My rear 44 wont stop leaking from the right side, I've put six new seals, one new axle, and 4 bearings. The dealer did the first two, then cut me of claiming that they are leaking due to off road driving, yeah the actually said that to my rubicon's face, I wonder what Jeep made it for? All in 15,000 miles. Not to mention the spendy brake pads that get oil soaked. I'm looking into putting the warn full floater conversion, I need to know what rear disks will fit over the warn hubs, e-brake, and basicly any other snag I'll encounter along the way. I dont care much about the anti-locks, but would like to avoid having to put on drums or changing out my housing.  

thats crazy! my 04 rubicon is doing the same thing, from the right side! i dont understand how they can say its leaking due to off-road driving. what the *** did they make it for?! hey are you positive the lockers on the rubicon are air actuated? cause now all my idiot light does is flash on and off when i hit the locker button. the front locker light stays on steady.  

The 03 does for sure, the compressors are mounted on the back, drivers side of the skid plate, the bracket bolts to the frame and the transfer case, I've never had any trouble with them, as far as I know jeep diddnt change them, the light blinks while the compresor is running, then stays on when it locks. mine blinks then goes because of the smashed connector and works perfect. When having my seal fixed I asked the service manager what jeep thought we were gonna use them for. I put a pair of alloy axles and another set of seals, the thing started leaking again, this was all before I stuffed 34" tires under it. It hasn't been abused enough to have a bent housing. the race fits like it should also. wish I new the reason they used the tapered bearing.  

Sure sounds like a bent housing to me...  

I wish it was just bent, It started leaking dat 2,500 miles, that was before I started scraping the paint off, I have had the housing checked at six states in Portland, Or. when I had my 4:88s installed.  

???  

Wife had a leak on her 2000 G/G 44 drivers side at 50,000 miles.. I have a small leak on my 05 X   D 44 at 20,000 miles on it..  Funny thing is I know it was not leaking a few thousand miles ago because I painted the rear diff  axle tube and backing plate..  I did some off roading nothing hard but did hit a good rut hard... After that I see that the drivers side rear seal was leaking.. wiped it down twice and now it looks dry again for 1000 miles!! Go figure, I wonder if the taper in the bearings force the axle to move enough to disrupt the seal.. I say this because for now mine has stopped leaking..  Till the next deep hole in the road anyway..  I plan on re doing the seal when I need too.. I would degrease the new bearing and repack with synthetic grease.. I  would pack the back of the new seal too. Then install with RTV on the outer part of the seal and  RTV between the axle tube and the backing plate..  I don't know if this would work or not but is how I would go about it..  Another thought would be a weep hole in the right spot to save your brake pads from oil.. Not sure if this is possible or not it's just a thought.. My .02 worth..  George  

Thats how I do it, The seal is in the outer edge of the tube, no place to drill. I was thinking of trying the old roller bearing, one of the dealers tried to sell me one, I had to point out that it was the wrong bearing. I usally leave the oil level a little bit low also and it still leaks.  

I guess the only way I cans see of doing it is to cut a slot in the backing plate that faces the seal to allow the fluid to drip from..  How does the axle surface look were the seal runs against? Look for a grove or wear.. I'm sure you have done this but polish it up good with 8000 grit emery cloth then polish with a puffing wheel and compound stick..  It's all a guess on my end but it may give you some ideas.. But these are things I would try myself when it comes time..  Good luck! Yep I keep mine 1/2" low too front and rear.. George  

the axles are new  

I have a 03 rubi so thank you for the info. I will be keeping a close eye on the seals and will post back if mine starts to leak.  

I have noticed that when I pull it apart, the lock ring that holds the tapered bearing in the race is always dislocated. It must let the bearing move and wipe out the seal?  

mudb8:
My rear 44 wont stop leaking from the right side, I've put six new seals, one new axle, and 4 bearings. The dealer did the first two, then cut me of claiming that they are leaking due to off road driving, yeah the actually said that to my rubicon's face, I wonder what Jeep made it for? All in 15,000 miles. Not to mention the spendy brake pads that get oil soaked. I'm looking into putting the warn full floater conversion, I need to know what rear disks will fit over the warn hubs, e-brake, and basicly any other snag I'll encounter along the way. I dont care much about the anti-locks, but would like to avoid having to put on drums or changing out my housing.

I hope I don't have that problem now, but my TJ is an '05 Rubicon, and I got 32K on it. Guess I had better start knocking on wood now... by the way, my lockers are air on my Rubicon also. I know I have heard people say they are electric, not so.  

yep, they should be, It's great having a locker that doesn't need 70psi of air to work, only 5-7psi, the wiring on them is for the idiot light.
you're probably in the clear on the leaker, I barely have 30,000 on the thing now.  

looking closely, you can see the backing plate is coated with oil.