Looking to rebuild knuckles on my 97. Three kits I have found are Marlin Crawler, Trail Gear and Low Range Off Road. Any recommendations out there for which one to use?
Knuckle rebuild. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter optimus prime
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I've heard good things about Marlin Crawler. I ended up buying a rebuild kit from Cruiser Outfitters. I got the knuckle kit, Koyo bearings, new brass hubs, and aftermarket Japanese stock birfs, shipped to me for $545
If your truck is a DD, don;t use the Marlin Seals. They work better for heavy off road use.
Use Cruiser Outfitters if possible. Unfortunately, they were out of stock late last week when I was looking to buy. @cruiseroutfit
yes this! I think i just got the last CO set in this week and am in the middle of getting it done.
Random question, is there a decent way to check bearing wear before pulling the hub apart? I was in the hubs this week tightening up both bearings. Forgot to check the bearings, just wanted some tips on whether or not replacing bearings is worth it if condition is unknown. I know some people advocate for reusing the old bearings because new ones tend to loosen up and do weird things during break in.
As long as they're NOT growling, squealing, or loose, you're good to adjust them to 30-35 LB-FT and keep on truckin'
You can check for bearing play, but not wear. Measuring wear would indicate you knew the dimensions of the new parts and are able to measure the used parts against that spec.
To check for bearing play, lift one tire an inch or so off the ground, grab it at 12 o'clock and firmly push and pull it in and out, firmly enough to shake the vehicle. If there is any play you'll feel it as a tick-tock motion. You may even hear it.
Once you have the bearings out and solvent cleaned you can visually inspect them for wear. Things like grooves, fretting, pitting, heat checking....
To check for bearing play, lift one tire an inch or so off the ground, grab it at 12 o'clock and firmly push and pull it in and out, firmly enough to shake the vehicle. If there is any play you'll feel it as a tick-tock motion. You may even hear it.
Once you have the bearings out and solvent cleaned you can visually inspect them for wear. Things like grooves, fretting, pitting, heat checking....
I tightened adjusting nut to 35ftlbs and lock nut to 45 ft lbs. It was hard to check preload because my pads contact the rotors slightly on both sides for some reason.
77mustard40
SILVER Star
My knuckles were a mess and I didn’t know when they were last serviced so I replaced everything. That said wheel bearings will last a long time, if you know the service history of the knuckles and the spindles and grease are good I wouldn’t worry about the bearings.
If replaced I dont think there is a break in period, if you set the preload correctly you shouldn’t have a problem.
If replaced I dont think there is a break in period, if you set the preload correctly you shouldn’t have a problem.
They're supposed to.... its not like there's a return spring in the caliper. When you release the brake the pressure drops and the pads don't back off, they just stop squeezing the rotor.
There was a ton of play prior to tightening up the nuts earlier this week. Now there is no discernible play. If I yoke on it really hard, there is some movement, but that might just be the truck moving lol
luckily I have a solvent tank at work lol. Its usually used for guns but I'll just sneak in there and freshen up my bearings lol
My passenger side seals are toast. It just loops like gray/ black slop in there. I'm going to order a kit as soon and Kurt restocks. I've watched the otram vid on youtube like 3 times and read the faq a couple times. I'm actually looking forward to rebuilding the knuckles. I ordered a few hub stud and knuckle stud kits just in case I break or damage a few by banging on em. I already bent 2 hub studs banging on em to get the cone washers out. They seemed to straighten back out as I torqued em down.
Takes more effort to rotate the rotors and hubs that I've noticed on any of my other vehicles before. Maybe they aren't binding, maybe there's just really good pressure.
You need to remove the brake caliper when setting the bearing preload.
There's that too.
