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Sorry about the quality but I didn’t feel like crawling under there for a close up.

So I have gear oil leaking from the weep hole next to that silver disc. I’m assuming that means a bad seal in the axle tube?

It’s pushing out quite a bit of fluid, enough that after sitting I have a trail about 12 inches long on the pavement.

Such a bummer because replaced the wheel bearings and all the seals just a couple years ago. It was leaking then as well but a PO had siliconed everything including that weep hole so the fluid was leaking into the brake drum.


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Yeah, looks like an axle seal to me. May want to inspect and see if something is causing it to tear or if there is a void somewhere in there. Should not be failing that fast. Is your vent tube intact and not blocked?

Might be a bad wheel cylinder.

Check your brake fluid. If its low, most likely the wheel cylinder. If its fine, its an axle seal.

80Limited wrote:Might be a bad wheel cylinder.

Is it axle fluid or brake fluid. Have you smelled it ? If it smells like cat piss its gear oil brake fluid.. smells like i dunno but not like gear oil lol.

At first I thought it was brake fluid but since it’s coming from that weep hole I assumed it’s more likely gear oil because there’s splash shield over the end of the axle shaft intended to direct any leaking gear oil out that hole instead of inside the brake drum.

The fluid has color to it, but I haven’t smelled it. The brake parts were all replaced when I did the wheel bearings since gear oil had gotten in there.

I’ll check the MC for low fluid, that’s easy enough. It’s cold outside and we’re supposed to get a foot of snow so I dunno how quickly I’ll get to it. Dismantling the brakes in freezing temps and snow doesn’t sound very appealing...


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Well I smelled it, definitely gear oil. Guess I’ll be ordering seals. Nuts...


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That's no fun. Maybe the inspection pics will reveal something that caused it to bad, once it's apart. Bummer.

Should I not drive it if leaking like this or is it fine? Obviously I don’t want to run out of gear oil. I don’t drive my gladiator very far, maybe 10 miles per week at the very most.


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I think driving it more could make the leak worse. It's probably ok to drive it if you need to but check the gear oil level maybe every other week. I'm also wondering if it could find its way inside the drum and screw up your brake shoes.

Tapered or flanged axle? Could be either in 1968. The oil will have ruined the shoes, and you'll only have brakes on one side. This will result in wheel lockup in hard braking, but it's not much of a problem on the rear, especially the rear of a pickup. As long as the axle has oil in it, driving won't hurt the axle.

tgreese wrote:Tapered or flanged axle? Could be either in 1968. The oil will have ruined the shoes, and you'll only have brakes on one side. This will result in wheel lockup in hard braking, but it's not much of a problem on the rear, especially the rear of a pickup. As long as the axle has oil in it, driving won't hurt the axle.

It’s a tapered Dana 44.


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You can seal over the hub or the axle, as described in this post. http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.ph ... eal.78510/
If the surface you're sealing against is torn up, you may be able to switch. I'm sure there are members here and on IFSJA that have experience sealing the tapered axles. However, you could ask at earlyCJ5 - there are plenty of old posts there, and guys that have experience with the tapered axles.

Thanks Tim. I’ll give Rich at r&p a call, see if he has any of those axle seals layin around. I don’t remember what I put on there before - a seal on the hub or the shaft. I’m sure i ordered from rockauto at the time.


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