Gearing up for my first knuckle rebuild. (1 Viewer)

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88red

88red

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My drivers side knuckle has the soup so I'm gearing up for an axle overhaul in a couple of weeks. got a full rebuild kit in hand and have ordered a few other sundries that I've decided that I'll need. Done a bunch of reading and watching you tube.
Some questions for the experiences hands.
'88 FJ62 BTW

#1
The brake caliper needs to come off? completely off? or just moved to the side off? I saw a mod on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4ToprG-_Uc to cut a notch in the bracket where the brake hose meets the last little line to the caliper allowing you to do this with out removing the caliper and bleeding etc etc. Has anyone done this? I'm considering a brake overhaul anyway as mission creep (new hoses, rotors, pads, change the fluid) but this mod might come in handy later. How do you change the center hose without losing all your fluid?

#2 moly grease in the birf, synthetic MP grease in the hub?

#3 I have one broken wheel stud to replace. easy? PIA? Pound old out/new in?

#4 How far do I need to disassemble the birf to clean? Do I need to get all the balls out to inspect and clean or can I just separate the two sections?

#5 any other mission creep suggestions? its my DD so I planning on starting on Friday afternoon/ all day Saturday, wrap up other odds and ends Sunday.
 
Download fsm here!

FSM's

I would only tear down one side at a time.
 
On the calipers-I just ground the rivets off the backing plate. Then you can move the calipers easy. and even put a bolt back in that hole if you ever wanted to.

Edit-i just watched the video you posted. That is a bit nicer then the way I did it!
 
Last edited:
One trick I use to keep brake fluid from all draining out is to stretch a zip lock bag, trash bag, etc. over the top of the reservoir and then put the lid over that. It creates a vacuum inside of the reservoir and helps keep the fluid in. Kind-of like holding your finger over the end of a straw. The fluid will eventually drain out but much more slowly and it will give you plenty of time to change hoses, etc.
 
Ahhhh, You still havn't popped your cherry yet. Follow the book, its easy. 5/10 for difficulty. Getting the c clip back in while re-assembling is the trickiest. Don't disassemble the birf, just clean it up and grease the f out of it. I always just used the stock shims and that seems to do the trick with the knuckle pre load. You might want to do it properly. lol But I have done it like this a half a dozen times at least.
 
I would skip disassembling the Birfield on your first go-round. Unlike CVs with rotted/ripped rubber boots, Birfields rarely are full of sand.
 
cruisedeisel said:
Ahhhh, You still havn't popped your cherry yet. Follow the book, its easy. 5/10 for difficulty. Getting the c clip back in while re-assembling is the trickiest. Don't disassemble the birf, just clean it up and grease the f out of it. I always just used the stock shims and that seems to do the trick with the knuckle pre load. You might want to do it properly. lol But I have done it like this a half a dozen times at least.
Click to expand...


I needed to to hear this.

Pull the axle, should I spray something into the CV to get all the grease out and then try to repack or should I leave it alone and simply let the grease that will be put into the ball on the axle be sufficient?
 
I use an awl to mark to mark all removed metal parts 1 dot 2 dot and zip ties to keep all other parts together. Because cleaning is the biggest job I clean both sides together and separate parts in piles for reassemble.

This is not a race take your time and familiarize yourself and inspect everything.
 
cruisedeisel said:
Ahhhh, You still havn't popped your cherry yet. Follow the book, its easy. 5/10 for difficulty. Getting the c clip back in while re-assembling is the trickiest. Don't disassemble the birf, just clean it up and grease the f out of it. I always just used the stock shims and that seems to do the trick with the knuckle pre load. You might want to do it properly. lol But I have done it like this a half a dozen times at least.
Click to expand...
do you mean keep the bearings and shims intact and just replace seals alone? Getting prepared for this procedure too and in the process of collecting info.
 
I would definitely do 1 side at a time. To clean out the birf, I used brake cleaner to remove the old grease and re-packed it using the flat side of a putty knife to force the grease down into the joint and moved the joint around to force it further in. I believe the birf took 1 container of grease total.

Brake parts are fairly cheap at any auto parts store. I think new calipers cost me $25 per side. I also replaced wheel studs since mine were old and you have to press them out if you change your rotors. If you do wheel studs and new rotors, have that done ahead of time so you don't have to stop and find a machine shop that is open on the weekend, because they aren't ;)
 
feverDream said:
do you mean keep the bearings and shims intact and just replace seals alone? Getting prepared for this procedure too and in the process of collecting info.
Click to expand...

If you are just replacing the axle housing seal then the knuckle bearings, the bearing caps, and the shims under the caps will stay in place. You only need to pull the drive axle and birfield out, replace seal, clean and repack birfield with grease, then repack knuckle housing with grease.

BUT....

If you are doing a COMPLETE knuckle rebuild which includes replacing the knuckle bearings and races then you need to maintain the location of the shims the way they come off with the top and bottom knuckle bearing caps. There are different thicknesses of shims that may be paired together...they need to stay together.
...and usually these old knuckles do need a complete rebuild with new bearings/races.

Think what he meant was there's usually not a reason to disassemble the birfield joint on the drive axle. It can be cleaned out pretty well while assembled then work new grease deep into it packing the grease into grooves with your fingers and articulating the joint.
 
Good to know I don't necessarily need to disassemble the birf. I like the approach of having a shop press new studs into my rotor beforehand. Now I'm thinking a quality rotor is more important here than on your typical brake job, where the rotor falls off when the caliper is romoved. You are halfway into a knuckle rebuild to get to that beast.
 
If the birfield joint is not disassembled (shafts separated, balls removed) then be sure to use the exact same grease you were using before. Dissimilar greases will mix and can cause the carrier goop to separate.... leading to a liquidy soup.

If you want to use a new different grease, especially synthetic, disassemble the birfs and clean everything with solvent. Leave no traces of the old grease behind.
 
Don't know when the last time you worked on your front brakes, but if they need service, now is a good time. After all, you have them all apart. Just pointing this out.
 
I used Redline CV-2 grease for my rebuild. It works for the birf and wheel bearings. Agree with the above suggestions about it being a good time to refresh any brake components.
 
Going to a machine shop to press out or press in wheel studs is a waste of $$$$. Old ones, who cares, their junk. whack em with a heavy hammer and some good aim. they pop right out. Do the same putting them back in. Spend your money on beer, its the only way to wash the grease off your lips.
 
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