Front axle; to rebuild or not to rebuild? (1 Viewer)

[AJLFJ80]

Hi All,

I am getting the telltale sign that it is time for a front axle rebuild; soupy discharge out of the knuckles. The dilemma I am facing is that since my 100 is my DD, I BARELY ever drive the 80 any more; we're talking maybe once a week, probably amounting to 1K miles/year. On top of that, my 80 has a salvage title, as I was an idiot and totaled it driving into a raging torrent, and it suffered a decent amount of water damage that needed to be addressed. Since the going rate for a front axle job is 1-1.5K for these things, and the 80 in terms of KBB value is probably not even worth that much, what should I do? Should I bite the bullet and shell out the cash for a rebuild, or should I just drive it until it breaks and scrap it? I am having a really hard time justifying spending that kind of dough on something that has that little monetary value, but I wanted everyone's opinion, as there are a lot of good contributors on here and I'm certain someone has faced the same dilemma I am currently facing. Any feedback is appreciated!

 

[inkpot]

Under $125 for a rebuild gasket set from Cruiser Outfitters. Seal it up & drive it!

 

[JohnnyOshow22]

How do you feel about doing it yourself? It's a messy job but fairly straight forward if you have an fsm and there are great threads here on mud about it that will help. It would take you a weekend but save you a lot of money.

 

[AJLFJ80]

How do you feel about doing it yourself? It's a messy job but fairly straight forward if you have an fsm and there are great threads here on mud about it that will help. It would take you a weekend but save you a lot of money.

Is it a one-person job? It sound fairly invasive since it would involve pulling the whole front axle off, correct? I'm also a one-banana level mechanic, and this isn't a job that I can really afford to muck up in any way.

 

[AJLFJ80]

Under $125 for a rebuild gasket set from Cruiser Outfitters. Seal it up & drive it!

I figured it would be wishful thinking that all I'd need would be seals, judging from the content I've read on here regarding leaky knuckles, but that option would definitely be within the budget.

 

[LOOKman]

This gave the confidence to tackle the job myself.


Yes, it's messy but only labor intensive if the 80 is your DD. You have the luxury of not having to eat that elephant in one bite.
Rebuild that sucker!!!

 

[AJLFJ80]

Yes, it's messy but only labor intensive if the 80 is your DD. You have the luxury of not having to eat that elephant in one bite.
Rebuild that sucker!!!

Good point! I guess if that's the case, it would be a matter of getting in good with the HOA president (I live in a townhouse) so that I don't get written up for having an immobile vehicle parked on the premises. Word of advice: Don't live anywhere with an HOA

 

[Golgo13]

This thing was designed to be able to be serviced just about anywhere in the world(with or without roads). Its a 1-person half job. Not a big deal.
I was really worried about doing mine because it seems like a lot of stuff going on, but it really isn't hard at all. No need to remove the whole axle assembly. Just get the front end on stands and start taking it apart. The first side will take a day if being methodical and slow. The other side is a LOT faster since you know what you're getting into and hopefully learned some stuff along the way. Putting it back together will be a cake-walk.

 

[musthave]

It's not nearly as technical as you'd think. It is messier than you think. Get some simple green and some rags ready. Or just go all out, use xylene, man, that cleans up everything quick! Just don't smell it, I'm sure it'll ruin any chance of propagation with good results.

 

[JohnnyOshow22]

You can do it yourself, helps to have a second set of hand to make things go faster but not necessary. I'll be doing my knuckles in a few weekends too. do you have an fsm?

 

[AJLFJ80]

do you have an fsm?

I am not familiar with this acronym.

 

[LOOKman]

factory service manual.

 

[AJLFJ80]

factory service manual.

Thanks. I do not. I assume this is something I can obtain from Toyota directly, or is there somewhere on the secondary market that is better?

 

[120mm]

You can download one from this forum. What year?

 

[120mm]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/40-50-60-and-80-series-fsm-for-a-hell-of-a-price.610994/

 

[AJLFJ80]

You can download one from this forum. What year?

'91.

 

[AJLFJ80]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/40-50-60-and-80-series-fsm-for-a-hell-of-a-price.610994/

Is the '92 FSM going to work for what I am trying to do? I don't think there are many major differences between the '91 and '92.

 

[Kalmch]

You can Camo the disassembly to check out the birfs and inner axle seals without hub disassemble. Fast/easy.

1) break lugs.
2) chalk tires/
3)get it up, i do one side. lift/jack stand
4) pull tire/wheel
5) unbolt caliper, pull, and hang it on spring
6) remove tie rods.
7) remove dust cap
8) remove c clip birf keeper
9) unbolt top and bottom of knuckle
10) tap free the stearing arm (bottom)
11) pull out upper bearing stabilizer and shim

Repeat on other side.

Pull your knuckle with hub intact and drive flange undisturbed up and off. Your done. About 35 minutes. This way you can rebuild the hub on the shop table (or in the kitchen)

10mm/12mm/17mm/19mm dead blow hammer. No banana.

Now you can turn and pull the birf and propeller shaft out to inspect. Inside the housing is your inner seal that is allowing the dif fluid to dilute the cv grease and causes leaky soup.

Replace the seals and service that thing. Spend the $500, order nitro kit and axle kit from csp aussie. It will pay off in spaids. You grenade that birf and you could really be out a lot. Plus you'll be stuck somewhere or worse, your brakes will blow out a caliper cylinder and you hub will mash your spindle. I did that at hole in rock in Utah. Was ugly. Had to swap whOle axle, housing and all.

 

[Hornd]

Fix it! 80's are getting Rare and when it's gone we won't have to listen to a grown man cry about how he didn't want to spend a grand to keep his cruiser running and now drives a Kia Sorento because the Value was good.

 

[DSRTRDR]

Is the '92 FSM going to work for what I am trying to do?

yes