not work very well for very long.
For an outer tube seal to work as it should it will require a bearing to control the axial runout.
The only thing controlling outer axial runout is the bushing that is inside the inner spindle.
That inner spindle bushing is on the far side of the universal joint.
That inner spindle bushing is just not close enough to the outer tube to effectivly control the axial runout.

 

To add to this you cannot run a bearing on the outer end of the inner axle because the yoke end of the inner axle must have radial movement to accommodate the radial movement of the yokes as the knuckle is turned. The u-joint does not pivot in exactly the same plane as the ball joints.
The aftermarket tube seals sold by Seals-It iirc have a special very flexible seal that allows for this movement on the later model vehicles.


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Yeah I didn't think about that.
That would be a real problem alrigthy.