Front Diff Repair (1 Viewer)

[primer7]

The parts and supplies are in.

Guess I'll jump in with both feet and see where this takes me. Read and re-read the rebuild procedure many times so I'm pretty confident that I'm somewhat sketchy on this whole repair, which in turn finds me moving forward anyway.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Is this the knuckle service / seal replacement thing?

It's one of those things that is harder to explain than to do.

Suggestions;
If the outside of the knuckles are covered with grease take the truck to the quarter wash, spray the knuckles with Oven cleaner, let it soak for 30 minutes then use the pressure spray to clean them.

Get the birfield SST from Shawn, you don't know what Gomer and Goober did to the shim pack the last time the knuckles were serviced. Centering the birfield will extend the life of the new seal.

Do one side at a time.

Lay the parts out in the order you remove them.

Have a couple of rolls of toilet paper on hand, it is the best thing for removing the oil/grease slurry from the knuckles.

Get a fish scale to set the pre-load.

Re-check the pre-load after 100 or so miles, also check the steering arm studs every few hundred miles for a while.

 

[flexing40]

Holy @#$%ng smokes. What are you doing, opening a garage? You rebuilt your winch, I don't think you're going to have problem.

 

[primer7]

Progress so far...

 

[primer7]

Drivers side so far

 

[primer7]

The Trunion Bearing was stuck on the trunion shaft, but a BFH and a ratchet extension knocked it off. I was amazed at how easy the axle came out and the axle seal as well...very messy so far.

What has been interesting is some of the gaskets don't seem to be in place...missing?

 

[primer7]

Progress...

 

[primer7]

More Progress...and then I came up short one bolt of the 8 needed to secure the spindle brake shield etc. I search for two hours, went through the trash 3 times, but no luck.

So where can I get a M10 x 1.25 fine thread bolt?

 

[rusty_tlc]

Ace hardware on Baring Blvd.

 

[primer7]

Found the bolt, had a C.R.S. moment

 

[locrwln1]

As you are figuring out, they are stone simple designs that can be repaired/fixed with minimal tools.

The negative is they are incredibly messy to deal with. You will go through more towels/cleaning supplies than anything else.

Progress is looking good.

Jack

 

[primer7]

I really thought the messy part would be...minimal, but I am amazed at how many rolls of paper towels and pairs of gloves I've used so far. Hope to finish today and verify I didn't screw anything up. The hardest part so far was seating the trunnion races. I had to put them in the freezer and also do a little wet sanding.

I thought the axles would be the issue, but they slid right in.

 

[DiscoveredLC]

I really thought the messy part would be...minimal, but I am amazed at how many rolls of paper towels and pairs of gloves I've used so far. Hope to finish today and verify I didn't screw anything up. The hardest part so far was seating the trunnion races. I had to put them in the freezer and also do a little wet sanding.

I thought the axles would be the issue, but they slid right in.

The easiest way I have found to drive a race in, is to use the old race flipped upside down. If I have to seat it past flush I'll take a flap disc and knock off just a little of the old race. That way it doesnt get stuck while drving in the new. The trunion race isn't too bad, its getting them straight and started that can be a pain since they are so small (compared to say a wheel bearing.)

Did you just re-use the old shim setup, or check with the scale method? You ever get your steering wheel straight?

Looks good to me.

 

[primer7]

Used the old shim per FSM, steering is still a little off. When I installed the OME lift I had the caster corrections bushings pressed in but there is still not enough adjustment (per Reno Toyota). The drop down brackets (per MUD) I understand would correct the adjustment issue, but I don't know if that would be the next thing to do?

 

[rusty_tlc]

I really thought the messy part would be...minimal, but I am amazed at how many rolls of paper towels and pairs of gloves I've used so far. Hope to finish today and verify I didn't screw anything up. The hardest part so far was seating the trunnion races. I had to put them in the freezer and also do a little wet sanding.

I thought the axles would be the issue, but they slid right in.

Seriously, toilet paper works much better than paper towels.

I use one of my 3/4" drive socket to seat big races. You can pick up a cheap set of 3/4" drive sockets at HF that will do the job.

 

[DiscoveredLC]

Used the old shim per FSM, steering is still a little off. When I installed the OME lift I had the caster corrections bushings pressed in but there is still not enough adjustment (per Reno Toyota). The drop down brackets (per MUD) I understand would correct the adjustment issue, but I don't know if that would be the next thing to do?

The castor is still out of spec?

I was talking about your steering wheel though... you mentioned that it was off center when driving straight down the road. Thats a simple quick fix.