You'll be fine. Now....tell the wife to "Get in, Sit Down and Shut up".
And IF you survive that bit of advice, come back here and tell us how it played out.Enjoy your trip.
A Harrowing Tale of Incompetence - How I destroyed a steering knuckle (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter ClassyJalopy
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
You'll be fine. Now....tell the wife to "Get in, Sit Down and Shut up".
And IF you survive that bit of advice, come back here and tell us how it played out.Enjoy your trip.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
This is a good sign. If you have time I would do another short trip like that so you can total around 500 miles. Check everything afterwards and if all seems good then I would take that as a good indicator that you should be good to go!
If you still have the old hub flanges, find a shop that can machine out the splines and have them do so. I have had four different guys tell me to do that then keep the spares in the truck. This way if down the road one of the axles busts or the splines blow, throw it on and it just acts like smooth surface for the axle to spin in, which should allow you to get home.
If you want to be double sure and help your confidence you could always pull the little metal cover and check your ring gap again. Just be
Heck yeah man! And if you're having issues convincing your wife you can always go in and check your snap ring gap again. Be sure to use new spindle covers if you do though.
I'd probably just drive it and be happy though!
Sorry not remembering if you have still your AHC but if you do I learned a good trick from @2001LC. Go for a real short drive and put the truck up to H while you’re still rolling. Then stop in your garage/driveway and sink all the way down to L once you’re stopped. This forces the axles in real tight. Now check your ring gap again. The weight of the truck will force the grease out of the way and give you a tight fit.
2001LC
SILVER Star
Close. The drive settle the grease in back on brass bushing. Than putting in AHC in low force FDS axle out.
If non AHC, drive does the same thing (settles grease on brass bushing). Then not jacking up or jack under LCA, keeps FDS in a neutral position. In those, I thread 8x1.25mm bolt in axle end, and just pull by hand.
Here's one at 0.56mm gap. This can be done with wheel on I suppose. I do this gap inspection often during disassembly, to see what size I need to order.
- Thread starter
- #166
I used a 8mm x 1.25 bolt with axle puller to get the axle pulled as much as I could before putting the thicked snap ring available on the dirvers side. This was all with new bearings. About 400 miles later no play in the wheels and the rotation still feels pretty smooth.
- Thread starter
- #167
Time to rebuild the messed up axle. Project: Rebuilding a busted CV
- Thread starter
- #168
1000 miles update: No play in either side and the wheels spin smooth!
But I started noticing a very faint popping noise on the driver's side on hard braking and also when the left front wheel abruptly climbs on raised surface.
Don't know what it could be.
The sway bar bushings are brand new front and rear and the extended length links are like new too.
Lower ball joints are abt a year old. I have re-torqued all the upper control arm and caliper bolts.
My money is on the cv axle that has a slight seepage at the boot.
I plan on replacing the axle this weekend. The only other thing could be the LCA bushings being bad, which would be too bad because I really don't have the moola for new LCAs
But I started noticing a very faint popping noise on the driver's side on hard braking and also when the left front wheel abruptly climbs on raised surface.
Don't know what it could be.
The sway bar bushings are brand new front and rear and the extended length links are like new too.
Lower ball joints are abt a year old. I have re-torqued all the upper control arm and caliper bolts.
My money is on the cv axle that has a slight seepage at the boot.
I plan on replacing the axle this weekend. The only other thing could be the LCA bushings being bad, which would be too bad because I really don't have the moola for new LCAs
2001LC
SILVER Star
You can grab center axle and then one CV tulip. Twist to see if any rotation play. FSM states, see if any remarkable play
- Thread starter
- #170
I grabbed the center shaft and I could move it in and out freely and it clunked every time it was extended all the way towards the wheel. I could make it to rotate or twist much by hand. Should I try a pipe wrench to see if I can get some rotation?
EDIT: Sorry I could NOT rotate it much!
EDIT: Sorry I could NOT rotate it much!
Last edited:
2001LC
SILVER Star
No pipe wrench needed.
DirtDawg
"It'd be alot cooler if you did"
Just because I did not see it in here:
That upper ball joint is actually a “uniball”. Common in the desert racing world. The first gen nitro arms had uniballs and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to look. No cotter pin and torque to 100ft lbs. I have the same arms.
Not great for longevity, but serviceable and strong as heck. completely fine as is.
That upper ball joint is actually a “uniball”. Common in the desert racing world. The first gen nitro arms had uniballs and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to look. No cotter pin and torque to 100ft lbs. I have the same arms.
Not great for longevity, but serviceable and strong as heck. completely fine as is.
- Thread starter
- #173
Mine are super easy to move by hand. Should that be cause for concern? Should they be tight like your traditional booted bjs?
DirtDawg
"It'd be alot cooler if you did"
They are tight like a traditional BJ when they are new. They wear quicker since they are exposed by design. As long as you don’t see any physical play in the ball to race interface, you’re good.
