Thanks, the front bearings have been correctly serviced every 30k miles. For some reason, the rears have not been as frequent - 50k miles ago but no apparent issues or noticeable heat. For the last several years we have check the birfs by dipping in with a zip tie to gauge the level.
Tough...
Grease does not migrate from the knuckles into the axle/diff. Gear lube only enters the knuckles from the axle/diff when the axle tune seals are bad.
*IF* you did get grease into the gear lube in the axle/diff, that would not be a major concern unless the amount was extremely extreme. ;)...
...at the axle. I did a temporary repair as we could not source a fitting hub-cap.
We made it back home were I disassebled everything again. Birfsoup again, but the axle seal still appeared to be in good condition.
I noticed some play between the birf-axle and the broze bushing in the spindle...
...my 80 and found my spindles needed to be replaced on the 2nd rebuild. However I have 280K miles on my Cruiser. Most folks don't touch the knuckles unless they see signs of birfsoup.
It sounds as though you shop chose to do the knuckle rebuild instead of fixing the problem you asked them...
Pop the square plug on top of the birf housing and look inside for soup, my birfs look similar with no gear oil mixing just oil separating from the birf grease. Maybe also pop off the diff drain plug and dip a something in there and check the clarity of the oil to make sure no grease/diff oil is...
...I rebuilt my front axle.
I put it all together, followed the FSM line by line, and 1500 miles later, it was leaking oil all over and I had BirfSoup.
I pulled the fitting off the back of the axle housing and I had to use a drill bit to clean out the hardened goo in it from the PO never...
...to push gear oil into the knuckles. Then, as it cools it sucks grease back from the knuckles into the differential. Then you end up with BirfSoup. All because the axle housing vent was not properly serviced or changed to a long hose with a filter up by the booster to prevent water...
...separated in years.
All you need to do to check if your knuckles are leaking is pop off the cap at the end of knuckle. If its leaking, the birfsoup will be there. You can also go one step further and take the drive flange off. You will see the soup if its leaking. From the pictures, I'm...
...@cruiseroutfit , ordered a bunch of grease and fluids and checked that I had a gasket for the 3rd member. All good.
At least there was no birfsoup.
Then the frustration started.
Hoped to re-use the wheel bearings. Nope.
Hoped to re-use the trunnion bearings. Nope.
Hoped the inner axle...
...history.
Have you also cleaned the axle housing vent? I had a similar situation after I rebuilt my front axle.
Within 5000 miles I had birfsoup. I discovered the fitting was clogged with varnished gear oil and the vent hoses were plugged. I actually drilled out the fitting to remove the...
...axle on my 80 back in 2019 (has a loose wheel bearing so did the whole thing as PM) and about a year later developed minor evidence of birfsoup on the drivers side. Its never been leaking a ton, but the grease was clearly oily on that side and normal on the other. I've also noticed grease in...
...it. I unscrewed that vent, and used a drill bit in my fingers to clean out the build up.
I had the same issue and within 5000 miles I had birfsoup. After I cleaned out the vent and installed a hose up over the booster with a fuel filter, the birfsoup stopped and I ran another 90k without...
...away, it has that squeezed out look, if that makes sense? I haven't taken it apart yet, but will most likely do that this weekend. It's not birfsoup as it's grease only and it's not coming from the actual joint seal (steel, felt and rubber washer area) those look properly greased.
Has...