Knuckle Rebuild - Real Time Tips

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Gretsch

Gretsch

SILVER Star
Joined
Apr 3, 2017
Threads
57
Messages
2,029
Location
Plano Texas
Hello all. In the middle of my knuckle rebuild, '84 FJ60. Wanted to use this thread as sort of a real-time help thread while I do this, so I can sort of post questions of things I am unsure about while doing this. Got one side torn down today. The grease in here was like clay and the inner axle seal has been leaking for some time it seems. Looking at the birf on this side, it has what looks like a nice blue heat ring around most of it. See below:

IMG_4581.webp


Is that normal or a sign of a worn out birfield joint. The joint seems to move OK and I never heard any clicking the 1 -2 times I put this thing in 4WD. I am not in a position really to buy new birfields at this point so if I were to grease these up properly, any issue with whats shown in the photo? This is the first time for me seeing a birfield in the flesh so not sure if this is normal or not. As always thanks in advance.
 
Blue is normal from factory, a new birf wil not move by gravity (it will be hard to move) a worn one will move around by itself and have a sloppy feeling, if it does click in 4x4 turns it can last a long time if you drive careful (no hard turns on rocks) and also right and left can be changed if you slam the O ring with the axle in a tube on a rock.

I have pictures and pdf here: Birf-propeller-shaft-diff-yoke-flange-spider-snap


To release and break the iron O ring, not needed if you just repack grease:

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Whew, Thanks for that. I got interrupted from doing this rebuild about 20 minutes after pulling the axle out by my wife calling to say her 2010 pathfinder had overheated. Was reeling with the idea of having to replace the birfield and fix her car all at once. Her stupid pathfinder prolly blew another head gasket (already replaced on of them with just a tick over 100,000 miles). Worthless junk engines these days. Anyways, thanks again for the good news. I am sure I'll have additional questions as I go along. Again, thanks so much to the Mud braintrust. Couldn't do it without you.
 
Tennessee80 said:
I’m likely also going to tackle a knuckle job this year as a PM. Good with luck with everything man!

Joel
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Thanks for the encouragement. So far everything has gone pretty much like all the videos show. Got the trunnion races pounded out and about that time my wife called. Productivity shut down!!! Took me about 2 hours going real slow to tear everything down never having done it before. Hopefully putting it back together will go equally smooth. The parts all look to be in really good shape. I am always so amazed by the look of nice clean machined parts. The quality engineering always amazes me. Thanks again.
 
Have fun w/ the spacer on the rears. That’s a tricky chore!
 
So saw a video somewhere and the guy was saying he likes to slather the new felts in grease before he puts them on. Says it allows them to wick grease instead of water like they normally do providing better sealing and to help keep water out of the knuckle. Anyone heard of this? I did not see anything specific to this in the FSM but thought I would see if this is a good idea or not.
 
Gretsch said:
So saw a video somewhere and the guy was saying he likes to slather the new felts in grease before he puts them on. Says it allows them to wick grease instead of water like they normally do providing better sealing and to help keep water out of the knuckle. Anyone heard of this? I did not see anything specific to this in the FSM but thought I would see if this is a good idea or not.
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@orangefj45 Georg or @cruiseroutfit Kurt would be the folks to ask...
 
forum.ih8mud.com

Swivel hub oil leak

Hi guys, so i bought this hj61 about a month ago, still doing some stuff to get it registered here in Germany. I went by the garage today to do some work on the front lights and i noticed this oil leak on the front left hub. I'm a newbie, but this is pretty clear. I've only done around 600km...
forum.ih8mud.com forum.ih8mud.com
 
Gretsch said:
So saw a video somewhere and the guy was saying he likes to slather the new felts in grease before he puts them on. Says it allows them to wick grease instead of water like they normally do providing better sealing and to help keep water out of the knuckle. Anyone heard of this? I did not see anything specific to this in the FSM but thought I would see if this is a good idea or not.
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I have always left mine dry the two times I did this.

If they are greasy they will attract more dirt and could et pretty grimy in a short order.

If I put anything on the ball ends/flets it would be a light spray oil to repel water. Then every so often clean and re-spray. No heavy grease for me.
 
brownbear said:
I have always left mine dry the two times I did this.

If they are greasy they will attract more dirt and could et pretty grimy in a short order.

If I put anything on the ball ends/flets it would be a light spray oil to repel water. Then every so often clean and re-spray. No heavy grease for me.
Click to expand...

Yeah dirt attraction was my thought too. I was planning on doing mine dry, but ran into that grease idea and thought I would see if anyone else recommends doing that.
 
That sounds like a huge mess during the install.

You pack in so much grease anyway, that the felts will be saturated with grease/oil soon after the work is done anyway.
 
Okay, sounds like this idea is not commonly done so I'll just bag it. Thanks for the replies all.
 
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NeverGiveUpYota said:
Have fun w/ the spacer on the rears. That’s a tricky chore!
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Spacers on the way. Never could find them. So they just slip over the top of the spring center pin right? And then the spring perch hole just centers over that right? They don't have to be pressed on or anything do they? Once they get positioned under the perch, they stay in place once the u-bolts get tightened down right or do I have that wrong? You have me worried these don't work like I think they do.
 
They fit right in the hole but it’s the lining up of the leaf pack center pin up into it which is way awkward. You’ll figure it out. I could have made it more awkward, idk. For me it took a lot of fanageling.

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NeverGiveUpYota said:
They fit right in the hole but it’s the lining up the leaf pack center pin up into it. You’ll figure it out. I could have made it more awkward, idk. For me it took a lot of fanageling.
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i agree, it's a workable but fiddly solution. I welded on new perches with the proper size hole, since I was changing out the axle anyway.
9EB5A749-9A56-41C7-B175-64AB6DCC3F45.webp
 
Cruiserdrew said:
i agree, it's a workable but fiddly solution. I welded on new perches with the proper size hole, since I was changing out the axle anyway.
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Smucking fart.
 
So as part of this knuckle rebuild I am replacing the pads and rotors. What sort of press has everyone used for getting the wheel studs out to separate the rotors from the hubs? I think folks say you can pound them out with a hammer. Do I need to get new ones if I pound them out or will they survive getting pounded out and pounded back in? I have used a ball joint press to get studs out before, but it was a whip wrestling with that thing. Any tips on a good way to get this done easily I would appreciate. Full disclosure here, I sort of forgot all about the situation with the studs. Maybe a good reason to finally get a press. Thanks.
 
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