Leaky balls !!! (Birfield housings)

[RenoHuskerDu]

Hey guys, my 80's balls are getting so worn that even grease falls out, and I can see grooves worn in them. I think that after nearly 200k miles including trips to Morocco and Tunisia, it's time for new balls.

Do we have a writeup here about how to do that job? I suppose there are pivot bushings in there too that I should replace while I have it all open.

Thanks for any tips...about my balls.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Got any pictures of the worn balls? That not a common part to wear, they usually leak when the inner seal on the axle leaks.

 

[skintunes]

Really- if you put that many miles on your balls and dip them in sand- you really need to take care of them before a doctor is necessary

 

[iptman]

Normal. It just needs a front axle job. The "balls" are part of the axle itself. Take a good look at the Front Axle Service thread in the FAQ.

 

[Kernal]

The steering knuckle balls are part of the axle housing and can become pitted from rust. When the front axle is all apart you can sand them smooth again and paint them if you want. The first photo shows the ball after being painted. The second photo shows the steering knuckle reinstalled along with a new steel ring, rubber seal and felt wiper; they will keep the grease in and the contaminants out of the knuckle better than the worn out ones. Having a smoother surface may help IMHO.

 

[Manuelsv]

Dang, Those are some clean and shiny balls..
Next axle service I'm doing the same!

 

[LCHardriver_02]

My "balls" need a good rubbin... I have leaky seals too. Need to work on them come this summer. This will be an absolute first for me. I can easily take on wiring problems, but getting into the axle, now that scares me a bit!

 

[Brunt Force Trauma]

I have a feeling that paint wont last long with all the rubbing. I wonder if powdercoating would hold up.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I have a feeling that paint wont last long with all the rubbing. I wonder if powdercoating would hold up.

On my SAS 4runer I painted mine with POR15 (after using JB weld to fill the pits left from rust). It held up fine over 3 years of use, when I sold it it still looked freshly painted. I plan to do the same with my 80 when I start the axle rebuild.

 

[Kernal]

Here are a couple of photos showing how things look one year later untouched and uncleaned; some wear and flaking mostly where the seals ride in the straight ahead position. This is the paint I used:

VHT Epoxy All Weather Paint

My plan is to sand and repaint the knuckle balls every time I do the front axle service to keep the rust at bay. I did powder coat the steering knuckles, hubs and drive flanges but in the future I'll probably just use a high quality chassis paint (maybe Eastwoods) instead.

 

[RenoHuskerDu]

LOL, after you guys posted your pretty balls, I was almost afraid to show mine. It shore looks like I need to get the grooves filled in, then epoxy over the whole thing. But, afaik though this is the first time I've showed off my DBA disks ... ooooh... ahhh.

 

[petveedub]

Just curious, did our balls originally come from the factory painted?

 

[Slabsides45]

Unfortunately mine look like the pic of RenoHuskerDu's. In reading the official birf thread, it seems that the time required to do these ranges anywhere from 4 or 5 hours all the way up to 11 hours +.

Can some of you who remember share how long it took you to do yours for the first time, and what level of prior experience you had doing mechanical work? I'm cool with ordering the kit from CDan and jumping on it on the weekend, but if I get hung up I'm out of my daily driver unless I recover by Monday....

 

[Kernal]

RenoHuskerDu: your knuckles look typical when the knuckle seals are worn out; FYI: you're missing the dust cover for the rotor.

petveedub; they did come painted from the factory.

Slabsides45; the amount of time to do the complete front axle service IMHO is dependent on many factors, probably the biggest one is what you find broken, bent, twisted, missing when you dig into it. Next would be what tools, parts, and supplies you have or don't have and the need to run out and buy or borrow some more. IMO you really have to plan it out and get all your parts, tools and supplies lined up before you start. From reading a bunch of threads about people doing the front axle job, most mudders who have done it before seem to do it in a day or less, most who haven't take about two days with some going past that. I took much longer but a lot of that time was painting and powder coating some parts and waiting for other parts to arrive. At least 50% percent of your time will be spent cleaning all the grease, grime, and rust off the parts. You might want to spend a day reading the FAQ section and do some searches on the front axle service, also buy the DVD (search). There are some tools and tips that you will need which help the job go more smoothly. HTH

 

[RenoHuskerDu]

RenoHuskerDu: your knuckles look typical when the knuckle seals are worn out; FYI: you're missing the dust cover for the rotor....

Are you suggesting D I say, optimistically ) that I could just replace the seals and run that way for a year or so more?

As for disk covers, I yank those on my 4x4s. They bend easily during offroad op, then make annoying scraping or rattling.

 

[Kernal]

There's been few threads on just changing the knuckle wipers/seals; the mudders who've done it cut the rubber and felt seals so that they could slip them over the axle housing and then off-set the cuts, something like 11 and 1 o'clock positions before they put the holding brackets over them; the metal seal is already split. One consideration is that if the knuckle seals are leaking out then there is the possibility of water and dirt to get inside the knuckle contaminating the grease. If there is any gear oil leaking out of either knuckle than your axle seals may also need replacing, which means do the whole job. Most mudders would probably say pull it apart and do it right, but if you don't have the time and money you could replace the wipers and add grease via the inspection port. Do you know how long it's been since the knuckles have been apart? IIRC the general consensus is to do the front axle service every 60,000 miles or so, more often if you drive your rig through mud and water.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I would just do it right the first time. Take it apart and clean it all out replace all the seals and wipers, inspect the wear items (wheel bearings and spindle bushings) then re grease and re install.

 

[RenoHuskerDu]

... cut the rubber and felt seals so that they could slip them over the axle housing and then off-set the cuts, .... replace the wipers and add grease via the inspection port. Do you know how long it's been since the knuckles have been apart? IIRC the general consensus is to do the front axle service every 60,000 miles or so, more often if you drive your rig through mud and water.

Thanks for that tip, I do believe I'll use it soon. The TLC got new Birfs, bearings and seals in 2009, and it sees little mud. I daily it, and use it to tow this beast to 4x4 trials competitions.

It's much homelier now, after a rollover and conversion to topless tube buggy.

 

[Kernal]

Wonder if they reused the old wiper/seals or installed them improperly in 2009? Seems like a lot of leakage after just two years unless maybe they overfilled the knuckles; they're normally packed to around 2/3 full with Moly fortified grease. If just changing the wipers/seals, personally, I would clean those knuckles off by hand instead of power-washing. When I did my front axle service I power-washed them and found the felts were still sopping wet when I pulled them off 24 hours later.