Axle groove- are these shot?

[LCWannabe]

Still doing my front axle service. The guys at the shop where I work say I need new axles. What says Mud?

 

[kidglove13]

Does not look to good especially if that is where the seal rides
The seals will leak again

 

[Offroads4x4]

I was going to tell you to run Marlin seals since they ride in a different spot if Toyota seals had worn a little grove or vice verse but those are to deep in my opinion to get any benefit from that.

They look well worn for sure. You may want to check with a machine shop and see if they can speed sleeve it at all to save money. If not your going to need to find a set.

 

[LCWannabe]

Yes, I figured that I would need some. The seals I just took out were (I believe) Marlin Crawlers. They were not stock and they had a lip on them. Thanks for the comments, Dan.

 

[LCWannabe]

Just ordered new seals from Cruiserparts.net. They have seals that have two "fins" that contact on either side of the groove. I'd love to hear from anyone with experience with these. Should be great if they work as advertised.

 

[Slowerthanu]

I would replace them. The seals are not "great" to begin with and with that groove you will have a soupy mess in no time.

For the money, I would just throw new shafts in and call it good.

 

[Kernal]

Did you have a leak of gear oil into the knuckles? Kinda looks like the used Marlin seals might have been riding on either side of the grooves?? Post up photos of the cruiserparts seals next to the old Marlin seals if you can, would be interesting to see how they differ in width and design.

 

[LCWannabe]

Yes, I had a bad case of Birf soup. Someone had worked on this before and didn't do a very good job IMO. There was silicone in one spot that should have had a gasket. I will post pics when I receive the seals.

 

[Funner]

They probabbly tried the Marlin seals because of the existing grooves in hopes that they would have a different contact patch and would still seal. I guess we now know they won't "fix" badly grooved axles.