My First Axle Rebuild (1 Viewer)

[KLF]

regarding the snap ring pliers..

I just bought what sears has.. with several different tips.

Doesnt matter what you get. You're gonna get aggravated anyway,.. but it's better than using 2 screw drivers.

The reason you're getting aggravated is you're using the wrong kind of pliers. Go back and look at the pliers in my first post, they are called LOCK RING pliers. Sears does sell them, I have two pairs of them. They are part number 47386, $14.99 on the shelf or on the Craftsman website.

For getting the tube seals out, this is the best tool:

One quick whack with a hammer and it pops right out. Mine is a MAC Tools, but Harbor Freight also sells one.

 

[ballardcruiser]

I know everyone has their favorite vendors and by now I think I've bought something from most of them, but I really like how Marlin Crawler lists everything you might ever need for an axle rebuild (even if you break or ruin a knuckle stud or whatever) on one page:
http://www.marlincrawler.com/axleparts.html

You can shop around for the cheapest gasket / seal / bearing kit, but I like how Marlin has nice big pics of everything (I'm a sucker for pics, what can I say). And their prices are pretty competitive, too.

That axle puller KLF listed is really fancy (I used a cheap Schucks one just fine) but for everthing else, the Marlin site offers a nice overview of what you'll need.

The fish scale method is pretty well-outlined in the FSM. You'll need to get that from Cruiser Dan or ebay.

Good luck...

 

[phoenix1055]

Quick question herre...

I'm putting the knuckle back on.. when I took it off there was the oil seal that consists of a split ring..rubber ring.. felt ring.. and the 2 piece retainer..

HOW the heck do you get those back on??? YOu can't put them on first as then the assembly won't fit over

Is there a trick?

Can I wait til the end and then struggle thru it or shoould I do it now?

 

[phoenix1055]

also.. I don't understand the fishscale pull test..

Can someone explain that? the procedure I'm using is too vague.. I wonder if I have to really do it

 

[ballardcruiser]

You can just get the new seals over the newly cleaned knuckle ... the metal you have to bend a bit so that it'll open up and go around the knuckle, but it will... the rubber and felt with stretch a bit.

Then you put the greased bearings on the top and bottom, and then the housing fits around the whole thing. Birfield goes in... And then you pack with grease. In that order (put the seals on while the knuckle is clean... or at least before you put the bearings on the top / bottom).

Fish scale: you're using the fish scale to measure the tension of your wheel bearings. Put the hook of the scale on one of the bolts coming out of the wheel. Then pull the other end in the direction the wheel will travel. You measure how far you have to tug the wheel (how many pounds of pressure) before it moves. As fish scales tend to vary a bit, this is far from scientific, but you want the force needed to pull the wheel to be close to the FSM recommendations.

Just by rocking the wheel back and forth using those bolts, you'll get a good sense of if everything is working right and smoothly. But it's nice to have the fish scale as evidence that everything is going as planned.

 

[ballardcruiser]

Oh... one more thing... according to the FSM, you don't bolt the inside two piece retainer back on until after your fishscale testing. Probably won't affect anything unless you actually disconnected the tie rod end and do that fish scale test (which many of us don't do) but that's what they recommend.

 

[phoenix1055]

I see..

I already put the bearings in.. I can take em out.

I'll try that.. putting the seal on first and attempting to slip it over. It is so much easier it appears to put it together first instead of the way I did it. I tried and tried to assemble the thing AFTER I had put it back on. I just couldn't manage it

I get the fish scale thing now.

Thanks..!!!!!

 

[ballardcruiser]

No problem... don't worry about cleaning things up too much -- just get the seals back on there (in the order they're supposed to be). The seals just sort hang/dangle back there (towards the inside of the car) on the axle while you work on bolting all the knuckle stuff back together and fish scale measuring... then at the end (or near the end) of the job, you put the bolts on the two -piece retainer thing back in and it should all fit nice and tight (with all the seals in there). The brass split ring should fit snug inside the groove of the back of the housing (you'll see... ).

Good luck...