I'm halfway through my first front axle rebuild and need help (1 Viewer)

[96LX]

I have everything disassembled on the passenger side at this point. My plan for today was to get both sides disassembled, let the birfs and bearings soak in mineral spirits over night, then reassemble both sides tomorrow.

I locked the center differential, jacked up the passenger side of the truck with the drivers side tire on the ground, and took everything apart. I didn't think as far ahead as to when I went to do the drivers side that there would be nothing to keep the axle from spinning.

On the FAQ post there are a couple pictures of people soaking there birfs at the same time. Is there some way to keep the axle from spinning if you don't have a front diff locker?

Also is imperative that the axle slide back in the exact same position it came out? I might have screwed that up when I spun the drivers side rotor when I went to start disassembling and realized the predicament I am in.

Also the outer wheel bearing just fell right out of the hub/rotor but the inner wheel bearing is stuck in there. Is that how it is suppose to be?

Thank you

 

[nukegoat]

I have everything disassembled on the passenger side at this point. My plan for today was to get both sides disassembled, let the birfs and bearings soak in mineral spirits over night, then reassemble both sides tomorrow.

I locked the center differential, jacked up the passenger side of the truck with the drivers side tire on the ground, and took everything apart. I didn't think as far ahead as to when I went to do the drivers side that there would be nothing to keep the axle from spinning.

On the FAQ post there are a couple pictures of people soaking there birfs at the same time. Is there some way to keep the axle from spinning if you don't have a front diff locker?

Also is imperative that the axle slide back in the exact same position it came out? I might have screwed that up when I spun the drivers side rotor when I went to start disassembling and realized the predicament I am in.

Also the outer wheel bearing just fell right out of the hub/rotor but the inner wheel bearing is stuck in there. Is that how it is suppose to be?

Thank you

All normal keep going. Inner wheel bearing is retained by hub seal. Dont worry about the axle shaft spline orientation. They arent keyed - you just need the birfs to slide in with the flats at 12 and 6 o clock because of clearance.

 

[96LX]

Thanks for the reply, great to know about the spline orientation, that had me worried!

So is getting both sides disassembled at one time reserved for people with front diff locks? Or is there some way to keep it all from spinning?

 

[blkprj80]

Why are you asking about keeping it from spinning? An impact will come in handy. You actually want to be able to spin it so you can line up the flat spots to get the birf out.

 

[96LX]

When I tried to get the flange nuts loose the axle would spin and I wouldn't get any nut loosening accomplished. I don't have access to an impact, but I just tried using two wrenches, one wrench to tighten another bolt to keep the axle from rotating, and got all but one loose with that method. Then tried to loosen the last nut with some equilibrium of force on the two nuts. It worked with some trial and error, I guess I will keep grinding with that method. Thank guys!

 

[inkpot]

Why are you asking about keeping it from spinning? An impact will come in handy. You actually want to be able to spin it so you can line up the flat spots to get the birf out.

If you dont have an impact gun to remove the bolts with, just insert a large screwdriver/prybar/scrapiron/whatever to stop the rotation.

 

[cruiserdan]

Is the front driveshaft rotating when the hub is rotated?

 

[Mr Cimarron]

I use a long pry bar jammed between the wheel studs. It will hit the ground and give you the leverage to loosen any bolts. Also works when reinstalling. Once you get this first job under your belt you will be golden for the next one.

 

[96LX]

Is the front driveshaft rotating when the hub is rotated?

No drive shaft rotation, I'm guessing the other side of the diff is just spinning in the opposite direction.

Thanks for the replies guys. The long pry bar hitting the ground is working great!

I don't know why I couldn't think of that while I was wrenching. I think having so many parts scatter across the floor has me scatter-brained.

I almost have the driver side knuckle spindle off now. I am pretty confident the rest will go smoothly thanks!

 

[cruiserdan]

Do you have diff locks? If so power up the ignition and lock the front diff. That will stop the rotation.

 

[96LX]

Do you have diff locks?

I do not unfortunately. At first I thought that maybe the only people that were able to get both sides done at once were people with diff locks. But as it turns out, any one can do it, I was just not bright enough to come up with my own solution today.

Thanks again for all the help tonight guys!

 

[bicycleagent003]

Good job tackling this job. It's a big mess in a lot of work but also a lot of fun.
Make sure all 4 studs on the bottom of each knuckle are torqued in tight - those loosening can be fairly catastrophic and it has happened to many Mud members.
Keep up the good work.

 

[LS1FJ40]

It’s not uncommon to panic in the midst of doing a project for the first time (or first time in a long time). Been there. Done that.

Difference is I usually panic right away, post up a thread, then realize what I was doing wrong, then everyone flames me. Haha.

 

[LS1FJ40]

Granted my question is usually something along the lines of: RTH! How do I unbolt my lug nuts?!?!

 

[jonheld]

Put the tire back on with 2 lug nuts.
Lower the tire so it just starts to make contact with the ground.
Loosen your hub nuts.
Raise tire and remove.

I usually break all those free before I jack up the truck.

 

[RFB]

No drive shaft rotation, I'm guessing the other side of the diff is just spinning in the opposite direction.

Thanks for the replies guys. The long pry bar hitting the ground is working great!

I don't know why I couldn't think of that while I was wrenching. I think having so many parts scatter across the floor has me scatter-brained.

I almost have the driver side knuckle spindle off now. I am pretty confident the rest will go smoothly thanks!

Use this if you think you may have lost sight of what goes where

 

[96LX]

Went to install the drivers side axle oil seal and upon closer inspection of the mating surface I found these two gouges. Is this normal? Is it from a previous rebuild gone wrong?

I think the gouges don't make it all the way back to where the oil seal will seat so they may not make a difference? They may not, because the drivers side looked perfect when I opened it up, I contemplated not even going any further because it looked so good, but I decided to anyways and now I find this.

 

[bajaphile]

Those gouges are from someone previously removing the inner seal. I wouldn't worry about it.

You can rub the outside of the seal with a coat of RTV and it should fill in any gaps like that.

 

[Dave 2000]

A screwdriver in the disc vent wedged against the calliper will keep it all in place whilst loosening.

Regards

Dave

 

[jonheld]

Those gouges are from someone previously removing the inner seal. I wouldn't worry about it.

You can rub the outside of the seal with a coat of RTV and it should fill in any gaps like that.

RTV? Just a coating of grease is all that's needed. Those seals are enough of a PITA without adding the cleanup of RTV.