Type of Grease in the Knuckles (1 Viewer)

[Jim_Chow]

>My questions is what if I have to wait to put on the rig 5K->6K miles then have it repacked then, also from memory I >belive I can apply Moley grease through the small opening on >each knuckle all the way up to 3/4 of the knucle capacity
>(recommended) ?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think squirting grease in those knuckle fill screws gets it into the inner knuckle where the birfield is. To grease the birfield, you need to disassemble. Makes you wonder why Toyota put those little grease ports on in the first place? Is it to give the owner a warm & fuzzy feeling of accomplishment from squirting the grease gun a couple of times and being able to claim the steering knuckle had been regreased?

 

[CruisinGA]

According to Moralien that is true about not greasing the actual birfield, however by keeping that knuckle full , if in the event of breaking a birfield, the grease will hold the birfield in place so that it is still possible to turn the front wheels, hence you can drive out in 2wd if you have CDL, and you remove the front driveshaft.

 

[moralien]

Hold the phones a minute there GA. I said it's useless to try to grease your birfs thru the top of the knuckle. I did not endorse you topping it of just to save a little trail repair. I belive what I told you is to do your birf repack and you will figure out how they work. If you Choose to pop a birf on the trail and just leave it as you try to motor home that's your baby. Not mine. It is definitly NOT a good thing to grenade a birfield then attempt to ignore it because you think there is plenty of moly in the knuckle.

 

[landtank]

I've greased through those holes before. I turn the wheel outward to open the knuckle up and position the hole over it. Or at least I think I am.

 

[sleeoffroad]

According to Moralien that is true about not greasing the actual birfield, however by keeping that knuckle full , if in the event of breaking a birfield, the grease will hold the birfield in place so that it is still possible to turn the front wheels, hence you can drive out in 2wd if you have CDL, and you remove the front driveshaft.

Doesn't matter how much grease you have in there, if you break the birfield, you are most likely not going to be able to turn. Driving with a broken birfield trashes everything else inside.

On the grease note, we use Amsoil with Moly in the shop and we use it for both wheel bearings and birfields. Makes things simpler to have ony type of grease and since it is approved for wheelbearings by Amsoil, that is good enough for us. The concern is that the moly will make the roller bearings slip instead of spin. Haven't seen this happen.

 

[CruisinGA]

Doesn't matter how much grease you have in there, if you break the birfield, you are most likely not going to be able to turn. Driving with a broken birfield trashes everything else inside.

Ok, I picked this up from a pretty serious wheelin club member who, when were talkin about greasing the birf through that bolt mentioned that as another reason to fill it up. Hes the kind of guy that goes through birfs like oil changes. 8)
Does that mean that if you bust a birf you should take the birf out before you are towed/drive in 2wd somewhere?

 

[sleeoffroad]

Ok, I picked this up from a pretty serious wheelin club member who, when were talkin about greasing the birf through that bolt mentioned that as another reason to fill it up.  Hes the kind of guy that goes through birfs like oil changes. 8)
Does that mean that if you bust a birf you should take the birf  out before you are towed/drive in 2wd somewhere?

Normally on the 80 series birfs you break the inside cage. That means that the bell and star is still in tact. So when the diff turns (driving the truck) the axle and attached star. THis acts like a blender blade inside the bell. If any pieces of stay metal gets stuck it binds up the birfield.

If you remove the front shaft, then the axle is going to be standing still, but the wheels will drive the outer axle & bell via the drive plate. Same effect. If you remove the driveplates and the drive shaft, you might be ok.

Problem is, when you break, you normally trash the inner axle seal as well. That means all the small pieces of metal can make it's way into the axle tubes and eventually to the third member. This can be nasty.

If you don't have a birfield, pull the broken stuff out, scoop as much of the parts & contaminated grease out and make sure you have all the balls. Then stick a rag where the inner axle seal goes and close it up and drive home.

I