knuckle rebuild

[shotgun]

ok I am ready to do a knuckle swap. I have a 78 so small pattern knuckles. I have everything needed to switch over to large pattern, including a spare cleaned axle housing . I was wanting to know if eric or kelly or anyone else with access to the knuckle centering tool would have time to walk me through the process. Thanks Kirk Shea

 

[2fpower]

Absolutely. Erik has tool, and a great selection of shims, otherwise I have been trained now, so can help.

Did you buy the 62' axle from Andrew?

If you are in Topeka, my house is much closer on the West side of KC. I have shop space to do a couple of these, so if anyone else is interested, and has another to do, we could do a second one at the same time, and teach anyone that wants to learn.

 

[shotgun]

Yes andrew hooked me up! I've got a rebuild kit and marlins heavy seal . I planned to do a bench rebuild, And then install it on my truck , then recycle my original axle housing back into the club so someone else could rebuild it swap into theirs yada yada Sounds good to me kelly . I could do it any evening. what ever works for you. thanks Kirk edit I bought a 62 and a bare 40 axle housing from andrew ..thank you andrew

 

[2fpower]

Weekend would be better for me, as kids eat up the evenings pretty quickly.

Do you have new knuckle bearings? I forgot those on mine.

Grease? About 2 lbs per axle.

Beer? about 3 lbs. per hour.

Did you get new rotors?

Going with deletes or with the old rear dust backing plate?

 

[shotgun]

Well I'm off this weekend but I usually work every day . And I can go in early and leave early on saturdays, but not on sundays Got new knuckle bearings, rotors are newish, I have backing plate eliminators. I can get grease and beer. Any favorite grease or brew ? I,ve got the seal install tool and the knuckle pull scales

 

[2fpower]

I will check with the wife about this weekend, and Erik- can we borrow the centering tool and shims?

Beer is easy to find around here. For grease, Erik had me get disk wheel bearing grease.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

whever you need it holler. I'll dig out my parts box for "extras" you might not have and loan the fsm etc.
Gimme a day + to gather everything.. garage is a mess again but it's on my list to put away my toys.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Kirk, do you wanna double check your "list" of goodies here? I can help walk you thru / doublecheck it if you'd like. Sounds like you have the main stuff for a "knuckle" the rotors and etc can be put on later. you'll need the shim insert for the tie rod ends to utilize 40 tie rods if that's the direction your going. 60 stuff is a bigger tie rod end / larger taper. Kelly should have extra studs and if your doing new one thing I have never purchased is the correct socket (star shaped?) to install the new studs on the top of the knuckles. A regular socket can work but not well. Recommend new studs on the top of the knuckle and finding the correct socket to instal them. keep the old studs for trail spares. with the new studs i recommend new lock washers and nuts. Prefer oem or ARP.
Rotors, there are 2 different ones, yours on the new axle should be the press thru wheel stud kind on a 60 series. (can always be done later, that's not as important or you can use what you have on your truck currently but possibly have to swap lockouts as there are 2 lengths of birfs in that era)

New inner birf snap ring as well. Keep the old inner axle shafts and if you don't want them i'll stick em in the corner for when someone needs them. 60 long side is the same as minitruck long, 40 short and 60 short are the same. 40 long is it's own beast. Really only need the "one" snap ring and I can send it with if you don't have.

Kelly, i'm gonna let you run with this project. Let the student become the teacher. I'm kinda booked till i get back from colorado.

 

[2fpower]

Do you think you will have time to get the stuff together tonight? Hate to rush you, but I can swing by hospital tomorrow if Kirk has all the stuff he needs.

I think I have the star socket you mentioned. I can check tonight.

 

[shotgun]

kelly and Erik I didn't mean to rush you guys, I can change my schedule if that would work better for you. I believe I have everything I need . I will reuse everything from the spindle out off my 78 except the lockouts and birfs. I've got a set of aisens and I have 1 of the shorter birfs so I'll need to get another 1. The inners have been martacked and there are c clips on the birf side . plan on running the tie rod and drag link off the 62.I have new oem knuckle studs and the E12 socket .I was going to reuse the old nuts and washers , is that a bad idea? All I want to do at this point is get the knuckles installed. Then when I have The missing birf and tie rod, drag link shortened I'll swap it onto my truck.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Kirk, your good to go then. Kelly i can do my best to toss this stuff in car tonight after other job. I wont' be here at hospital till probably after noon tho have a depo in Parkville in morning.

