1987 MJ Dana 44 question.... (inner axle seals)

[jpnjim]

Who has pulled the axle shafts on an 87' MJ/XJ D44 rear?

 

 

Stupid question,

but were there any inner axle seals in there?

 

 

Reason I'm asking

I'm pulling apart an 87' MJ D44 right now,

and it does NOT have inner axle seals.

 

The axle tubes don't look like they ever had seals installed,

and the shiny seal mating surface on the axle shafts don't look like they've ever had seals riding on them either.

 

Furthermore, there wasn't any bearing grease on the wheel bearings,

tho they appeared to be adequately lubed in diff fluid.

 

 

I was under the impression that this axle would have the wheel bearings packed with wheel bearing grease, and have axle seals on both sides of the bearings (inner & outer axle seals).

 

 

research

The Factory Jeep 1986-1987 XJ/MJ parts manual DOES NOT show, or list inner axle seals for the D44 rear axle

(same book DOES show seals for both generations of non-C-clip D35's, and the MJ Model 20).

 

The 1989 & 1990 FSM's DO show inner axle seals on their D44 exploded diagrams,

and describes the inner seal, and using axle grease on the wheel bearings when installing replacement axles.

 

 

As it relates to D35's

I know early & late year non-c-clip D35's both had inner axle seals, because I've replaced them in the past.

 

I thought later C-clip D35's did not have inner axle seals, and used diff fluid to lube the outer wheel bearings,

but the 1990 FSM describes inner axle seals & lubing the bearings on the 1990 C-clip D35. :dunno:

I had a 1992 C-clip D35, and am almost positive there were no inner seals. :dunno:

 

 

 

 

Anyone know this stuff,

should my 87' 44 rear have inner axle seals?

(in which case I'd assume the seals were removed by a former owner)

 

or did the factory 'try' to run the MJ/XJ 44's seal-less at first, lubing the bearings with the gear oil,

only to revise the design later, and as a running change,

go back to conventional inner/outer seals + bearing grease?

[87Warrior]

My Rubicon D44 rear does not have the inner seals, just the outer bearing and seal. I have not started tearing down my MJ D44. See below:

However, the front D44 in the Rubicon has the inner seal.

[jpnjim]

My Rubicon D44 rear does not have the inner seals, just the outer bearing and seal. I have not started tearing down my MJ D44. See below:

However, the front D44 in the Rubicon has the inner seal.

 

Interesting,

as with the MJ 44, I figured TJ & Rubi 44's had inner & outer seals.

[HOrnbrod]

For sure no inner axle seals on the 91-92 MJ D35 c-clips Jim; wheel bearings are lubed by the diff fluid. Seal is outboard of the wheel bearing. My 91-92 FSM shows inner seals for the MJ D44 though, working inboard on out are the axle seal, wheel bearing, then the retaining ring. HTH. :cheers:

[89eliminator]

my (unknown year) MJ44 does not have inner seals.

[jpnjim]

For sure no inner axle seals on the 91-92 MJ D35 c-clips Jim; wheel bearings are lubed by the diff fluid. Seal is outboard of the wheel bearing. My 91-92 FSM shows inner seals for the MJ D44 though, working inboard on out are the axle seal, wheel bearing, then the retaining ring. HTH. :cheers:

 

Thanks Don,

good to know I'm not completely losing my mind ;)

 

 

 

my (unknown year) MJ44 does not have inner seals.

 

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

Excellent!

this was what I was hoping to hear

(rather that having to worry that the axle was modified/butchered by a previous owner).

 

 

 

 

Anyone else's confirmations on D44 seals, yes, or no would still be helpful,

 

but I think the next step would be to figure out if if the bearings are happier in gear oil, or grease,

& then either install, or ignore the seals.

(seals are only like $3 each, and the axle shafts have the seal surface, so it's not a cost issue)

 

:cheers:

[mjeff87]

no inner seals, bearings are lubed by the gear oil :wavey:

 

Jeff

[Incommando]

I have had several older D44's apart and none have had inner seals.

[JeepcoMJ]

5 for 5, no inner seals on d44's I've had/have

[jpnjim]

Wow,

OK, that's good enough for me,

 

seems pretty conclusive that XJ D44's did not use inner axle seals, and lubed the wheel bearings with gear oil,

much like C-clip axles.

 

 

I'm going to follow a little more of the paper trail,

like do they list a rear wheel bearing repacking schedule (like "repack rear wheel bearings every 30k miles"),

or do the later parts books show an inner axle seal part number.

 

Thanks again for the help guys,

I didn't think I'd this many responses this quickly. :thumbsup:

[dfreeman616]

yea no inner seals on mj/xj d44. there's no part listing for an inner seal, either.

[jpnjim]

Thanks for all the replies :cheers:

 

I cleaned the axle up, hit it with some POR-15:

 

 

and picked up some goodies for it:

 

 

but wait.... one of these things doesn't belong:

 

 

somehow a MASSIVE 10 lug rotor ended up the box that should've held a10"x2.5" drum

 

Box was marked correctly, but in stead held this 50lb hunk of cast iron,

it's hard to tell scale in the pic, but here's a quarter sitting on it:

 

Rock Auto's gonna send me out the right drum, and let me know if they want the dump truck rotor back :D

[Oizarod115]

I'm also 3 for 3 on no inner seals on xj44s

 

axle is lookin good man!

[jpnjim]

I'm also 3 for 3 on no inner seals on xj44s

 

 

Thanks,

that's got to be a easy dozen, or more from members here w/o seals.

 

Weird, every non-c-clip axle I've had has had inner seals (till now).

 

I like the idea of not worrying about wrecking the seals when you pull the shafts, so it looks like I'll go with the flow, and not run any.

 

axle is lookin good man!

 

Thanks for that too,

 

I like it better all painted and purty too ;)

[CherokeeXJ]

I have a 89 xj d44 that I just rebuilt and it had no inner seals either. But the fill plug on the cover is below the axle tubes, and no oil leaks when pulling the axle shafts. Does the fluid slosh around enough when driving or is something else wrong here?

[gogmorgo]

The ring gear splash lubes everything. If you’ve still got the cover off, you should be able to find some passages above and below the axle tubes to splash oil in and drain it back out.

This is a great visual of a ring gear splashing around the oil, also a great series in general talking about diff covers: