Mike's 1978 FJ40 Build

[78fj40mg]

Drilled steering knuckle plug to install a permanent Zerk grease fitting.

Center punched to guide the drill bit (13/64th bit)

Used a little jig to hold the plug for drilling

Used a 13/64 drill bit

Successfully drilled plug

Next to tap the hole, used a 6mm X 1.00 tap

Tapped the Zerk fitting hole while using plenty of cutting oil

Zerk fitting installed

A little paint and ready to install

 

[FletchFFletch]

^^^ Nice! A grease zerk?! You're making maintenance/life way too easy!

 

[78fj40mg]

^^^ Nice! A grease zerk?! You're making maintenance/life way too easy!

Thanks Kris! At my age you look for everything 'easy'.

 

[78fj40mg]

One more pic of Zerk installed on knuckle

 

[emac]

New to the forum as I just bought a 77 that I will be doing much of the same work. Thank you very much for the detailed thread. I have read it start to finish more than once. It has really helped me as I begin to research how I want to build my 40. Very nice work.

 

[DSB345]

Your doing a great job here with this thread and please forgive me if I'm not understanding what your doing with the grease zerk, but as a outsider watching I have some concerns:
#1 Will pushing grease into a sealed unit blow the seals
#2 Grease zerks are not bullet proof they break off, dent, rust, and leak if the ball unseats itself.

IMHO

 

[spotcruiser]

There's no need to pack grease on the back side of the knuckle ball, so really no need for a zerk. For as often as you might need or want to add grease, the plug works just fine.

Edit: It doesn't hurt to have a zerk, but people tend to grease every zerk when they are doing a lube. I spent many years working with DC motors on cranes that had open bearings with felt dust seals. We'd very often open motors and find gobs of grease inside them near the brushes and windings, because every time someone was around the motors with a grease gun they'd put in a few pumps. They were just pumping grease past the dust seals. Removing the zerks and installing plugs eliminated the over-greasing of the motors.

Your doing a great job here with this thread and please forgive me if I'm not understanding what your doing with the grease zerk, but as a outsider watching I have some concerns:
#1 Will pushing grease into a sealed unit blow the seals
#2 Grease zerks are not bullet proof they break off, dent, rust, and leak if the ball unseats itself.

IMHO

 

[78fj40mg]

Your doing a great job here with this thread and please forgive me if I'm not understanding what your doing with the grease zerk, but as a outsider watching I have some concerns:
#1 Will pushing grease into a sealed unit blow the seals
#2 Grease zerks are not bullet proof they break off, dent, rust, and leak if the ball unseats itself.

IMHO

Dave,
The Zerk fittings need to be used with caution when lubricating so the knuckle is not overcharged with grease to the point of blowing seals, the purpose of the Zerk is for ease of greasing the steering knuckle with out having to remove the knuckle plug. The knuckles need to be well lubricated in order to reduce friction and to avoid premature wear of the trunnion bearings and the birfields (Constant Velocity joints), so filling the knuckle cavity with grease is a no brainer as preventative maintenance, but you need to know when to stop pumping grease in the cavity.
I agree Zerks are not bullet proof, I've had quite a few break during normal greasing for no apparent reason, so always exercise caution when greasing joints.

 

[78fj40mg]

Got this from Tom @lostmarbles regarding greasing of steering knuckles;

 

[78fj40mg]

Received my front disc brake pads from TORFAB today. I decided to use ceramic brake pads to minimize brake dust and increase brake reliability and pad longevity.

 

[78fj40mg]

I too cheap to spring for a real rubber band to hold my tool bag in place under the driver's seat, so decided to just make one using a rubber vacuum hose and double threaded short rod that was approximately 3/8" in diameter. Here's how it turned out.

 

[GA Architect]

NICE......I'z jealous of that tool bag holder! Me no have...

 

[DSB345]

OK! That makes sense to me then. I didn't know if that would cause a problem or not. Just trying to understand the why's of what is being done.
Thank You for the understanding

Dave,
The Zerk fittings need to be used with caution when lubricating so the knuckle is not overcharged with grease to the point of blowing seals, the purpose of the Zerk is for ease of greasing the steering knuckle with out having to remove the knuckle plug. The knuckles need to be well lubricated in order to reduce friction and to avoid premature wear of the trunnion bearings and the birfields (Constant Velocity joints), so filling the knuckle cavity with grease is a no brainer as preventative maintenance, but you need to know when to stop pumping grease in the cavity.
I agree Zerks are not bullet proof, I've had quite a few break during normal greasing for no apparent reason, so always exercise caution when greasing joints.

 

[78fj40mg]

I'm finally starting the re-installation of the steering knuckles.

First Installed the Marlin oil seal with lots of multi use grease to ease the install

Next installed the upper and lower trunnion bearing races

Hammered bearing race in place

 

[tls3601]

Excellent work Mike......very involved. I have to do all this just to replace that seal at the back of the third member???? BTW I did not know you and Danny are gun guys.....I am a tool maker at Ruger here in Prescott.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Excellent work Mike......very involved. I have to do all this just to replace that seal at the back of the third member???? BTW I did not know you and Danny are gun guys.....I am a tool maker at Ruger here in Prescott.

Great documentation, Mike!!

I don't consider myself a gun guy, Tom... I'm more of a personal defense guy. Different tools fit different situations... I would never consider carrying my .44mag Mountain Gun around town (too heavy, especially with speedloaders). But, I would never take my dogs into Mountain Lion country, with one of my .40s either... The .44mag, with 240gr Bear Loads is my hiking gun. I usually spend a lot of time in remote areas, just me and my boys. so, I never know what's gonna come around the next curve... I've seen some people, in remote places, that I would never turn my back on... So, I always have multiple tools with me... I'd rather carry too many and not need them, than come up short...

This is not the same world I grew up in... And that's something I rue every day of my life... I grew up in the age of innocence... No locked doors... No predators stalking innocent people (for the most part)... Just Friday night fist fights once in a while... A smoke was a smoke and grooving was groovy... Those were the days my friend... I've digressed.

 

[78fj40mg]

Excellent work Mike......very involved. I have to do all this just to replace that seal at the back of the third member???? BTW I did not know you and Danny are gun guys.....I am a tool maker at Ruger here in Prescott.

Thanks Tom! No to remove the third member rear seal you need to remove the front drive shaft then remove the pinion nut and the seal is right there. However, once you remove the pinion nut when re-installing should not over-tighten because that might change the pinion backlash, got to be careful with that nut.

 

[78fj40mg]

Well said Danny! Tom, I'm with Danny on that subject, I just use different calibers.

 

[jrcfj40]

What paint did you use on your knuckles, timing cover and oil pan?

Did you prime them before painting? If so, what primer was used?

Jeff

Removed old seal cleaned and painted timing cover.

 

[78fj40mg]

What paint did you use on your knuckles, timing cover and oil pan?

Did you prime them before painting? If so, what primer was used?

Jeff

Hey Jeff, I used grey primer and black engine paint, 500 degree to be exact, Home Depot has these high temp paints, they also carry 2000 degree paint, which I used on the exhaust pipe and muffler.