 

[2fpower]

Looks like I am open on Sat or Sunday morning. What day works for you?

Email me at kholloway at everestkc dot net

 

[2fpower]

Erik was able to get all the tools, manual, and other stuff together, and I picked them up today.

I also cleared off my bench last night, and got my axle off my homemade bench that holds it tight as you work on the axle.

 

[shotgun]

Thats great do I need to bring some big calipers or did erik cover that ! I will see you sat at 8am

 

[2fpower]

Erik sent me with his big caliper, so we have that. I could not find the E12 socket today around town, but know you have one, so gave up and ordered one from sears.

I will crank up the AC to cool down the garage before you get here. This god forsaken place that we call Kansas is really obnoxiously warm this time of year. Why do we live here again?

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

we live here for the wheat!
or is that wheat beer? I forget..
You guys have fun. Sorry i didn't get the WHOLE package together for you but you have the mojority of the necessary stuff in that ammo box. used to be my trail knuckle box. If you guys need something particular holler but best thing is to get the knuckles on for starters. The rest is just like swapping a birf.
I'm working Sat till 5 but if you need something I probably have it.

Kelly thanks for the over stimulated knuckle kit.. I really don't think you used all that stuff out of my parts stash but it'll be in the pile for the next guy. So thank you. And thanks for stepping up for the club help here.. Kudo's to you..

It's nice to see how helpful the club is. It really helps those that are in a project that are just a bit hung up on a certain section that can holler and grab someone that has already hopped that hurdle.

Not that Kirk's abilities are in question here at all.. But based on the # of views that Kelly's axle build got in our forum it would appear that it was helpful to a bunch of our members to watch. and this time remember to take some more pictures. It didn't happen if there are no pictures.

 

[2fpower]

So, Kirk needs another 62' birfield. Just one. Anyone have one sitting around gathering dust?

Also, Erik, on his steering, he wants to use the 62 tie rod, and the 40 drag link, is this the adapter he needs.. part 094-23H-SPR. This is also what I need to use the mini truck arms and my 40 stuff.

Specter Off-Road Land Cruiser Parts - Page 094 Land Cruiser Front End

 

[2fpower]

real time - almost

So-

here is how it works. You put the SST marking part in where your axle seal would typically go, then put the bolt part of the SST through your bearings up to the top through the tension puller and then bolt it down. Tighten so you are at about 5 lbs of tension. Then you spray some layout paint on the middle of the sst, pull out the sst marking point and rotate the rest of the assembly, making a mark all the way around the sst. THis is your first reference point. Before you tear this all apart, you use a large digital caliper to measure the distance between the flap points on the two ends of the SST.

Next you put the SST on the hub with the spindle attached. Put the SST in the same manner as you did with the above, without the bearings, and tighten tight, but so that you can still rotate it. Pull out the marking point (you did put the marking point in first right?) The difference between the two marks is one of the key measurements. THis measurement minus 3 mm gives you the bottom shim diameter, lets call this diminsion D.

While you are working on the hub and spindle, measure beween the top and bottom machined surfaces. This measurement, less the first measurement above (between the SST surfaces) gives you the total amount of shims you need to use, lets call this diminsion C.

So, you know the total shims, you know the bottom shim, the difference gives you the top shim diminsion.

There you go.

 

[2fpower]

more pics

So, you have your diminsion, so get your shims, and start using a caliper to determine how you can get to those diminsions.

Slip them in place, and your done.

Here are the newer Marlin double lip inner axle seals. When you look at them, you understand how much better they are designed.

So, with all this measurement and calculation, and the newer axle seal, they should never go out.

Cheers!

 

[2fpower]

Hey Kirk- I found a guy on the 3fe forum that has one... here are the details.

Yes, I do. NIB CV Unlimited Part #8701 Heavy Duty Birfield. Unused and oil coated since purchase in 2004 in original box. $100 plus shipping but that shouldn’t be too bad from Denver.

If you want it, let me know and I will get you two together....