LJ78 Prado Axle Service How-to

[Rummat81]

hello All.

I will be performing a Full Knuckle axle service on my 91' Lj78 Prado. with Electric locking Hubs.
There are pics of the knuckles leaking soupy mess on my garage floor.

I have a few questions b4 i start ripping it apart and order parts.

1. I checked the axle fill hole, and the soup was coming from it as well, very thick consistency. What should i use to clean the axle tubes and the insides after i have everything apart. Water Hose through the axle seal holes, Air Dry and then flush with gear oil?

2. I am not sure of the kit to buy for this service. Should i buy the mini truck kits available at trail gear or marlin crawler, links here
Steering Knuckle Service Parts & Tools

Knuckle Service Kit with Wheel Bearings | Marlin Crawler, Inc.

or should i use FJ80 service kits.
I will talk to 4wheel auto tomorrow about their kits.

What Axle is in our Prados, Does it have a code.

3. In the picture below, there is a wire that goes in the swivel housing for the Hub Lock. I have seen its connection on the hub end where it connects to the conductor ring. How do we take the wire and spindle off?

4. I want to put on some paint on my knuckles and hubs while they are apart, any recommendations?

5. I do not have a paper copy of FSM, But i have a soft copy of the french manual, and I am going to download the 80 series chassis manual as well. How are the Haynes manuals that i can borrow from the public library?

I have taken the hubs apart a few times, when putting on new discs, and the seals are holding up there.

Lastly, I am gonna take a lot of pics and do a write up, just like i did with my head replacement thread 3 years ago. Just to help out fellow cruiser owners.

Any Tips, suggestions are welcome.
Thanks,
Ali.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

hello All.

I will be performing a Full Knuckle axle service on my 91' Lj78 Prado. with Electric locking Hubs.
There are pics of the knuckles leaking soupy mess on my garage floor.

I have a few questions b4 i start ripping it apart and order parts.

1. I checked the axle fill hole, and the soup was coming from it as well, very thick consistency. What should i use to clean the axle tubes and the insides after i have everything apart. Water Hose through the axle seal holes, Air Dry and then flush with gear oil?

Generally we use a brake cleaner solvent to rinse the housing out when we have it all apart. If yours is really bad, drain the oil out and run some varsol or paint thinner through it for a short distance (a hundred meters), then drain it out and refill it with fresh oil once you have completed the front end service.

The sloppy mess that's in there is going to be a mix of oil and grease, and really it doesn't need to be washed out if you don't want to do it.... new oil will dilute it down over the long haul. If the sloppy mess is grey in colour - meaning it has water contamination - you need to get it really well cleaned out with paint thinner or solvent.

Don't put water in the housing.

2. I am not sure of the kit to buy for this service. Should i buy the mini truck kits available at trail gear or marlin crawler, links her

or should i use FJ80 service kits.
I will talk to 4wheel auto tomorrow about their kits.

What Axle is in our Prados, Does it have a code.

The LJ78s use a high pinion front end that looks like it should use the 80 series kits, but it is NOT the same and the 80 series parts will not fit. The knuckles are smaller in the 70 series high pinion front ends.

I keep kits with Koyo bearings in stock for the LJ78 and HZJ73.

Trail Gear... meh.

Mariln... now we're talking (if you can get ahold of them)

3. In the picture below, there is a wire that goes in the swivel housing for the Hub Lock. I have seen its connection on the hub end where it connects to the conductor ring. How do we take the wire and spindle off?

4. I want to put on some paint on my knuckles and hubs while they are apart, any recommendations?

5. I do not have a paper copy of FSM, But i have a soft copy of the french manual, and I am going to download the 80 series chassis manual as well. How are the Haynes manuals that i can borrow from the public library?

I have taken the hubs apart a few times, when putting on new discs, and the seals are holding up there.

Lastly, I am gonna take a lot of pics and do a write up, just like i did with my head replacement thread 3 years ago. Just to help out fellow cruiser owners.

Any Tips, suggestions are welcome.
Thanks,
Ali.

The knuckle service procedure is pretty much the same for the LJ78 as any other Land Cruiser with the exception of the [annoying/semi-unreliable] electric locking hubs.

Please, read the note below... If you're in doubt, then call me during business hours and I'll tell you what to look out for.

****** IMPORTANT NOTE*******

When servicing the front end, the brushes for the hubs must be held back with a wire retainer through the holes provided or you will damage the hub brushes upon re-installation.

Paint: a good industrial enamel is what we use around the shop, but you can also use Brake Caliper paint or Engine Enamel as well. Avoid painting mating surfaces such as between the spindle and hub, and between the knuckle and steering arm etc.

