Front Axle Trouble (1 Viewer)

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Joined
May 2, 2017
Threads
2
Messages
21
Location
Oklahoma
Good Afternoon All,

I was wondering if anyone had an experience close to mine and could advise on what parts I should order before digging into the front axle so I can reduce the downtime I have waiting on parts.

- less than 10k miles ago had my brake pads and front axle rebuilt as I was leaking oil out of the front left birf.
- seemed to be working great after that
- drove through a puddle one day. Dumped and refilled all fluids that made sense and found water in the rear diff as the breather hose had become disconnected
- everything seemed fine after this for a bit
- started hearing what sounded like an intermittent rubbing noise from the front right. Thought it might be the copper bushing issue I read about on here, but the noise went away after a bit.
- One day started hearing a terrible clunking noise from the front right, the cruiser started pulling to the right, and it started smoking out of the birf, and then it seized up. Checked both birf's and I had oil leaking out
- Pulled the tire off and my caliper was seized up and the rotor was trashed. Once the caliper was removed the wheel would spin free but it made an intermittent clunk and to me, it sounded like the gearing was unlubricated
- had to put the cruiser on a flatbed to get it to a location I could work on it. When lowering the cruiser off the truck a loud pop was heard from the front right as the driver adjusted the steering to straighten it up during the lowering process

My current theory based on talking to my local cruiser buddies is a clogged diff breather on the front that blew out the axle seals which washed out all the grease and caused issues within the birf's. I want to open them up and fix the issue but as this is the primary vehicle I wanted to get some opinions on what might be going on so that I could reduce downtime as much as possible.
 
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Not sure what to tell you, but I'd be planning to do a full birf job so you will need the axle rebuild kit for that. I think it would be a waste to buy anything else until you have it torn down and can see what is going on.
 
My crystal ball is broken down right now, maybe someone else has one that’s up and running. But seriously, your going to have to tear into it to find out exactly what you are dealing with. It’s impossible for anyone to do anything but guess at this point.
 
Not sure what to tell you, but I'd be planning to do a full birf job so you will need the axle rebuild kit for that. I think it would be a waste to buy anything else until you have it torn down and can see what is going on.
That's what I figured. Thanks for the confirmation.
 
My crystal ball is broken down right now, maybe someone else has one that’s up and running. But seriously, your going to have to tear into it to find out exactly what you are dealing with. It’s impossible for anyone to do anything but guess at this point.
I was hoping your crystal ball would be in better working order than mine. Thanks for the reply.
 
My crystal ball is broken down right now, maybe someone else has one that’s up and running. But seriously, your going to have to tear into it to find out exactly what you are dealing with. It’s impossible for anyone to do anything but guess at this point.

Don't worry, mine is working today....

tenor.gif
 
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If cruisers are good for one thing it's driving you to drink. Cheers.
This is not true. Land cruiser’s, up through the 80 series anyway, were designed to be easy to work on with simple tools and for a reason. You took yours to a shop and they did shoddy work. We see this here A LOT. Take it to a Land Cruiser shop or do it yourself.
 
Look into and/or stick something in the inspection port on the knuckle.

I don't think driving through a puddle is what caused your problem.
 
my 0.02, when your brake caliper seized, it may have caused the cv joint to bind and grind onto to flange. its when the flange gives, the cv joint/birfield gives that clunk noise. I think you may need a new or used:

  • flange
  • birfield joint (since this and the flange touch tips)
  • new brake caliper (u said it seized)
  • new rotor (it would have gouged into the rotor)
how do i know? been there.
 
my 0.02, when your brake caliper seized, it may have caused the cv joint to bind and grind onto to flange. its when the flange gives, the cv joint/birfield gives that clunk noise. I think you may need a new or used:

  • flange
  • birfield joint (since this and the flange touch tips)
  • new brake caliper (u said it seized)
  • new rotor (it would have gouged into the rotor)
how do i know? been there.

Thank you! This is the kind of feedback I was looking for.
 

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