knuckle problem or no?

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MrsCait

MrsCait

10 Year
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Threads
6
Messages
42
Location
San Diego, CA
So, yesterday I just bought my first LC :clap:1988 LJ70 2LT 263,000km. The previous owner owned a mechanic garage here in Spain and did regular maintenance on her. I'm sorry of say I neglected to look under the front wheels before I bought her but this morning I went out and I saw grease all over the place.
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The passenger side doesn't have shine, the driver(left) side is really shiny, but they both look pretty caked in grease. No leak spots on the ground though. I dont feel like this amount of leakage is normal, is there a problem and do I need to rebuild? i saw this thread https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/ball-joint-steering-knuckle.143256/

The steering is a bit sloppy and she pulls to the right when I brake at higher speeds if that's any extra indication. He said to bring her back to his shop if we had any problems... Just wondering if I should call him or not. Here in Spain I don't speak much Spanish and he speaks no English so it is a bit of a problem trying to be understood.
 
L/h side looks like inner axle seal is leaking. The grease is out of the knuckles and is common when the wiper seals get old. This grease lubricates the cv joint swivel hub bearings.

If your handy with some basic tools it will be a reletively cheap exercise. If you have to pay for labor it can get expensive.
 
Ah! Expensive labor aka lots of hours. Good thing I don't have a job yet over here and have all day and basic mechanical knowledge.

Now, if only my husband would buy me power tools! :rolleyes:

Should I buy the replacement seal and grease online? Which are the best in your experience? Trying to go through a local shop is difficult because most of them do not speak english.
 
For inner axle seals, only use oem toyota or marlin crawler. Not worth the hassle with other brands.
For the cv's, you want a good grease containing molybdenum disulfide, usually grey in color.
Im sure some of the vendors on this site can help you out with the parts you need. Good luck and congrats on the rig.
 
I sent the previous owner/mechanic a message, the language barrier is difficult but I am pretty sure he said he set the front bearings 5 months ago and that he wants me to try a degreaser and pressure wash it clean. And then he said "Te digo esto por ver si tira o no" which I think means "see whether pulls or not." he also said "Puedoe ser que ESA perdida fuera antigua." Which according to my translate app means "ESA may be lost outside old."maybe he means "the old grease is on the outside?"Anyone that speaks better Spanish that can help with what he is asking me to do?
Or anyone with previous experience with this think I should do what he said?
his actual message said :
"Perdona az una echale un desengrasante y limpialo con agua a persion te digo esto por ver si tira o no yo hace UNOs cinco meses ajuste los roadie tos delanteros para pasar ITV puedo ser que ESA perdida fuera antigua hazlo y me cuentas ok"
 
Greetings @MrsCait,

The grease seems to be very liquid and a fairly recent leak. As many here have pointed out, the inner axle seal is probably busted. He might have replaced all the bearings 5 months ago, but maybe damaged the seal pulling the axles out and installing them back in. I would degrease and power wash all the area and then dig into replacing the seal. As others pointed, OEM or Marlin's are probably your best bet. If I was in Spain, I would probably go with OEM as you can probably walk into a dealer and get the new seal quick.

These videos have been put together by a MUD member @lshobie and they will probably be of great help to you (though you do NOT need to pull the knuckles to replace the seal, just dig in until you have access to the seal, replace the seal, and then re-assemble, unless you are wanting to replace the bearings as well):

Part 1:

Part 2:

The part that probably failed on your axle is referred as "Axle Seal" on these videos (shown 30 seconds into the second video).

Now, the actual translation of what your guy said is (with some improved grammar haha):

"Perdona az una echale un desengrasante y limpialo con agua a persion te digo esto por ver si tira o no yo hace UNOs cinco meses ajuste los roadie tos delanteros para pasar ITV puedo ser que ESA perdida fuera antigua hazlo y me cuentas ok"

"I'm sorry. Use a degreaser and use a power washer to clean the area. (Not sure what he exactly means by the "tira" part, but I would guess is something like "to see if that works"). I adjusted the front bearings about 5 months ago to pass inspection and maybe that grease was an old leak. Do that and let me know what you find"

From the note, he might have only adjusted the bearings, but not replaced them....is not clear.

Let me know if you need any help with translations....my Spanish is pretty decent :D

Good luck and congratulations on the 70!

-Alberto
 
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Thank you @AlbertoSD and everyone else for your help. I will try and find a dealership around here today and get this done. Looks simple enough! Y'all are the best :) I'm sure I'll be back if I run into any other problems, but so far everything else on her seems to be in good condition. :clap: I'll assume he replaced the bearings for now and in the mean time, I'll try to practice more Spanish. A lot harder than I thought that it would be because you don't learn those auto technical terms in basic Spanish.
 
Unless bearing are or were too loose they are probably usable if you pack them back properly and adjust pre load .. as far as seals, and grease there is no science on that ..

plenty videos in YT about knuckle job ..

ya me imagino el acento castellano y el joder tio .. how they should sound for ya. !
 
