Hi i am a 19 year old college student and have been driving a 80 series Land Cruiser since i first got my license and absolutely love my rig, That being said I am a mountain kid and have beat the s*** out of my cruiser but she has failed to let me down yet. My birfields have been clicking for roughly 2 years now and now the seals are shot on the drivers side knuckle. I bought the Marlin Crawler rebuild kit with all new bearings included. I wanted to know if i should just go ahead and do the whole front axle of just the side that is leaking, i heard if you switch the birfs they last longer but i also heard they don't usually break. Just wanted to know the opinions out there. I'm not very mechanically savy but i have been researching this fix for a while and think i can do it myself. Any tips too would be greatly appreciated.
80 series Front Axle rebuild (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter CraigMartynn
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- fzj80 knuckle rebuild
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If you're going to take on the mess you might as well do both sides and swap while you're in there, especially if you've got clicking.
Edit: I'm a newbie mechanic too and I did this a few weeks ago. It's a pretty simple job if you've got the tools you need. Just take your time and follow the steps as outlined here and on youtube.
Edit: I'm a newbie mechanic too and I did this a few weeks ago. It's a pretty simple job if you've got the tools you need. Just take your time and follow the steps as outlined here and on youtube.
Do both sides, also, people have said the Marlin inner seal starts to leak when used in full time 4 wheel drive applications. You might want to order 2 OE toyota inner seals instead of the Marlin seals. The job is pretty easy if you follow the FAQ. It's a really nice write up.
Hornd
SILVER Star
10 Piece Bearing Race and Seal Driver Set
Get 4 Tubes Valvoline Pallidum and 1 Can Mobil 1 Red Synthetic Bearing Grease.
Plan on throwing away your clothes when your done.
Lotsa Brake Cleaner, Lotsa Paper Towels, Lotsa Nitrile Gloves
Great feeling of accomplishment when you put eyeball seals on and wrap up.
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Those are the videos I used as well. Everything is straightforward. Just give yourself a full weekend.
Dirty Koala
SILVER Star
Agree, toyota inner axle seals and OEM or KOYO wheel bearings.
Basic hand tools, a 54mm socket, 4 tubes of moly grease, some gasoline to clean parts, plenty of rags and half a day of free time.
Have at it!
Basic hand tools, a 54mm socket, 4 tubes of moly grease, some gasoline to clean parts, plenty of rags and half a day of free time.
Have at it!
Both sides. It's a pain in the dick to clean everything. I think one of my axle seals is leaking... dreading going in there again to get to it.
Maybe I can get it down to 1 day now that I've done it before but I think a first-timer should budget at least 2 full days.
and skip the gas for cleaning....
Dirty Koala
SILVER Star
what's wrong with a little gas to clean nuts and bolts. I assume the PO doesn't have a solvent parts washer.
Box Rocket
SILVER Star
Maybe I've just done it too many times, but this can be done (pretty easily) in one day. Just have LOTS of shop towels on hand and many pairs of latex/nitrile gloves.
Rivman1243
SILVER Star
This is the first time ive seen someone not recommend the Marlin axle seals. Is there a thread on them?
Box Rocket
SILVER Star
I don't know if there is a specific thread dedicated to the Marlin seals but they have been discussed numerous times with premature leaks reported. FWIW, I'm using Marlin seals on mine. I serviced my front end last year and no leaks....knock on wood.
Agree, do both sides, replace the trunnion bearings for sure, the wheel bearing may still be OK, and definitely swap the birfs side to side.
The Marlin HD seals have gotten mixed reviews, some people hate them. I had good luck for six years and 50,000 miles, but now one side is just starting to allow a small amount of gear oil into the passenger side knuckle. However I don't blame the Marlin seals, the problem IMO is that high mileage axle shafts develop a wear groove where the seal lips ride. After a few hundred thousand miles (I'm at 343,000) even a new seal, Toyota or Marlin, may not seal as the groove in the axle shaft becomes too deep. The fix seems to be new axle shafts (or possibly SpeediSleeves) along with new Toyota axle seals.
The Marlin HD seals have gotten mixed reviews, some people hate them. I had good luck for six years and 50,000 miles, but now one side is just starting to allow a small amount of gear oil into the passenger side knuckle. However I don't blame the Marlin seals, the problem IMO is that high mileage axle shafts develop a wear groove where the seal lips ride. After a few hundred thousand miles (I'm at 343,000) even a new seal, Toyota or Marlin, may not seal as the groove in the axle shaft becomes too deep. The fix seems to be new axle shafts (or possibly SpeediSleeves) along with new Toyota axle seals.
@Rivman1243 See below threads:
Do not buy Marlin Crawler Inner Axle Seals...
Marlin Oil Seal Vs. OEM oil seal thread
Marlin Inner Axle Seals - Real World Reports
I don't have experience personally as I used OE seals after reading the above. I figured it wasn't worth taking the chance since no one seems to have problems with the OE seals.
Who knows if there is really a problem, I just wanted to give the OP a heads up so he can make an informed decision. I like Marlin's products, but in this case I personally would just run Toyota seals.
Do not buy Marlin Crawler Inner Axle Seals...
Marlin Oil Seal Vs. OEM oil seal thread
Marlin Inner Axle Seals - Real World Reports
I don't have experience personally as I used OE seals after reading the above. I figured it wasn't worth taking the chance since no one seems to have problems with the OE seals.
Who knows if there is really a problem, I just wanted to give the OP a heads up so he can make an informed decision. I like Marlin's products, but in this case I personally would just run Toyota seals.
The previous owner used Marlin seals on Marlin axles. They leaked on both sides in about 20K miles. I replaced with OE, and haven't had an issue.
if you have all the tools on hand, a parts washer AND you know what you are doing it can be done in a few hours. for the first time i would say a weekend with a friend helping. its not that bad after you have done it a few times. i took 2 axles down to get a front diff from one and swap into my truck. took about 6 hours total and that including pulling the axle from the donor truck. a rattle gun helps a ton.
A windy gun.
