Knoob Knuckles (or maybe just rear axles and brakes 4X) (1 Viewer)

[landcruiser3DP]

i had a hell of a time getting my head around "knuckles" in part because i couldn't fit the life of me figure out the terminology. like birfields and knuckles and spindles. i mean it's hard to get from here to there on even figuring out how to get from the factory part number and name to the name people call it to the FSM diagram. i think it's hard to see how confusing some of this can be if you are already familiar with it and worked your way through it.
also i'm big on paper drawings and diagrams so i like to see if i can understand something from a drawing in order to figure out what i don't know and the FSM does dumb stuff like leaves out the inner wheel bearings so when i was looking at knuckle kits i didn't realize i was getting confused without really understanding why.
anyway i loaned my truck out and it came back with a wheel grinding noise on front right side and i had to park it and i finally found some time and got it together enough to go in. plus i had to see if i could remember what an old fashioned brake job was all about. i think i've done one on an auto and a couple on a motorcycle since then.
in the meantime i put tires on the 98 4WD 2 door 2.7 cosmetically challenged no AC shagged out suspension taco and got it inspected.
i thought i'd slowly try to find the time to post work product for the noobs. basically i got new calipers and rotors and brakes and pads and hoses and front and rear knuckle kits. but front knuckles looked good so i was hoping not to have to do those.
also if i post here the i'm hoping one of the gurus can tell me what i am missing while i do the job.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

day 1. i work outside and sometimes even on the street so i have to carry all my tools out. also yesterday i realized i am always working on different things so i am often reworking how things are organized.
usually it's a pretty tight kit but yesterday i ran into a sticking right rear wheel stud so i couldn't get the nut off without thinking i was going to shear something. so someone recommended an impact driver.
then i grabbed my makita portable drill bag with the drill and the impact and all the drill supplies and i realized i didn't have my impact adapters. so i spent thirty minutes and couldn't find them but was able to scrounge up a 1/4" adapter and a 1/4" to 3/8" adapter and got a socket on it to get it off.
of course that night when i went to sort what i wasn't using yet i found the adapters in with my manual sort of mini socket wrenches so now the impact is going into another bag of its own. anyway the point is that in 100 degree temps this is no fun so i try to be really organized in what i think i can control.
here is day 1. i was going to do the rears first since it doesn't have all this crazy solid scale steering stuff but i wasn't totally sure on how to get my other two jackstands up the rear most securely so after i got that bunged up nut off got started on the fronts.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

brake minimums look like 1mm. mine were at 5 with one of the front left find to metal. not sure what happened there. also not totally sure but there is a clip built into that pad. not sure if those are wear indicators you are supposed to feel too?
rotors are at 29.4 and 29.5 mm so right at the limit of 30 mm.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

more brake pads.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

rotors after taking the front wheels off.
i used a 1/2" breaker bar with a socket on the nut on the hub rested on my knee to get the bearing plate nuts off. worked a treat.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

dust cover and circlip.
i finally broke down and bought a four piece circlip plier kit so i am doing this in style now and not messing around with my pawn shop specials.
i had a bit of a time getting the grease out from around the star washer but i found if you look close up against the hexagonal lock nut you can see the one or two places it's folder over. it was a bit of a head scratcher /how it gets folder back over like that but i guess you just get in with a thin screwdriver and pry it back slowly.
mine only had one tab folded over.
i'm trying to visualize what would happen if that lock nut started to work itself outward. i guess the adjusting nut would start to whinge against the star washer and eventually break the tab off and it digikey start to walk outward. then your wheel would start to waggle.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

i ended up using brass on brass for the cone washers. i put the fat brass hammer up against the stud and whacked it with the smaller brass hammer.
for my money (or my time really) 2 Gear Low out of australia has the baddest video on this. he even has part numbers on the screen. my only request would be to put the part numbers all up in one still image for like ten seconds so you can take a picture of it.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

2 Gear Low working 80 series knuckles.
jumping ahead on that last image but one thing i did learn is that that special toyota tool he shows in his rear axle video can be avoided if you use a modified 54mm socket. i bought this tool off the jump from joey and it took me awhile to realize it was modified for the rear hubs and this is the reason i bought it. so i didn't need that funky toyota tool.
ALSO: one thing i am not clear on is if i need to take off those three steering arm ball joints if i am doing just rotors snd bearings?
i had some fun with the wheel bearing preload process - i guess i'll post that here too - in part because i don't want to be out there fumbling around in 100 degrees figuring out how to finish. but also this part of the 80 axles is very confusing.
am i correct in thinking if i do 45 ft lb preload dnd 45 ft lb locking but i can avoid disassembling the steering knuckles? so this is why everyone is using the Arizona Mob's method? because you can just torque it and you avoid having to disassemble the ball joint i guess?

