Leaking front steering knuckle (2 Viewers)

[hounddog1]

1992 Cruiser: my front steering knuckle has heavy grease and oil leaking heavily. Ive seen a number of differnt things that I should look at for repair: full axle rebuild or just knuckle gasket and seal replace. When I back up i get a clicking coming from that same area, not sure if that is associated with the heavy leaking or not. What do I need to replace and the best place to get it.
Thanks for any advice

 

[scrowley]

If your trunnions bearing are still good, then you can get away with

-OEM inner oil seal
-repack of birfs
-re-pack and re-install wheel bearings (if good upon inspection)

That's the bare min. In an ideal situation you should replace all of it. Then you can forget about it for awhile altogether. Also depends on mileage and previous care. Cruiserparts.net sells good kit. So does marlin, and manafree

There are some great threads on this subject. Also a good video by Jonesey offroad on youtube.

 

[gray rider]

Talk to Cdan. He will walk you thru the parts that you need....

 

[inkpot]

When the inner axle seal fails, it allows gear OIL to leak into the knuckle housing. This in turn contaminates the Moly GREASE. This soup is too thin to be held back by the felt wiper that seals to the knuckle ball, so it leaks all over. The thing to do is replace the inner seal, inspect the bearings, replace if needed, refresh/replace all the grease and oil that should be there, including the wheel bearing grease for the big bearings. Clean and inspect the birf, as that may be worn, causing the clicking. Having fresh Moly GREASE in the birf may quiet the clicking. Some folks swap birfs from left to right to get more miles out of them before they are totally worn out. John

 

[hounddog1]

Great thanks for the advice. Previous owner did zero preventive maintanance so may be more than just a seal replace and re-pack berrings. Is this a job I can tackle my self and cost of parts

 

[Akella]

When the inner axle seal fails, it allows gear OIL to leak into the knuckle housing. This in turn contaminates the Moly GREASE. This soup is too thin to be held back by the felt wiper that seals to the knuckle ball, so it leaks all over. The thing to do is replace the inner seal, inspect the bearings, replace if needed, refresh/replace all the grease and oil that should be there, including the wheel bearing grease for the big bearings. Clean and inspect the birf, as that may be worn, causing the clicking. Having fresh Moly GREASE in the birf may quiet the clicking. Some folks swap birfs from left to right to get more miles out of them before they are totally worn out. John

x2


hounddog1 if you are looking for full kit check over here: 80 Series OEM Front Axle Rebuild Kit