Front Axle Rebuild - For FAQ (6 Viewers)

[Backwoods Rambler]

I just performed my knuckle rebuild this weekend. What a job! Glad it's done. Using a PDF copy of this thread as well as the addition info included after the original posting as well as some other online resources, I created this document as a step-by-step tutorial, which helped me quite a bit. Maybe it will help others as well.

Here are a couple of addition thoughts...

• Harbor freight has a great punch set and seal puller. Also their blue nitrile gloves worked great for me.

• On the other hand, their cir-clip pliers kit is junk and doesn't work for this job.

• I've noticed a lot of threads where the Thrust washers were bad. Get them ahead of time. Mine were trashed.

• Doing this job without swapping or replacing the birfields is still worth it. Swapping or replacing them later is a much smaller job, only slightly more work than replacing the rotors.

• I think doing the wheel bearings at the same time makes a lot of sense. I did mine, it only added 20-30 minutes to the entire 2 day job.

• WD-40 is the cheapest degreaser solvent I could find in a gallon size for soaking and cleaning parts. I worked excellent. I found it at Advance Auto, but I think I saw some at Napa as well.

• I stripped 1, maybe 2, of my drive plate flange studs by torquing to the FACTORY SPEC'D 26 ft-lbs. Maybe they were shot already? Maybe I had a bad torque wrench? I don't know, but in my prior research EVERYONE said to go SUPER easy on them. Maybe I wasn't careful enough?

Thanks again 'Mud!

 

[BamaPaul]

Gasoline is the cheapest degreaser I could find. Even at $3.50/gallon that was only $7 into a home depot bucket to clean all my parts and let the birfs soak over night in.

 

[DARKNESS]

I used odorless mineral spirits. Not as cheap, but worked great and didn't make the garage unbearable.

 

[livelarg]

I saw one, but i was wondering if there is a master list of what parts you will need to get the front axles completely done? Want to buy everything and make sure nothing is missing before I start.

Thanks

 

[Mandito22]

↑ X2

 

[thedoughboy]

The best thing to do is to watch one of the many videos out there. They will walk you through the process and you can see what is replaced. Here is a good one:




Buy one of the many kits available. Call CDan he will hook you up. CruiserOutfitters has a nice kit too. These come with all the wipers, seals, and trunion bearings. In addition to this your need:

Wheel Bearing Greese (Lithium Based)
Moly Greese (3-4 tubes)
Hub Nut Socket (54 mm...?)
Torque Wrench
3-6 rolls of paper towels
Gear Oil



In addition to this you may want:

New rotors
New wheel bearings
New brake pads

ZEP degreaser. It is the bomb!!!

Did I forget anything????

 

[L8Shift]

addendum

......
The other addendum I'd add is from Norm's web write up I used many moons ago when that was the only one on the web. It makes doing the rebuild solo much easier and I've used these buggers dozens of time. I don't have a pic but this would be during the rebuild pics in post #19. Place the headless bolts in the knuckle housing at 10 and 2 o'clock and re-assembly is SO much easier. The bottom bolt is threaded into the end of the axle stub to pull it out for the snap ring.
View attachment 56154

Ken, yeah, I figured if I actually took the time and read the entire thread it was all in there. Just like all the photos are somewhere between here and Morgan's or Norm's rebuild links in the Tech section.

This is the shot from Norm's rebuild and I'm fairly certain these are 10-mm x 1.25 pitch but I'll check. I made them using a dremel to cut the heads off and make the screwdrive slot.

edit: checked and they are 10-mm x 1.25 pitch and the length is 40-mm
View attachment 56157

The local Ace Hardware in town has automotive studs in 10-mm x 1.25 pitch and the length of 42-mm, where the bolts and screws are.

 

[warezdog]

I used kerosine as a degreaser when iI did mine last week.

 

[Robert Harper]

I used Grease Lightning for a degreaser. Not too expensive. Works great.

 

[Alex1118]

Suspecting my LC needs an axle rebuild...just looked through this thread. Don't think I'll be attempting it!

Going to print off this PDF, glance at the rebuild kit and go see my mechanic.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

Suspecting my LC needs an axle rebuild...just looked through this thread. Don't think I'll be attempting it!

Going to print off this PDF, glance at the rebuild kit and go see my mechanic.

It's not hard. Just messy. I actually enjoy tearing it down.

 

[Aggiesdm]

It's not hard. Just messy. I actually enjoy tearing it down.

I just did mine and I concur. It's not difficult, just messy and time consuming. 80% of my time was spent cleaning and prepping for new parts to be installed.

FYI, Autozone has a loaner seal/race set that you can borrow for free. I know the Harbor Freight set is nice, but free is still better to me

 

[Vae Victus]

Suspecting my LC needs an axle rebuild...just looked through this thread. Don't think I'll be attempting it!

Going to print off this PDF, glance at the rebuild kit and go see my mechanic.

Agree x 3 - not hard just messy. X2 on Autozone free tools - I've some on loan for 18 mos now. They say "just bring them back!"

 

[Alex1118]

I'm going to take some pictures tomorrow of how mine look and see what you guys think. Need to run to quarter car wash and pressure wash some gunk off.

 

[BRob2756]

Marking this thread for later. Great work!

Rob

 

[Alex1118]

Drained my front diff fluid about 30 minutes ago.

This is what it looked like.

It was dirty (I'm assuming) and almost had a green hue to it. Is this where it's been mixed with grease? What am I looking at here? A lot of fluid drained out...I would imagine the full 3.5 quarts or whatever the FSM calls for.

Thanks!

 

[GXO]

Depending on the brand it can be greenish. It looks transparent enough...if you get grease/water contamination it gets "soupy" and starts to look more opaque with greyish colors from the moly/grease used outside the seals.

IMO it is not contaminated that badly (if at all) but dirty.

 

[w0ngster]

What would you say the difficulty of this job is? From 1 being a blonde and 10 being Someone who could do this in their sleep?

 

[Vae Victus]

Meh - 3 to 5. It can be done by a 10 in an afternoon. It took me (a 3-5) weeks but I was taking back to "like new" as I went.

 

[GXO]

I have done more than 6 and I can get it done in 3-5 hours for the whole thing with a lot of cleaning and tidy look at the end. Depending on what your axle looks like to begin with will determine the amount of time you will take (rust, built up gunk, state of the current bearings, races, etc.) The longer you let it go (and the worse it gets) the longer it will take to R&R.