Marring on knuckle-ball exterior surface (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Threads
49
Messages
650
Location
Ridgefield, WA
Real time help.

I'm doing a knuckle job on a '92 LC axle. The DS was in rough shape with failed seals and gnerally a mess. (No history on this unit)

The ball end of the axle housing is fine on the inside, but had some pitting and a few deep Mars or scratches. The pitting I think is ok. I've knocked down the high points with fine grain sand paper. Did the same for the scratches, but there are five or six 1-inch long valleys about 1/2mm deep. I tried to get a good pic. Hopefully you can see.

Questions. 1. Is this worth worrying about. If so, 2. How should I remedy?

I've thought about trying to fill with an epoxy or maybe just smear it with grease and let the wiper keep the grease level.

20221012_180458.jpg



20221012_174121.jpg
 
This is a common issue and you will get varying reply’s I’m sure. I feel the consensus is to fill with a epoxy or jb weld of some sort and sand smooth. Done!
 
Jb weld was my first instinct. I've had bad instincts before. Thanks for the sanity check.

Jb weld fills are curing now.
 
I suspect that the wiper and the grease are going to do the job. I think a fill in expoy like @Fj80oregon suggested sanded very smooth will be even better, but my suspicion is that this will not give you huge gains. Logic tells me that the biggest issue could be dust and dirt migrating into the knuckle via the scratches over time, but I don't actually think that would be noticeable in the real world. I think your truck will absorb as much perfection as you are willing to throw at it, and at the same time it will endure massive neglect and still function well in difficult environments--one of the reasons we all love these rigs. I'd probably epoxy them and sand as overkill always feels better after the repair is done.

I'll be someone will chime in who has had similar experiences and stronger opinions.
 
FWIW, mine looked about the same. Still making a very good seal - I wasn’t worried about it when doing the job. If you have the time and desire to clean them up, not a bad thing, but I agree I wouldn’t worry.
 
I sanded the swivel balls by hand followed by a phosphoric acid treatment to kill the rust in the micro-pits (follow directions for whatever product you use, Rust Mort, Ospho, Rustoleum Gel, ---),

Then prime and paint. If you want something that will last awhile, SprayMax makes a 2k Epoxy primer and 2k Epoxy paint (Gloss black). They're not cheap but worth it IMO. Eastwoods (USA) sells a similar (?same) product with their name on the can. SprayMax is a German company so their products should be available around the world.



Someone could use the JB Weld but IMHO I'd still do the phosphoric acid treatment first. You'd have to be careful to clean off all the excess JB Weld so you aren't left with peaks and valleys.

But then again, after killing the rust in the pits, a few coats of the primer, sanded, re-sprayed, followed by paint should result in fairly smooth surface.

Only downside to the 2k aerosol cans is that you should have whatever you're going to paint fully ready to go before you activate the can as the clock it ticking once the two parts mix.

The Epoxy primer may be good in the aerosol can (pot life) for a couple of days, but the 2k paint IME is only good for ~24 hours before it starts to cure in the can.

FWIW
 
Last edited:
The original Land Rover guys did as stated in the post above and painted with POR15, sanded smooth and another coat.
 
I would pack it with grease and let it do it's thing. Grease fills those cracks. Grease is hydrophobic. And good grease wont wash out from splashing water. As long as you do a rebuild before birf soup, you shouldn't be a the risk of leaving a dribble, if cleanliness is your thing.
If I was doing as popular in Eastern Europe, which is removing the axle housing seal and letting gear oil be shared with the diff and birf, then I would be concerned about leaking. Otherwise, no worries.
 
Looks like mine, a ran a big bench stone over the surface to knock down any sharps and "polish' the surface and reassembled.
It's got a rubber seal and felt wipers saturated in grease, those little divots aren't enough to be concerned about.
if you're concerned that they're bare steel exposed to the elements, spray it down with fluid film.
 
Agree the little pits aren't a major issue, but they did (do) start even with grease in the knuckles as we know that new wipers prevent much grease from getting out, and then you have the washing effect of rainwater, etc that removes any grease or other protective film, so not much protection of the bare steel.

Point is, to slow down future rusting, killing the rust in the pits and then painting (or coating) like they came from the factory may help, IME
 
As others have said that nothing to worry about.
If you’re driving it the wipers and grease will keep it coated
Or you can over think it in the Mud fashion 🤪🤣😂
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom