Frt. knuckle wisdom

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T

toydude13

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Aug 18, 2008
Threads
17
Messages
156
Location
So Cal
How do I know its time to replace the bearings, grease wiper and axle seals?

My '82 truck has 162k mi. and the ball doesn't drip but there is some accumulation and when I lift a tire and give it a shove there is a little bit of play.just a small amount. The truck lived in Bishop, Ca. fishing the eastern Sierras. Maybe that duty alone was working it harder than a 'city' truck?

I honestly don't have enough experience to make a good call and the money could go to new seats.

M:)
 
Preventative maintenance is never a bad thing, if the tires move now, what will they do tomorrow? I would open up the hole on the front side of the knuckle and make sure you have grease, as that could be the other reason your birfs are not weeping.
 
I would go ahead and rebuild the knuckles. Over all the cost to do the work is not that much, maybe $200. It's the time that will kill you. First time, expect two days especially if everything is a disgusting mess. Once you do this job a few times it can be done in half a day or so.
 
pappy said:
I would go ahead and rebuild the knuckles. Over all the cost to do the work is not that much, maybe $200. It's the time that will kill you. First time, expect two days especially if everything is a disgusting mess. Once you do this job a few times it can be done in half a day or so.
Click to expand...

I can do one side in 2-3hours, if i have a 'gopher' to run for tools. I did one in a chicken house on a landcruiser- that was interesting.
 
Thanks for the replys

double checked to make sure the wiggle wasn't something else. it wasn't.

are there favorite places to buy the entire kit? Marlin is sold out. and to tell you the truth I dont expect the job to be worse than my rover. different knuckle and a real pain is the arse.

M:)
 
toy4xfun said:
get marlin heavy duty inner seals!
Click to expand...

I agree, but as said, Marlin is sold out. I compromised and bought mine from Trail Gear. The kit was acceptable.
 
Dont buy a kit. You will get a bunch of paper gaskets that you dont need (silicone is a better choice and is easier to remove/clean later) and a load of cheap crappy bearings.

Go to your local bearing house and get some good Jap or US made bearings.

Then call up Mister Long and get a pair of baddass plastic wiper seals, that will replace all the outer felts and such.

With Bobby's new wipers and good bearings you dont need all the other s*** a kit comes with.

I would never suggest TG trunion or wheel bearings either, not acceptable.

I agree on Marlins inner seals tho, good investment.
 
I have to admit an amount of surprise at the amount of ooze inside the knuckle. If the amount of grease was greater inside than out was it neccessary to do this job at all?

It appears that a special tool is required to press the top and bottom caps from the inside out. I have a service manual that gives a 'special service tool' # but have'nt been able to find the tool any where.

Any suggestions? Use a brass punch and beat it out?

M:)
 
Ooze is not good that says your 90 weight has mixed with your grease assuming we are talking about your knuckles. As for the special tool no. I need more info on what you are trying to do.... If you are having a hard time getting the steering arms off double check that you have gotten the cones off from under the nuts. They will stick and you might want to spray some penetrating fluid on there. You can also tap at them with a screw driver if needed and also tap the arm up from the bottom. You do not even need to take the bottom cap off if you dont want to you can take the knuckle off by just removing the top. Then just tap the bearing off and the new one on. Let others chime in on this but I personally would remove 20 thousands of shims from the top cap prior to re-installing in order to end up with closer to proper knuckle preload....... This was true on my fj40 and I am assuming it will be close on a mini
 
absolutely correct.get the cones removed and it almost comes apart on its own.no cones on the bottom and with a slight tap the bottom bearing falls out. now to clean up the mess on everything.

I don't know that the gear oil mixed with the knuckle grease or not, both are the same color. Perhaps the grease lost its viscosity? The grrease on the top,around the bearing, was much drier than on the bottom. It looked dry.

Now what about those shims

?At this time I've only found the paper gaskets.

M:)
 
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