Dana 30 and confused

[Rodzilla]

So I got the 30 spline axle upgrade and ARB Locker done to my front dana 30 on my 89 YJ plus had new 4.88 gears installed. I had another guy do the install and he was in a rush to have it ready for maylong. It worked good but my compressor was kicking in lots when front locker was engadged. After the weekend I removed the front diff cover and found a bunch of water and crap got in the housing, which I kinda expected because I was in some holes up to my front bumper. Its rolling on 36" Iroks, has a 3" bodylift and at best guess a 4" suspension lift since previous owner bought it the was it is.
I then pulled the axles (removing the 3 bolts from spindle as to not disassemble the hub and what I found was the housing packed with sand and crap. The only seals I could find were the inner oil seals and nothing on the out side edge of the axle housing. Shouldn't there be seals on the end of the axle housings? Did the guy who installed this forget or neglect to install them. I've been searching all over the Net but all anyone talks about is the how to's of removing and installing the inner oil seals on each side of the differential or how to do the seals in the hubs. It doesn't make sense to not have seals on the ends allowing crap to get up into the housing.
Any info on this would be helpful. Attached is a couple pics of my rig and what I found with the axles. Thanks.

[FiEND]

no seals on the outside.  if you want them, they are aftermarket.  probably do help if you sink your jeep a lot.

which reminds me, i should check my fluids.. always forget.

[Rodzilla]

OK thanks. Thats a dumb design I think. Anyone point me in the direction of aftermarket outer housing seals. I suspect she will be seeing many more muddy soup holes yet.

[Immortal]

Modern Motors has them... fairly cheap too, if I recall correctly.

[Rodzilla]

OK...I'm in Red Deer though, anyplace in my area? Next question. I'm going to replace the inner oil seals and need to remove my ARB carrier to get at them. Can I just remove the caps and pull straight out and put back in later and not worry about anything being out of whack. Since the back lash is set at the pinion I was thinking it wouldn't be a problem although I dont know about the side to side adustment or if I could accidently mess that up. Thanks.

[JackstandJohnny]

OK...I'm in Red Deer though, anyplace in my area? Next question. I'm going to replace the inner oil seals and need to remove my ARB carrier to get at them. Can I just remove the caps and pull straight out and put back in later and not worry about anything being out of whack. Since the back lash is set at the pinion I was thinking it wouldn't be a problem although I dont know about the side to side adustment or if I could accidently mess that up. Thanks.

make sure you put the bearing caps back the same way you take em out and you'll be fine

do your O- rings while you're in there. for the 3 bucks they cost and the extra 5 minutes in work its well worth it. 

as far as tube seals, the stock Yj shafts should have white plastic things on them to semi seal the axle to keep large things out. go aftermarket if you need the whole seal.   or stay out of the mud ;0-

[FiEND]

Backlash is set with shims at the carrier bearings. If you remove the carrier, just make sure you keep the shims and bearing caps separate for each side and you will be good. The caps have markings that line up with the housing if you look close. Locktight and torque specs are important.

[Rodzilla]

Backlash is set with shims at the carrier bearings.

Oh ya,,,I had that wrong. And for the previous poster, the guy who reassembled my axels had nothing to cover the ends of the axles. Filled up nicely with sand etc I found the Superior seals online,,,definately need a set,,,cause staying clean is not an option 

[morerpmfred]

Altitude adjustments in red deer may have the superoir seals  in stock as well as northridge in ponoka

[BlackYJ]

If your compressor was kicking in a lot with your front locker engaged, you have an air leak.  It should only kick in about 6 times day with a lot of use

[Rodzilla]

No air leak could be found in any of the plumbing. And it wasn't happening all the time,,,sometimes I could go 2-3 hrs with them engaged and have no prob then next time the compressor would kick in for a 1 second burst every few minutes. Now with the diffs drained I can engage the lockers front and rear and have it sit there and not leak down or any thing. Maybe with all the crap in my front diff the airlocker couldnt engage fully, not sure.

[Bnine]

You were probably getting some debris into O-rings, causing a small leak once in  a while.

Stan at Northridge4x4.ca should have seals for you.

I replaced both your inner seals. They should be holding, but if you sat in water they will still  leak no matter what.

Hopefully you didnt damage any of the bearings with the mud.

Make sure you check the pinion for any play, and watch that the pinion seal deosnt leak.

Its common for mud to take out bearings. If you catch it fast, its not to big of a deal to do a bearing job. If you leave it, bad things can happend to the gears and locker.

Personally I would just change your fluid, check the pinion, and run it. Try not to sit stagnant in holes or your diffs will fill up.

You are doing the right thing though by coming home and tearing everything down and replacing the fluids.

I threw in regulay 80/90 for your break in period. If you want to up the fluid quality without uping your cost substancially, go to an industrial supply shop and get a 5 gallon pail of 85/140 NON synthetic for about 60 bucks.

The heavier fluid will protect the gears from shock load, and the non synthetic is better for retention on hi-pinion axles.

Dont run synthetics. Its a waste of money for your application.

Have fun with the new toy.