 

[landcruiser3DP]

splines on my axle (the serrated part), friction plate or whatever i call it (i need to nail down the names for this part) and the spindle (the stepped surface that the rotor wheel bearings (inner is the larger one and it gets a seal behind it) and outer is the smaller one (it is held in by that nut with the register in it (whatever you call that), the adjusting nut and star locking nut and another locking nut.
i forget if there is something else in there but there is a gasket on the friction plate.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

front brake calipers. i'm fumbling around with anti squeal backing plates and inner anti squeal backing plates and some kind of clips (that i did order) for the brake pads.
i'll post part numbers and pics for these in a bit. these were a bitch. but i think i have bought here to keep going and can reuse what comes off. we'll see.
ALSO one thing i'd like to verify is for brakes you suck some old fluid out of the MC, put new fluid in? them i clamp the old axle to frame hoses? put in new hoses and mount new caliper with brake pads installed?(!)
then go and replace the axle to frame hoses by clamping them at the bottom, removing them at the bottom? then replacing them at the top?
then you bleed rear left, rear right, LSPV, front left then front right while keeping the MC topped off?

 

[landcruiser3DP]

Day 2. got the hubs off the brake rotor, cleaned up the hubs, finished ultrasonic on removed parts, packed bearings, cut old races to use as a driver, put new races in freezer.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

got seals and bearings out. bagged them and tagged them in case i wanted to look at them later. from what i could see they looked great.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

driving the races out after cleaning the hubs up really good so i could see it clearly.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

close ups of the races.

 

[Irish Reiver]

Please tell me that you have new rotors for this project.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

i took a 1/2" breaker bar with a socket and a 3/8" breaker bar with a socket and sort of went around breaking nuts against the ones in front of it. this works pretty well on one rotor except for one nut.
it didn't work for the other rotor at all so i got it on the ground and sort of got one foot on a breaker bar to pull against it.
also i use the other rotor to keep it from trying to lift.
i found if i sort of cross crossed them i could pull against it easily. then i just sort of snugged up the one i loosened and used it against the next one. you have to remember to snug up the one you loosened when you use it to break the next one or it will turn and you will have to reseat the socket.
also 12 point sockets would kind of help here.
not perfect but it worked pretty well. i don't think my vice would have done well on the table i have it mounted to for this.
two nuts were really stubborn and i left the portable impact drive on those for like a full minute and a half and they eventually gave way.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

cleaning up the hubs and i split two of the races to use as drivers. i'm going to go back and split the other two.
my man 2 Gear Low has a video showing you can do this but he uses a driver on the split bearing to get one of the races seated down into the hub. this is super confusing because it's like if you are splitting races to use as the driver why are you using a race to drive it - i guess unless you have the wrong size driver lying around and need something to better match the new race?
but also if you don't have a driver that will drive the split race what are you going to use?
anyway i figured i should have an extra race in case i need to make up some of that depth for some reason. i'll see how it goes. i actually marked the races with 1 slot for left (I) and two slots for right (II) in case i wanted to look them over later.
also that size brush was great for getting around the studs to clean those gasket surfaces. it really saved some time.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

i bought a bearing packing tool. i wanted to try it and i figured i would use it for the tacoma and the trailer. also it looked cool. and it's super cool. i highly recommend this brand. it's super well made.
also i can get bonus points from the cruiser homies by loaning it out.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

races in the freezer at the end of a half day. lots of cleaning. but i like putting it back cleaned up.
oh also i stamped the hubs left and right with a letter punch tool just to keep them identified.
time for a lime popsicle.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

Please tell me that you have new rotors for this project.

thanks for the eyeballs man.
i corrected it and added rotors in the list.
also i see they are not in any pics because they are locked in the toolbox to make sure no one walks off with them while i'm sleeping!