Use Moly Slip grease for your wheel bearings and birfields. Moly Slip Part number: 5971, you will need at least 4 tubs.

The Haynes manual would be good for wiping your dirty parts off with... other than that, it's a little too crunchy to use as toilet paper. Get an online copy of Factory Service Manual.

I would also suggest that you consider discarding the electric hubs and going with a manual Aisin hub and some adapter plates. I have had a few sets of the electric hubs fail at very inconvenient times on some of my HZJ73s, and would recommend replacing them with manual hubs in all cases if you like 4WD and want it to be reliable.

I usually suggest that for people doing this job at home, that they get a small plastic wash tub, a few jugs of paint thinner (mineral spirits), a box of Nitrile gloves, a parts brush, some brake cleaner (I like the Kleen Flo #313 the best), rags, grease etc. all lined up before they dive in to this job. Being well-prepared will make things go much more smoothly during such a messy job.

hth

~John

 

[Rummat81]

Thanks John for all the information. It is very valuable to the whole cruiser community.
I am sourcing the parts right now and will start in about 1-2 weeks as they arrive.
thanks,
Ali C.

 

[Rummat81]

Hello Guys,
I have started the axle service.
dismantled every thing and cleaning it now! My two car garage is a mess now.

Just a quick question.
When we out the axle shafts back in, how do we make sure, they are really In. I have read about keeping the flat spots horizontal.
Anything else?
Oh, I have taken quite a few pics. will post them later.

Thanks.

 

[oldblue]

If you think that the axle hasn't gone in, turn the driveshaft a little untill the axle slips right into place.

Don't use mineral grease on the slipring, use an electrical grease.

 

[Rummat81]

Thanks Old Blue! By slip ring u mean, the electric copper ring that goes on top of the 54mm bolt?

Guys i have been at it for the last weekend and another day.
Lots of cleaning and assembly. disassembled everything.
I have put the packed birfs inside, and installed the tie-rod ends and caps with new knuckle bearings. knuckle back side oil seals. Also painted the knuckles black.

I have to install the spindle and remaining parts. Its taking so long.

I also hurt my wrist when i had to hit the left side top cap for 2 hours to dislodge the cone washers. i used heat gun, liquid wrench and a BFH.

Hopefully be done in a couple of days and post all the pics.

thanks,
Ali C.

 

[oldblue]

Check the out

 

[Rummat81]

Hello All,
Here are some pics and pointers about the axle service procedure on LJ78.

Shots and explanation first.
Here the pics of the Locking HUB assembly with the front cover removed.
The front cover is held by 6 T40 Torx Bolts.
You can see the protuding axle shaft and outline of the C-clip that holds it from going back.

The Hub is held additionally by 4 bolts with cone washers underneath.

Remove the C-clip, and remove the 4 Bolts,washers and cone washers.

Slide the hub assembly off.

You are gonna see the electric slip ring Held by 3 T27 Torx bolts. I did not take pics of the other side of the Hub, Gonna take them and post them later.

Remove the 3 bolts and the slip ring comes off,

you can see that it has 2 electrical contacts and one indent to keep it in the spindle.


Underneath you can see the 54mm bearing nut.

 

[Rummat81]

Unscrew it, put it aside. The disc brake Hub can now be slid out. Take care to hold the disc up so that it does not drag on the spindle. You do not want to damage the seal at the back. The back side looks the same like other land cruiser hubs.


Remove the 8 spindle bolts and remember to remove the electrical connector above. It might take some cajoling with a drift .But try wiggling the end and slide it out. The electrical connector is attached and come with the spindle. One does not have to do anything else with it other than cleaning.


Now you should be able to see inside the knuckle and the Birfield. There are two flat spots machined on the surface of the birfield. They are about a finger wide so cleanup the grease first. The diff side axle shaft should always be supported by hand, so as not to exert too much force on the inner axle seal. The surface of the shaft is ridged and can cause the rubber seal to chafe without lubrication.

 

[Rummat81]

The swivel housing on Driver side (RHD) is held by a cap on top and a tie-red arm (with cone washers) on the lower side.
The passenger side has tie-rod arms on both top and bottom with cone-washers. I installed new knuckle bearings and races. The lower bearing can be held with a glob of moly grease. The seals at the back were installed in the following order, steel ring with gap at the top, rubber ring with the lip facing the diff, felt seal and metal retainers.


