Front end rebuild job today !!

[alia176]

John Franklin and I will be rebuilding his front axle today on his 80. This is a last minute notice but if anyone wants to come up and hang out/participate, let me know. Hopefully it won't take all day and night but this job is rather involved and time consuming.

I live in Tijeras, off of Zuzax exit and you'll need a 4x4 to get up the driveway!

Ali

 

[Rudical]

How much do you pay per hour for just hanging out?

 

[Bad Mojo]

Once I get some seals in and do some small projects on the forty done I would be down. I'll let you know before I come up.

 

[OGBeno]

How much do you pay per hour for just hanging out?

You have to pay Ali to hang out.

 

[alia176]

You have to pay Ali to hang out.

Damn straight.

 

[alia176]

Well, we got the right side done, only took 7 hours!

There was definitely birf soup coming out of the passenger side.

 

[pappy]

What took you so long?

 

[alia176]

the birf shows sign of wear.

 

[alia176]

Buttoning back up.

 

[OGBeno]

Classic.

 

[Bad Mojo]

the birf shows sign of wear.

So if the birf is showing wear does that mean it will be replaced at a late date, or is it still good to use?

 

[sl33p3]

What took you so long?

the newb asking too many questions to someone with too many answers...

and note the "clean" guy willing to handle a camera... good god soup is messy, and inside the knuckle is bad too . even after degreasing the whole outside and everything i could reach then pressure washing at the carwash before starting it all... (which really helped, but if i was to do it again i'd have my own pressure washer and take the wheel off and get everything outside even better before i broke into the job). gunk "gel" degreaser is some pretty good stuff. i found myself thinking if i was in my own garage and had the time i'd be cleaning up another notch and repainting a bunch of this crud. you know the "while i'm here" mentality, wait a tick, is that what took so long??

the DS should be faster today... yeah right, who invited the gd optimist???

@Paul, the birf is back in so we'll what happens. it wasn't the original reason to do the service (the soup was) so i might get to do this all again at a later date... shrug. the only clicking i've heard was turning around a corner uphill in the snow, spinning tires and trying to turn while locked... the rest of the time i don't hear anything from it FWIW. I'm sure an expert could chime in and give is a diatribe on birfs and when to replace them (besides when it's broke)... i'll see if hypothetically i can entice someone i know later today...

-john

 

[sl33p3]

You have to pay Ali to hang out.

Damn straight.

yeah but his pepsi and pizza rates are reasonable... just don't get him started on lube jokes or you'll laugh until your sides hurt... you have been warned.

 

[OGBeno]

Wow...he fed you too?

He musta been feeling sorry for you indeed.

 

[sl33p3]

phew, she's done.

well "professional" previous front axle work for sure... sure signs: not lining up the notch on the front wheel bearing washer and forcing it down all those rascally spindle threads... plenty of rtv to compensate for that crappy toyo tolerances and gaskets red/black (yes, swirled and mixed) wheel-bearing grease in the birf cavity as well as the wheel bearings... the metal retainer rings for the knuckle oil seal were inside out on one side only...

good news, she's all buttoned back up and didn't fall apart on the way home and i KNOW how it was done this time. i used marlin HD axle seals and replaced all new koyo bearings while i was there (trunnion and wheel). replaced the front diff plugs with internal allen key plugs. flushed and refilled the diff oil... re tightened the steering arm studs...

also found the "good side" axle seal was beginning to leak diff fluid into the birf cavity... glad we found that too.

bad news, more birf wear (worse than the other side, slightly deeper groove in the center star from the balls) and pretty badly scored axle journal in the wheel spindle which i did not replace... but i think i might buy the bushings just in case.

i have some pretty severe steering box play i need to contend with (certainly before i put in the lift), Ali and i traced that down to box as opposed to tie rod ends for better or worse. but switching out the cogged belts for toy OEM fixed my "whine" in the engine compartment, she just purrs meow...

my time was certainly better on the second side, but i'm not up for speed awards

THANKS AGAIN TO ALI AND HIS GARAGE... top notch "consulting" at reasonable prices but don't get me wrong, he did get his hands dirty for the cause.

-j

 

[alia176]

No problem John, thanks for the food and drinks.

Here are some more pics from sunday. John was able to finish the driver side rather quickly. The spindle bushing was in pretty bad shape as well as the Birf. Ron showed up in his mini so we popped the hood open for a looksie. Shortly there after, David with the Exo'ed 80 showed up.

You can see where the large wheel bearing lock washer ended up (pushed in by force). Sure glad that the tooth didn't ruin the threads on the spindle. The birf housing had no soup but the grease had different colors and consistencies.

 

[alia176]

We liked the battery hold down cable on Ron's mini!

 

[OGBeno]

I didn't know we had an exo-ed 80 in town.....

Interesting.

Next project Ali?

 

[BionicCruiser]

you found David's house?! looks like his 80. I've been trying to get him to a meeting for a while. you have any luck?

 

[alia176]

you found David's house?! looks like his 80. I've been trying to get him to a meeting for a while. you have any luck?

Huh? He showed up at my house.