Goob, glob, blop , blop, ah! my eye! What a mess dude. Been doing it in pieces the past few days (day 1- drain oil, day 2- remove oil pan, day 3-remove main bearing after rubber oil pan gasket comes in mail, etc.). So I go to install my upper seal and somehow it tears (definition Somehow- I get impatient and force it ). So I go to Kragen and they have to order it after refund on warranty item :D .
See ya'll tomorrow.

Put some white lithium on it next time ;)

I've read some write ups that say to put soap on the outside of the seal and oil on the inside of it.Whats that about?

maybe the soap has some kind of mosturizer that softens the seal a little bit to make it not so brittle.....

Yes, soap is supposed to just make it a bit slippery but not create a "pre-oiled" path for leaks to occur. You can try to do it that way, but the thing will likely end up covered in oil anyway... It's tough enough to hold onto the thing without worrying about which side you are touching with which finger. Try putting some grease around the inside (it won't run around like oil, but will have the same effect), and liquid dishsoap around the outside (a very thin layer will do). If it was that tough going in, you will probably need both.

Right on, makes sense. Thanx Rick.

So I filled up my crankcase yesterday, started it up, checked for leaks, drove around, everythings good. I gooped the heck out of the rear main seal the second time around and was more careful sliding it in but it went smoothly. I put a 1 piece rubber oil pan gasket on it too. Gonna drive it around some more today to make sure everythings kosher.

hello, ok im doing my rear main as well, first we could not get the top seal out...so we just put the bottom one in and slapped it back togeather....ahhh driving down the road and oil seems to be comming from every where... even out the dip stick... wtf any clues?? think it was the berring by the seal?

If you didn't replace the top seal, chances are the mating surface between the two seal halves is not sealed. I think it would be nearly impossible to get silicone to stick well enough to an old seal/old silicone to actually prevent a leak. To get the top seal out, use some picks to pull on it and a screwdriver or punch to push on it. You will probably have to tap on one end of it until you can grab it with some pliers.

What we did to try and get it out was, I got this set of Brass punches and tried to punch it out but ended up bending all the punches and the seal never moved. Umm what is this pick your talking about?

If it didn't move with a brass punch, it's in there pretty good. Did you pull the rear bearing cap?

If it didn't move with a brass punch, it's in there pretty good. Did you pull the rear bearing cap?

yea i removed the rear berring cap and tried it from the driver sied but all it did was dent in a tiny bit but mangled the brass punches.

Did you loosen the other main caps?I would think you could pull it out with a dental pick.

I only loosened the rear cap.

This article is pretty good. Good luck!
http://jeepin.com/features/rearmain/index.asp