Sorry No pics of Birfield dis/assembly. But some Pointers. The pictures in the Toyota manuals for this are outdated and data from the mini-truck axle days.
I used the manual instructions for joint disassembly i.e. A vise first, then a long pipe on the wooden piece.. For prado , there are a few details to note. The inner race has a flat side. The case has D shaped gaps in it for the balls to come in and out. The flat side of the race and the curve of the D are on the same side, and it will face you, as you install it.


When installing the shafts, put moly grease on the seal face and i lubed the shaft lightly with some gear oil. ON installing the passenger side (RHD) longer shaft, take care to support the axle shaft weight with your hand and slide it in gently. It would not go in, use ur hand and seal as a fulcrum and press down on the outer shaft with your hand. It will force the inner axle shaft to move up and slide in.

 

[Rummat81]

Some pics of the Kit i got from Australia. Its a made in Taiwan unit with gaskets, axle seals and dust seals etc.

 

[Rummat81]

I installed new bearings and races with seals in my hub. The bearings and rear hub seal are the same for 60 series landcruiser ( easily sourced at NAPA and Cdn tire). The front seal, which seals at the surface of the 54mm bolt had ro be sourced from Japan, along with the 2 gaskets for the power locking hubs. The swivel housing back side 3 seal set was identical. The paper gaskets for the spindle and the dust seal(yellow color) for the hub was a direct fit as well.
The hub side gaskets that will come with any of these kits would not fit out trucks.
We need to source them separately.
The part no for the outer hu cover gasket is 43531-60030. It will have to come from Europe or Japan (AFAIK)
The gasket that goes b/w the hub assembly and disc brake hub is 43422-60040. It is used in a 97 landcruiser or LX450 rear axle, so it can sourced from a local dealer.




About Bearing Preload: If you look at the electrical ring and the 54mm nut underneath. The nut has screw threads at each corner. The Ring has two holes side by side. The bearing preload can only be set at these two locations. One is looser and tighter. Choose whichever one is the best for you. Previously i have used both. This time with new bearings and races, I tightened the adjusting nut to the right most hole on the ring. The ring holds the nut in place. There is no star shaped washer required.



I would like to thank the Forum Community for helping me tackle this job. I would also like to thank Paul from Boss Lubricants for providing free tubes of their super tack Red wheel bearing grease. I also bought a lighter grade 75w-90 gear oil 20 L pail ( looking at the temperatures we had been having). I used Nemco 3% Moly Grease for the knuckles (Princess auto ) .

Thank you All,
Ali.

 

[Rummat81]

more Pics

 

[oldblue]

One thing to add, when fitting the main hub body, push the carbons back and hold them by useing a fine wire passing thru the hole in the hub body, maybe a photo could be added to this file.

 

[crushers]

i use the kit from 4 wheel auto and it works fine.
excellent write up.

simple enough job but messy as hell.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

I keep these kits in stock and also have new aftermarket birfields for the high pinion 70 series in stock.

There are a few extra paper gaskets required, as outlined in this thread, if you're going to stay with the E-hubs.


~John

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

That front axle looks like the 71's.

How similar are they?





JuanJ

 

[oldblue]

All 70 series Prado's ( Landcruiser Light Duty ) and Heavy Duty Landcruiser's from 1990 > 1996.

 

[crushers]

i have watched your rant about the elec hubs over the last while and i have yet to see a single elec hub fail unless related to poor reinstalation proceedure.
i also have one of your adapter kits here on the LJ78 i bought and although it is okay i have had issues with the retaining bolts. i never installed the kit, Ryan did from Hilltop.
the elec hubs are just as strong as the old manual hubs plus they are held on with 10 bolts verses the old 6 bolt pattern.
i realize you are trying to make sales but instead of fear-mongering maybe just make a note that they are available.
personally, if i was to get rid of the elec hubs i would NOT stick another adapter spacer in there but change out the entire outter knuckle and do the job right.

I would also suggest that you consider discarding the electric hubs and going with a manual Aisin hub and some adapter plates. I have had a few sets of the electric hubs fail at very inconvenient times on some of my HZJ73s, and would recommend replacing them with manual hubs in all cases if you like 4WD and want it to be reliable.
~John

 

[pradocruzer]

I'am 100% with you crushers. I love my electric hubs and would not give them up. Push button for easy release of your hubs equals awesome trail turning. I wheel the hell out of mine and so far no failures yet. I just installed and re geared a 80's high pinion e locker (thanks so much crushers it works great) and had the front end apart. Every thing was in great shape. Only thing that seemed to wear a little were slight groves in the sliprings. As usual for 115,000 km's. The brushes were in great shape. I think the failure is when the hubs are pulled apart and not sealed properly and water or contaminants get in. Rummat81 nice looks like you took your time and did a good job. Keep it up.

Take care