OT-need help with Jeep axle seal

[northern piper]

So in all honesty this site is way better than any other car board I frequent so I'm wondering if anyone can help me here. I've got a 2002 Jeep liberty that I'm selling as we speak. I've replaced the axle seals on this thing 3 times. No matter what I seem to do they leak after 20 or 30 thousand km. The last time I replaced them and used RTV gasket seal, the same stuff used on the diff cover, and hoped they'd stay tight. No luck. Anyway, I'm going to do this again with the RTV but I'm wondering if people think that the drums and shoes (which I replaced the last time I fixed the leak) would be ok to reuse assuming that I can get them good and clean. They're barely worn and as I'm selling the jeep I don't want to purchase new. I'm sort of thinking that if I can get the seals tight, even for 10,000km the drums/shoes will heat up enough that any left over axle fluid will burn off.

Any thoughts or ideas?

[tomj76]

The shoes are porous, and soaked in oil will be hard to draw out of the pores. It's possible that baking them would evaporate the oil.

The drums can be de-greased and cleaned up.

BTW, I'm not surprised that the RTV didn't help. The axle seal depends on the rubber/metal interface. There is usually a spring inside the seal to hold it against the axle. If they are wearing out quickly, I'd bet there is something going on, such as a rough surface on the axle, or overheating.