Front Knuckle Seals (1 Viewer)

[swagdan]

Hi ya'll...new to the list. Just picked up a '87 fj60 with 200k miles in awesome shape. No rust what-so-ever anywhere on it. Some faded paint and a few seals seeping here and there. Tight motor, great compression etc...Seems like it's been garaged most of it's life. Probably only been wheeled a few times and certainly not aggressively.

So the knuckles.....right.....Well, the fronts are both leaking. Does anyone have advice for me? I'd like to think I could do it myself but I don't have garage at the moment....so that leaves me out in the cold and darkness after work. How much $$$ am I looking at for a) seals alone b) axle rebuild c) other options?

Thanks,

SwagDan

 

[cruiserman]

If you're doing the seals, you may as well replace the knuckle bearings while you're at it. The labor is unbelieveable. You might just let it go until the weather warms up in the spring time.

 

[petescoffee]

If you want to do the work and a resource for the parts do a search on this site for various suppliers. I bought my last knuckle rebuild kit and Wiper set from www.cruiseroutfitters.com Kurt is good to deal with.
If you want someone to do the work for you you live close to Sonoma and Gary at Mudrak www.mudrak.com . If he is to busy he amy be able to refer you to another mechanic.

Have you joined the Toyota LAndcruiser Association yet? You can join at www.tlca.org . Their is also a link on the IH8MUD home page.
Joining is cheap. They are a great resource for information , they put out a good magazine and Freeman Toyota in Santa Rosa gives members 25% off on parts.

 

[Bret]

If you wanted to do it on a "no" budget you may be able to pull the tire, hub, and spindle slide the axle out (be careful of the seal) clean it up and pack everything with grease instead of using oil. I would think it should buy you enough time for it to be not-so-cold and maybe afford the knuckle rebuild down the road a little. It won't save you much time versus a rebuild but it is cheaper and should cure your leaking knuckle problem. AFAIK there arent any drawbacks to the grease. Just make sure to get the birfield packed well.

 

[Poser]

If you are going to tear it down, you at least want to replace the seal that is causing the gear oil to get in there and mix with the Moly grease that should be in there. F-ing birfield seal. Clean and re-pack the F-ing birfield with Moly grease, and use a good high temp wheel bearing grease for the wheel bearings.

Or, just run it. Wait till it gets nice out again, hell, you might even meet someone who knows how to do it between now and then, and would be willing to spend a Saturday, read all day, and some of the evening, showing you what is involved, and helping you out.

Good luck!

-Steve

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Don't open it all the way up without having the seals to replace the worn ones... the inner axles seal is most likely the culprit and only costs $2. Hardly worth all the work of putting it back together without.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

[quote author=Bret link=board=1;threadid=8817;start=msg76236#msg76236 date=1071540629]...pack everything with grease instead of using oil. ...AFAIK there arent any drawbacks to the grease. Just make sure to get the birfield packed well.
[/quote]

Use grease intstead of oil?

Where? in the differential?

His problem lies in the fact his inner axle seal is worn and allowing diff oil passed the seal into the knuckle. The oil makes its way out of the knuckle and out the wipers on the outside of the knuckle... then drips down your tire and gets spun all over...

 

[Bret]

My apologies, I was under the impression the oil was leaking out of the knuckle. On my first 73 PO had the knuckles filled with oil. The level in the diff never went down, but the knuckles were always low. My axle seal didn't seem to be leaking. But the the birf seals were. Hence putting grease in them not oil. Cruiser outfit is right about the $2 axle seals though.