Gear oil gushing from knuckle

Coloradaho · 08-07-09, 11:13 PM

So I just bought this 87 fj60 for $1400 and knew it needed some love.
I cleaned the 1" of crud off both front knuckles and surrounding area.
I then drained and replaced the gear oil in the tranny, t-case, and both diffs. Also did the oil, oil filter, plugs, air filter, and fuel filter. Lets just say it looked like it was long over due, pretty dirty.
I was feeling good about all the new fluids I gave to my rig.

Then, after taking it for a spin, I noticed the next day a puddle of gear oil next to the front drivers side tire. A big puddle!
Its totally spewing from the knuckle and down my tire, making a mess.
So I am assuming I need to tear apart the front end and replace some seals of some kind. What should I do exactly? Unfortunatly I dont have the luxury of a clean garage to do this repair in, only the dirt patch next to my garage. I have the FSM's coming, they were put in the mail this morning. Just thought I would get the opinion of the pro's on Mud before I jump into an undertaking of this caliber. No pics yet, still trying to figure that out, I'm not too savy with computer stuff.
Any advise will be much appreciated.

exrsa1 · 08-07-09, 11:22 PM

You have signed up for a "knuckle job..." Do a search on knuckle job, check out the FAQ and see teh Tech pages. All you ever wanted to know about it. It is an easy job, but a VERY dirty tedious job. Your FSM will explain it perfectly. Order your knuckle seal kit from whichever vendor you want, and then get the axle seals from Marlin Crawler.

Good luck
Ex

RockDoc · 08-07-09, 11:25 PM

Front axle rebuild.... it's a right of passage for cruiser owners. You can get the kit of parts from any of the cruiser retailers (I would get from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters, Marlin Crawler or Trail Gear). You are going to want Marlin's inner axle seals, which can be had from Marlin Crawler, or from Kurt. The FSM will lay it all out for you, and there should be some threads on here too. Expect to take a weekend to do it the first time, and be prepared for a BIG mess (lots of paper towel).

HTH

soggy60 · 08-08-09, 05:22 AM

Get one (for each side if your doing both) disposable oven pans...big ones for like a turkey. this will catch the crud, drool & dribble from the knuckle job.

As others have said: it is an easy job . . .few rolls of paper towels needed; also 1 and 1/2 little tubs of wheel brg grease per side.

To me, biggest PITA is lining up the long axle to slip back into diff. 'Try not to' use new seal as see-saw pivot while reinstalling long axle....

SHIMS on knuckle : KEEP THEM ORGANIZED : lower right, upper right....use the exact same at same location for reassembly. Shims almost never need replacing (they compensate for slight casting differences more so than variations in knuckle bearings).

Have fun !

KLF · 08-08-09, 08:18 AM

It will go MUCH faster if you find someone that has done it a few times and has the experience to give you a hand, plus a decent garage with all the right tools. Not trying to discourage you, it's not that bad but your first time will be pretty slow if you're on your own. You're gonna need a torque wrench, BTW.

Coloradaho · 08-08-09, 08:53 AM

Thanks for all the support and suggestions, I think I've come to the reailization that this is what has to be done.
While I'm in there, should I switch over to a 30 spline? I do plan on putting an ARB locker in eventually.
I'm all about doing everything possible while I've got it taken apart. So any other thing I'm overlooking please let me know (I'm totally knew to this, but willing and eager to learn).
Also, Marlins website says they are out of stock on the Knuckle rebuild kit. Is the one from Trail Gear OK? I'm going to get the kit with wheel bearings whenever I choose who I'm buying it from. I have an email into Marlin and will wait to see if they have anything before I count them out.
Thanks again for all the help.

Kynot62 · 08-08-09, 09:48 AM

I have ARB's in both ends with stock axles (front and a factory full float in the rear) and they work just fine. It all depends on how you drive the rig, how tall of tires you run, V8 etc. I wheel pretty hard with 33's and a stock 3FE and I dont see the need for 30 spline birfs at this point. Other folks will feel differently about this.

Like everybody says the seal kits are pretty much the same. I would just check the condition of the king pin bearings as I did not need to replace mine. If you don't need to replace them the rebuild kit is cheaper. You only need the seals and wheel bearings. One little short cut, don't try and seperate the tie rod from the knuckle arm just pivot it out of the way after you unbolt it from the knuckle. If you can't get the Marlin inner seals don't hesitate to use the standard ones, my original inner seals lasted over 200K

Do wait for your FSM though, not a very hard job just messy. Have lots of rags and a garbage bag. Newspaper to lay greasy parts on is pretty handy as well. My repairs/maintenance happen outside as well.

Best of luck
Tony

Coloradaho · 08-08-09, 10:04 AM

Thanks Tony, that is a good looking rig. I will just keep my stock birfs for now, I don't have any plans of doing really hardcore crawling, just cruising the great trails here in Colorado.
There are so many mods I want to do, I just have to focus on the mods I need to do for now.

Cruzerman · 08-08-09, 10:22 AM

While I have yet to use them myself, Marlin oil seals are getting good reviews. You may want to pop a set of these in.

Butt Ugly Chuck · 08-08-09, 10:32 AM

Two of the best vendors on here also have the rebuild kits
Kurt of Cruiser Outfitters (cruiseroutfit - 801.518.3937), and Georg of Valley Hybrids (orangefj45 - 650.576.2023). Each probably has the Marlin seal as well.

Butt

Coloradaho · 08-08-09, 10:42 AM

Thanks Butt, I just emailed Kurt, I am heading through Salt Lake next week, so hopefully I can stop by and check him out, and buy some parts from him.

IH8Wood · 08-08-09, 11:30 AM

The FSM diagrams are helpful but I found the instructions overly complicated the 1st time I did this. Also the FSM mentions a lot of special service tools (SST) that you don't really need. In addition to the usual wrenches and sockets, you will need a brass drift and some trick lock-ring pliers (google SK7636). You might want a a seal puller.

There used to be an awesome link on birfield.com, with step-by-step pictures, but I think that site is gone. If someone has a pdf of Morgan's rebuild thread we should add it to mud.

If you're not in a hurry you can do this yourself. None of it's hard but you can get stuck in a few places (removing cone washers, reinstalling the axles). You might loose a few hours, or day, between posting a question and getting a response.

As Soggy60 mentioned the shims need to go back on the same way the cam off (for example, top drivers pack need to be kept together).