Front axle rebuild: any takers?

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G

gbcruiser

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I just found out my front inner, and probably outer, axle seals have finally blown a leak.

I've read about doing this job online, and it doesn't look horribly complex...but I lack the space, tools, time, and skill to get it done. But it's gotta get done...

Anyone able to lend a hand? I'll buy the kit from the dealer and do all the grunt work, and I can pay a few bucks for a helping hand and a shop to work in...

Anyone want to get nice and greasy working on '60 front end? Oh, and I'll bring the bzzrs of course...
 
is there grease in the diff fluid or diff fluid in the knuckle....
if its your axle seal there was a write up on 4x4 wire on building a tool to tap in the axle seal..

is it grease around the knuckle.... might just need new felts... how much does toyota charge for that.... i bought the trail gear one that comes with new trunion bearings... for like 80 the only thing that it didnt come with was wheel bearings...

when you lookin to do this... might be able to lend ya a hand and space to do it ... let me know
 
There is plenty of grease around the knuckle, and gear oil that drips out after long drives and sprays on the inside of the tires, so it probably needs the works.

I'll check at Toyota today for the parts and see how much that sets me back. I'm hoping to do it sooner rather than later....I'm still driving the truck on road, which I hope won't hurt anything. The oil leaking out isn't too severe, but I don't want to wheel it as is that's for sure...

Thanks!
 
Yeah, better to take care of the whole thing at once... especially if you don't know when they were last done... if ever. Might as well get steering knuckle and wheel bearings too. Kurt at cruiser outfitters is awesome and is very accomodating to those of us in Canada.
Your welcome to comeby and use my shop/driveway. However, there is a cruiser w/o a front axle taking up the garage space right now. It could be rolling again soon tho ;)
Cheers-
-Stump
 
im not sure who to get the kit from...when i did mine i scrounged all the seals and bearings from various parts stores and was very happy with the outcome. when i re-built my dads front end i used a trail gear kit and i wasnt at all impressed with the seals and gaskets that it included...cheap chinese s***...but the price was cheap to so you get what you pay for. 4wheelauto used to have a good looking kit that was made for the mining industry but i dont see it on their site anymore. in any case i might be able to give you a hand to do it on a weekend. mmm shop to work in might not be within my means but i have done all sorts of stuff under a shelter or in the carport (head gasket to a sag conversion). not ideal but hey...it works

helps if i look in the right spot for that kit: 4Wheel Auto Wholesale i havnt used it myself so i cant vouch for its quality but....sounds like a alright deal
 
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yotawheeler said:
im not sure who to get the kit from...when i did mine i scrounged all the seals and bearings from various parts stores and was very happy with the outcome. when i re-built my dads front end i used a trail gear kit and i wasnt at all impressed with the seals and gaskets that it included...cheap chinese s***...but the price was cheap to so you get what you pay for. 4wheelauto used to have a good looking kit that was made for the mining industry but i dont see it on their site anymore. in any case i might be able to give you a hand to do it on a weekend. mmm shop to work in might not be within my means but i have done all sorts of stuff under a shelter or in the carport (head gasket to a sag conversion). not ideal but hey...it works

helps if i look in the right spot for that kit: 4Wheel Auto Wholesale i havnt used it myself so i cant vouch for its quality but....sounds like a alright deal
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can believe 4 wheel auto's hype about the mining thing:rolleyes:... you can get their FSM for $250 too. What exactly makes them better than another kit? Are there special Toyota part numbers? I'm betting not. Kurt will send via regular mail and I'll bet you save money: Cruiser Outfitters

Piecing together usually winds up being much more expensive. Oh, and you might as well buy 2 kits, so you have a spare at the ready... or atleast get extra axle seals while your at it. You'll thank yourself on the trail someday.
 
wow....stand corrected. kurk at cruiser outfitters takes the cake...looks like he is using the koyo bearings as well...i will probably be ordering a few sets of re-build kits....might be able to get a bit better price the more kits i order.

oh yea and piecing togather was more expensive...but at the time it was the only thing i could come up with and i ended up with quality products in the end so im still happy. live and learn.
 
man, there is no job on a cruiser more repugnant than a knuckle job...

my project truck is getting 60 axles under it, just so I don't have to rebuild one this year...:lol:

take the number of rags you've collected for the job, and go out and get twice as many.:lol::lol:

as for kits, I got one from BCC a year or so back. was good enough. just the T/G kit I guess, but whatever.
 
thats not a bad price if all the materials are in...but also consider how much its going to suck if you have to pull your front end apart on the trail for the first time...its messy, greasy and crappy but i would rather know how to do it than find out how its done when im 40 miles into the bush....just a thought
 
give big country customs a try. THey have good prices and great customer service.
 
I would be worried about them doing knuckles for 500. By the books it is roughly a 12 hour job and lots of moly grease. We usually spend time with wire wheel knuckles and new paint with all new seals and 3 tubs of grease. I hope if you do take it to them I hope they do it correct for you.
 
The Man A Fre kits look like the trail gear ones. non koyo bearings, i've put a couple of those on and they are cheaper than stock in quality. But this is my opinion.
 
I don't know anything about pricing, but I will chime in on the DIY factor i.e. advantages of seeing all your parts with your own eyes: If you DIY, you'll know how to repair it on the trail, a real possibility, ask me how I know;), Also you can clean up the knuckles like Jay said and get shiny new paint on them, which also serves a purpose for keeping the knuckles clean IMHO. You also get to check out all the other parts personally.
Buy a kit a case of brake cleaner (or a jug and spray bottle) and a couple rattle cans of Demcote gloss black from Aucklands (dries fast and hard), we're looking at doing a tech day soon. We could have you done in a couple hours.
Buy brake pads too, unless you've already done that recently.
 
I'll just chime in for a moment here:

The Trail Gear kits are of poor quality, and some of the parts do not fit well. There is a BIG difference between Japanese made seals and bearings when compared to Chinese made bearings and seals.

We carry kits with Japanese bearings and either Australian or Japanese seals depending on the shipment. We have 2x 80 series kits, 6x 60 series kits, and 1x 78 series kit coming in shortly.

If Victoria 4WD can do knuckles for $500 complete, with Toyota parts, I'd be very, very impressed. The parts from Toyota cost about that much - so I'd say "go for it!" If all they are doing is taking a pair of scissors to a new set of felts and putting them on from the back, and taking a grease gun to grease service hole, then that would make more sense. A properly done knuckle job is very time consuming and messy.

Remember, you get what you pay for. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

~John
 
Do you guys carry Koyo knuckle bearings?

I may be in need of another full kit (always keep one in the garage as a shop spare) because I've been scavenging random bits from my exsisting kit to complete my SOA.

Cheers-
-Stump
 
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