Axle Groove (1 Viewer)

[EricG]

So I tore down my DS hub today because I've had a bad case of birfield soup for awhile now. But only on the drivers side, and it hasn't been that long since I rebuilt it - probably about 10K to 15K miles.

Upon disassembly, the axle seal looks fine. But the axle has a bad groove in it where the seal rides, so I'm guessing that's my problem and a new seal won't help.

You guys ever dealt with this? I've seen 3 options discussed

- "overdriving" the seal so it rides on a different part of the axle. Wit's End make a special driver to do this. Maybe I'll just chuck mine into the lathe and knock 2mm off.

- speedi sleeve. I've never worked with these, and probably can't get one locally on a saturday. And some more reading suggests people haven't had great luck with them - Sslee says they tried it and won't use them again.

- New axle. I actually have a parts axle out back. But it's also high mileage so may have the same problem. And I know the birfs in it are worn badly. So not sure I want to bother pulling it, and then having to separate & swap the birfs.

Really want to wrap this up tomorrow because the family wants to go up for a tree on Sunday. And I'll be out of town next weekend. so I guess I'll try overdriving the seal.

Thoughts?

 

[SAS]

Interesting, I don't remember seeing that before.

Give Zac a call at @nomadcruisers 719-482-0139 he might have a used replacement

 

[Manitou Decline]

So just a couple inquiries. When you did your hub rebuild, did you put new shims in the top and bottom of the knuckle?
How bad is the groove? Can you catch it with your finger nail? If you can't, I suggest a little time with some emery cloth.

 

[EricG]

I'm always careful to replace the shims as I found them in disassembly. But I'm not the first person that's been in there, so I don't know if they were and it's right. The wheel bearing preload was bad when I got it - had to replace the spindle. So doesn't inspire confidence.

The groove is substantial. No need for a fingernail, you can easily feel it with the pad of your finger.

 

[Manitou Decline]

Well if you want to check your shims Zac has the special tool for it.

 

[EricG]

And of course the bigger question - and I think @Manitou Decline is getting at this - is what changed?

Because I'm pretty sure I would have noticed this last rebuild.

So either knuckle shimmed wrong. Or bent axle tube?

I don't wheel that hard or fast - I think I'd remember a hit big enough to do that.

 

[subzali]

How many miles on your rig? I assume it’s an 80 series? It is only shimmed on one side and the shims are only used for preload. I would think your best bet short term is to try and overdrive the deal, but I would recommend saving up for a new axle shaft, and replace it next time you’re in there. Hard to say how long it will last without leaking if you do end up throwing it back together short term. Not sure, but I would think that possibly under lubricated or contaminated oil in the front axle could have caused some of that wear. Mine has about 230k miles and has some wear but not quite that bad yet.

A new inner axle is about $125 with free shipping right now at stevinson toyota west. That’s the cost of a knuckle gasket and seal kit so it may make the most sense to replace it now.

4341160090 - Toyota Shaft, front axle, inne. Suspension, brakes | Stevinson Toyota West, Lakewood CO

Genuine Toyota Part # 4341160090 - Shaft, front axle, inne. Suspension, brakes. Fits Land Cruiser, LX 450. Ships from Stevinson Toyota West, Lakewood CO

parts.stevinsontoyotawest.com

Edit dang the long driver side is almost twice that:

4341260110 - Toyota Shaft, front axle, inne. Suspension, brakes | Stevinson Toyota West, Lakewood CO

Genuine Toyota Part # 4341260110 (43412-60110, 4341260070, 4342060110, 4342060120, 4342060140, 4342060150) - Shaft, front axle, inne. Suspension, brakes. Fits Land Cruiser, LX 450. Ships from Stevinson Toyota West, Lakewood CO

parts.stevinsontoyotawest.com

 

[EricG]

How many miles on your rig? I assume it’s an 80 series? It is only shimmed on one side and the shims are only used for preload. I would think your best bet short term is to try and overdrive the deal, but I would recommend saving up for a new axle shaft, and replace it next time you’re in there. Hard to say how long it will last without leaking if you do end up throwing it back together short term. Not sure, but I would think that possibly under lubricated or contaminated oil in the front axle could have caused some of that wear. Mine has about 230k miles and has some wear but not quite that bad yet.

A new inner axle is about $125 with free shipping right now at stevinson toyota west. That’s the cost of a knuckle gasket and seal kit so it may make the most sense to replace it now.

4341160090 - Toyota Shaft, front axle, inne. Suspension, brakes | Stevinson Toyota West, Lakewood CO

Genuine Toyota Part # 4341160090 - Shaft, front axle, inne. Suspension, brakes. Fits Land Cruiser, LX 450. Ships from Stevinson Toyota West, Lakewood CO

parts.stevinsontoyotawest.com

Edit dang the long driver side is almost twice that:

4341260110 - Toyota Shaft, front axle, inne. Suspension, brakes | Stevinson Toyota West, Lakewood CO

Genuine Toyota Part # 4341260110 (43412-60110, 4341260070, 4342060110, 4342060120, 4342060140, 4342060150) - Shaft, front axle, inne. Suspension, brakes. Fits Land Cruiser, LX 450. Ships from Stevinson Toyota West, Lakewood CO

parts.stevinsontoyotawest.com

271K on the clock. And yea, that' what I did - overdrove the seals.

Here it is driven flush.

And "overdriven"

So we'll see how it holds up. Will definitely have new axle shafts on hand next time I open it up. Might take it to an alignment shop also - might be able to tell me something about the axle tube.