Knuckle Rebuild Time Expectation? (1 Viewer)

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Jun 24, 2020
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Aurora Colorado
Hey all.
I’m finally getting around to rebuilding my knuckles, either tomorrow or the next day, for the first time and was really just wondering how long you all expect it to take me. I’m a first timer, but I have all the materials I expect to need (thanks to all of you kind folk.) I have moderate experience with mechanical repair, certainly above the average American, but I am in no way an expert. What are the odds I can get it done in a day? Thanks.
 
I did mine in a day with have never done knuckles before. Brass hammer and a race driver set is very helpfully. Preosoak with some penetrating oil and bolts will come out easier. I’m assuming you have researched this. Lots of shop towels at least 2 rolls and lay down lots of cardboards to catch all the good stuff. Also I used a disposable turkey cooking pan to help catch everything. Good luck it’s really a easy job just very messy.
 
very good if you dont break anything and nothing is damaged inside.
 
Judging by the timestamps on my photos, I spent two days on the first side, then another day on the second side. That was going very slowly while referencing the FSM, replacing the wheel and trunnion bearings, axle seals, and swapping out the Birfields. Oh, and asking at least one question on 'mud.

If you are able to watch the OTRAMM video and actually internalize each step, then you can probably blow through each side in under two hours. Personally, I have to actually go through the steps to really grasp them.



A small piece of advice: make sure you park far enough away from any other vehicle, fence, retaining wall, etc., that you have enough room to pull the Birfield and axle. I made that mistake when I was doing the rear wheel bearings...
 
I’m getting to mine sometime this summer, but have been staying refreshed in the mean time. I don’t work in a rush and gotta make time for beverages, so I’m thinking a weekend is a casual approach. Along with the above, I like these two videos as well.

Being prepared with all the tools & spare stuff is cheap insurance. For example, I have new studs/etc in case of unexpected breakage, avoiding unnecessary trips or especially waiting on mail.





This is a helpful video on bearing preload

80 Series Wheel Bearing Adjustment - https://youtu.be/Fr7ib7CgifY

And if I recall correctly, there are some things I would do differently than this guy, but he did have some extra tips on top of all the above

(2/2) How to Rebuild your 4wd Toyota Front Axle Closed Knuckle - https://youtu.be/x_-rJRpjVEs
 
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Takes a couple hours per side if not changing birf sides, cleaning everything in a bucket of kerosene as you go or putting in new wheel bearings.
I would suggest hoseing everything down in PB blaster the weekend before the job, and giving everything you can reach a good scrubbing with a wire brush and kerosene. The night before the job, clean everything with a pressure washer. The pressure washer will drive water passed the seals though, that's why it's done the night before.
 
I spent more time cleaning parts than I did anything else.

This truck had been neglected so I wasn't sure if everything I needed.

It took me two 12 hour days, a parts washer, and lots of paper towels.
 
I’d say 30 - 40 hours! But that was because I had to fight a lot of rust, had broke bolts, watching the tutorial with grease everywhere was tough and time consuming, was missing a lot of tools and at time parts. The second side only took about 10 hours. But if I were to do it again I’d think I can get both sides done in 10 hours or less.
 
As everyone says, cleaning takes the most time. You can help yourself a little by pressure washing the outside as clean as possible before disassembly.

First time takes a lot of time but after that you cut the time in half or better. Actual work time while not letting things soak. Driverside was 6 hours or so. Passenger side was 4 probably. I did put everything to soak overnight so like i said, no including cleaning.

The next time i did it, i took two 5 gallon buckets half full of diesel and just put parts in a bucket for each side as i took them apart. I got them apart in about 20 mins on each side. I was moving much faster.

Pulled the axle shafts apart and cleaned them out separated was actually faster than leaving them together.

If you are replacing bearings then you save time cleaning those out by just packing the new ones.
 
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It took longer on my knees in the driveway, in the hot sun, than it would on a lift in a shop.

1.5 days for the first side, 0.5 to 1 day for the second side.
 
Took me an entire weekend, first side was a day of teardown on the passenger side and lots of cleaning, second day was reassembling the passenger side and was able to get through the driver side pretty quickly. Not a hard job, just super messy. Park it far enough from a wall where you can pull out the axle / birfield. Also park it someplace where you don’t mind leaving it overnight partially torn down, including far enough inside a garage to close the dang door…
 
it took me about three full days but I spent a lot of time cleaning, probably more than truly necessary. I also snapped a felt retainer bolt and had to deal with that for a few hours.
 
For the first time, it took 3 of us 13 hours. Next rig, it was down to 2 of us and took about 8-9 hours. Both friends were sick when I decided to do my own rig and took 6 hours. Got pretty familiar with the process by then. Lots and lots of cleaning.
 
Nobody mentioned this little tip but DO NOT use your wife's kitchen spatula for doing the birfs. Just hit up the dollar store and buy couple for the toolbox. Get two sizes: medium one for emptying out the birfield cavity of old grease and a smaller one for scooping fresh grease out of a large grease cartridge then transferring it to the birf cavity.

Also, don't use the oven for expanding bearings/tight tolerance things before installation.

And definitely don't use the dishwasher to wash things like valve covers, oil pans and such.

Yes, I'm divorced :flipoff2:
 
My tip is either the night before or morning of, go to you local carwash place and use the engine degreaser setting and water blaster to clean the crap off everything. Be super aggressive since you're going to be in there shortly so any water ingress isn't that big of a deal.

Then when you get home spray everything with your favorite penetrating oil. Saves a bunch of time.
 
Also the time will depend if you run into any issues.
For example when removing the kingpin bearing races.. Three came out like the videos in a few minutes... the fourth took over an hour with lots of swearing and wear on my brass drifts ...
Also when removing the bearing from the king pin .. in the videos they pop off with a screwdriver.. Mine took a fair bit of swearing and I wish I had a small bearing puller in hindsite... (Can anyone suggest a suitable bearing puller ? )

Finally.. it was nearly impossible to remove the spindle bearing from inside the stub axle on mine.. on one side the race had welded itself into the stubaxle.. So that + wear on the sealing areas of the stub axle meant new stub axles ...

(Does anyone know a reliable way to remove the spindle bearing from inside the stub axle ? )
 

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