Birfield done! Forgot to grease the spindle. What now? (1 Viewer)

[schum4]

I just finished my Birfield repack last night around 3:00 AM (all 16 hours of it). I included the rotors and a side to side swap of the Birfs. Man, what a doosy. All went well with the exception of me not greasing the spindle with the DuraBlend moly before I re-asembled everything.

Any Idea how important it is to grease the inside of the spindle? I drove to work and back (40 mi total) and all was quiet and felt good. I hope that it will work its way down/out via the grooves since I packed the cavity 2/3 full and made it flush with the knuckle opening.

Any help would be great.

 

[cruiserman]

Don't worry about it.

 

[M0627]

it is VERY important a dry spindle bushing will lead to spindle and birf shaft death due to the lack of lube ask me how I know. pull it apart and grease it or you will have an EXPECTED failure. good luck and the work goes faster every time you pull it apart I can get to the bare axle housing in about 35 min taking my time.
EDIT:this pic is an example of what dry parts will do this is an extreme case in my eyes grease is cheep parts are not
https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203052&stc=1&d=1200353899

 

[Ting]

Go drive over the speed bump in the paking lot. Try to feel any grind...

I'd put a half tube of grease into the knuckle's square plug, then take it on a highway drive of an hour or more to get the grease to flow/move. Should fill the inner spindle a bit. The opening of the spindle on the knuckle side is wide enough for the axle to go straight through to the knuckle housing. Grease will seep though around the axle and it'll get to the spindle. Grease will interact in there over time.

 

[elhombre]

I know it sucks, but I vote you need to take it back apart. Look at it this way; the only grease that will work its way into the spindle will be worn out grease. The grease you replaced in the wheel bearings (and birfields for that matter) is replaced because it deteriorates to the point it becomes broken down and runny. The new grease you just packed in there is thick and sticky, the way it should be.
Also, as you probably know, there are grooves inside the spindle which need to be packed with grease. It really is soooo much easier the 2nd time .Just remember not to ignore step #6.

 

[-Spike-]

Take it apart. Or do it in a few thousand miles, with a longer parts list.

-Spike

 

[harper68]

It dosent take that long to get to the spindle. I would do it to sleep better at night.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Somebody help me out here but somebody built a clever and cheap tool to shove grease in the spindle bushings with the axle in place. It was something that covered the tip of the spindle and had a grease fitting so you could pressurize the grease and force it into the spindle bushing area and on into the birf. Anyone remember this? Was it Photoman? Dunno.

DougM

 

[94landcruiser]

Somebody help me out here but somebody built a clever and cheap tool to shove grease in the spindle bushings with the axle in place. It was something that covered the tip of the spindle and had a grease fitting so you could pressurize the grease and force it into the spindle bushing area and on into the birf. Anyone remember this? Was it Photoman? Dunno.

DougM

A search of Photoman & grease garnered this:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/12719-knuckle-grease-adapter.html

 

[medtro]

Somebody help me out here but somebody built a clever and cheap tool to shove grease in the spindle bushings with the axle in place. It was something that covered the tip of the spindle and had a grease fitting so you could pressurize the grease and force it into the spindle bushing area and on into the birf. Anyone remember this? Was it Photoman? Dunno.

DougM

I remember reading -B- built something with Home Depot hardware with a nipple, or something like that.

 

[IdahoDoug]

It's not the photoman grease thing - medtro might be on it.

DougM

 

[Vitesse_6]

Somebody help me out here but somebody built a clever and cheap tool to shove grease in the spindle bushings with the axle in place. It was something that covered the tip of the spindle and had a grease fitting so you could pressurize the grease and force it into the spindle bushing area and on into the birf. Anyone remember this? Was it Photoman? Dunno.

DougM

Not to sound too out of line but what about something like an Icing Piper, Like what you would put icing on a cake? Sounds like you would only need to remove the outer bearing and pipe it in....?
Could be useful.

 

[schum4]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I was thinking that I could introduce the grease like Vitesse was saying, but the more I think about it, it's not that bad to get back in there. I need to recheck my preload anyway. Maybe the pads will have worn enough to put the squeel plates in at the same time.

BTW, should I also grease the shaft or just the inside of the spindle?

Thanks again

 

[Vitesse_6]

Well, You did it once, it should be a piece of cake now, I would think that you would only need to get as far as removing the outer wheel bearing and fill it with grease, Put it back together, check your pre-load, put it all back together...That is as long as you are certain you put in grease in the knuckle
Trust me the second time around will be a breeze.

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

Just some more disassembly and assembly practice. For me, the worst part is the cleaning which you wont need to do.

 

[schum4]

Yes. The cleaning is what took up a good chunk of my time. Trying to get the flange off isn't so easy either. I'm going to try useing 2 hammers and do a drum roll from either side. I'll get back in there this weekend and grease away.

Hats off to all. Hopefully I'll have some good advice to offer one day.

 

[Beowulf]

I remember reading -B- built something with Home Depot hardware with a nipple, or something like that.

Good memory.

Works great too. Idea was Dan's. He told me the guys in the shop had something like this for solid axle rigs.

-B-

 

[IdahoDoug]

I'd make the tool, timewise. B, that uses no welding or cutting - just epoxied together, right? If so, it's an hour to make at most.

Everybody's telling you that you just need to get to the spindle and it's a piece of cake. I disagree - you have to REMOVE the spindle, which means it's a total teardown all the way to the birf and if you've been driving it around (sounds like you have) and there's grit and such to fall into your parts then a proper job would require basically cleaning many things to bare metal and regreasing.

Tough call, but one thing I'll be curious about is a photo of the inner spindle and corresponding section of the axle because one thing nobody knows for sure is if grease WILL get into the spindle from a freshly lubed birf after driving. So, you'll be solving a mystery if you go back in....

DougM

 

[ArmyFJ]

That tool is really neat...I love custom tools.

 

[turbocruiser]

That tool is really neat...I love custom tools.

Yes, I see an addition to the FAQ, come on B, in your best Beonese, please do a step by step for us. Thanks.