MrsCait said:
I sent the previous owner/mechanic a message, the language barrier is difficult but I am pretty sure he said he set the front bearings 5 months ago and that he wants me to try a degreaser and pressure wash it clean. "
Click to expand...

Forget it,thats a full axle strip down. Apart from the fresh oil ,there is the other stuff behind that has been building up for years.
I think its around 7-8 hours labour to do them plus parts ,grease and oil. If it hasnt been apart for long time(like yours ) it can be hard work.
 
Congrats on your new Cruiser!
The seller is trying to blow you off, in my opinion. The amount of grease/gear oil on the axles indicates that these axles have never been serviced or the service was done many, many moons ago.
Your best course of action is a full rebuild, including wheel and trunion bearings. That way you KNOW the axle is in top shape and don't have to worry about it failing at the most inopportune time.
By your avatar I deduce that you are eligible to have stuff shipped to an FPO (USPS only). That is a very good thing. When I was stationed in Canada and Japan, I had parts shipped from several 'mud vendors and the great thing is you don't have to pay import duties or taxes and shipping prices are the same as domestic shipping.
I don't know if @beno ships to FPO's, but he is a great source for OEM parts with a 'mud silver star discount. This is a good route if you plan to import the truck back to the states at the end of your tour in Spain. Kurt at at @cruiseroutfit (Cruiseroutfitters) is another oustanding 'mud vendor who sells full knuckle rebuild kits.
On another note, take care of that 2LT engine...it is prone to head cracking issues. Keep your egt's (exhaust gas temps) down i.e. don't over tax the engine..
 
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Since you are in Spain just tru to find a dealer for the "terrain tamer" brand kits and replace al seals and bairings.It is about a half days job and lets you enjoy your Cruiser for a lot more years.I believe there is a company in Spain called Euro 4x4 or something that might have that kit.
There are a few good Spanish forums that can help you locate a dealer for this stuff.

Otherwise like Alberto said go to the dealer and get the inner axle seal ,the amount of grease on your axles is pretty common in Europe,these Cruisers are getting older and people stop spending money on maintenance knowing they are gonna sell it in the near future.

Joe
 
Check your diff vent first. Remove the hose from fitting and if there is a whoosh...vent is plugged.
The vent allows the diff to breathe, blow air through the hose to verify and poke something into the diff fitting to ensure the metal tube is clear. Remove diff plug and check level of gear oil, remove knuckle plug and add mloy grease.

For the pulling, jack up and support the front end, grab each tire at right angles and feel for movement(use bar)
Turn tires side to side(Steering unlocked) look and feel, check tie rods and steering components.
Next remove tires and check brake pads for wear, rotors for wear and ensure that the calipers retract after a brake application.
Once this is done decide whether further work is required gather parts and continue.

Caked grease is better than no grease, shiny is good, grease is cheap.


Lots of help here and good luck.
 
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So I just started cleaning the driver side. Under a pound of grease is so much caked in mud it's like a rock. The arm was twice as thick, I couldn't even see any metal! It's got to be almost an inch thick everywhere.

There is hardly a touch of mud elsewhere, I don't get it!
 
It may look like mostly mud, but it is more likely a LOT of grease with dirt mixed in. That side axle seal failed the gear oil sloshed into the knuckle, turned the grease to soup and when the felt knuckle seals were eventually saturated, the soup comes out more and more. That is the short side of the axle, so the gear oil can reach that seal more readily when taking a turn or if the truck was regularly parked on an angle with that side of the truck on the downhill side. You can pump grease into that goopy side, as a temp fix, but the gear oil will just break it down and turn it into soup. This isn't good for the bearings because it washes them out.
 
Looks like that kit has the inner axle seals, but not wheel bearings. I'd just inspect the wheel bearings & use them again if they look ok. As you're finding out, it's a dirty job rebuilding a hub & knuckle but not too complicated. Two things you'll want to look up if you haven't done anything similar before are setting the kingpin bearing preload with the shims, & setting the wheel bearing preload with the locknut.

Make sure the locking hub mechanism is clean & lubed & working

If you can rebuild the knuckle successfully you should be well capable of inspecting & rebuilding your brake calipers. Sometimes entire new calipers aren't too expensive so check on that before buying parts.

Cheers
Clint
 
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Well, I pressure washed and then drove 10km home and the driver side looks like that
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Passenger side seemed to stay clean

It unearthed some rust I see, any tips to help that?
Next step is to check diff level but I have to unpack the garage and I have no idea where my tools are.
 
Yep, axle seal is toast and the felt is saturated with gear oil and no longer doing its job. Time to dig in and rebuild those knuckles. You will need a 54mm hub socket, a brass drift or brass hammer (for the cone washers), a seal puller and a full set of metric tools to accomplish the task.
Make sure to study the manuals and the available videos regarding this job before laying a hand on a tool.
 
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