OK, I need your opinions... I just bought some Dana 44s from a friend , I have went wheelin twice in it , once was in the mud for about 30 min. I was driving my jeep yesterday , and i heard the bearing making a noise, so I figured that it was going out , I had to replace the passenger side one when i first got it , I know , I should have taken the time to look at the other one to , but i didnt. Anyway , when i pulled the Warn hub off, it was packed full of mud , and the bearings were ruined to... Well. I cleaned it all up , and started to put it back together , and i noticed that there was not an axle seal on the back of the disc , So i went and bought one and installed it , I asked my friend that i bought the axles from why he didnt put them in , He says that it wouldnt make any difference , He says it will still get full of mud ... I find this hard to believe .... I think some mud will get inside , but it shouldnt get full of mud and i mean full of mud , should it?:confused: Anyway , I am gonna go back and clean the passenger side out to, and install the ring there to... Its gotta serve a purpose .. Please let me know what you think... I'm just trying to get it right... Thanks:beer:

The seals are mostly meant to keep the grease in but they also help keep the mud out athough that is not their main purpose

yes it needs to be there....water and dirt will get in and your grease will get out! trust me i did this on a trail run and nuked a spindle put the seal in there

Chris G.

this is why mud is bad, stay on the rocks:flipoff2:

Yeah , I know the mud is bad , But seeing that I dont see any of you fellow wheelers here in Wichita Falls doing much rock crawling , It makes me think.... where are all the rocks you crawl on , I dont have the time to Drive all the way to Disney , or Clayton.. And i think i have only seen you rock crawl twice in the last year.. Sooooooo, who has time to just sit around and wait... i have to go wheelin , Maybe you should try it , Then you could use your jeep more that once a year :flipoff2: :D Thanks for the other replies to, Hey Jarod , I dont have nothing but love for ya my brother..

Originally posted by Kamikaze124
Well. I cleaned it all up , and started to put it back together , and i noticed that there was not an axle seal on the back of the disc , So i went and bought one and installed it , I asked my friend that i bought the axles from why he didnt put them in , He says that it wouldnt make any difference , He says it will still get full of mud ... I find this hard to believe .... I think some mud will get inside , but it shouldnt get full of mud and i mean full of mud , should it?:confused:

Mud will still get in, but why leave a gaping 1/4"ish ring wide open, will only make it TONS worse and you found the results.

If you keep the seals on you should at least be able to keep it down to a reasonable amount that you can take care of by servicing the bearings (ie clean and repack) after playing in the mud. ;)

We have some mud around these parts.

FWIW I use that slick50 synthetic grease with good results.
Say what you want about it, butit doesnt break down (get thinner) adn doesnt wash out easily.

I think the idea is to keep em packed, decent seals, and the grease wont let water and mud displace it (and fawk shit up) as long as its in good shape.

MJ