My First Axle Rebuild (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Dec 18, 2004
Threads
66
Messages
319
Location
Maple Grove MN
Website
www.geocities.com
I started my rebuild tonight.

I had the weeping of fluid from the locking hubs going on. I knew something was up.

I spent 2 hours after work starting the tear down.. got as far as removing the rotor. The 8 14mm spindle bolts is next. Fluid was dripping out continuously.

The trickiest part was that pesky little snap ring. Geeeezu.

What is that saying? "Patience is a virgin?" (or something like that.) Well.. I'm not one..


So I guess this is my right of passage as a newbie (of sorts) cruiser owner. I have never done anything like this before. No wrenching to ever speak of.

My first axle rebuild.

I'm definitely screwed.
 
Don't worry... you're getting there. We've all been there and I was in the same boat as you were (not much wrenching experience). Just take your time and keep track of every bolt (ziplocks or something) and you'll be in fine shape.

It's not hard, it's just messy and time (and patience) consuming.
 
I think that phrase is "Patience is a virtue"
 
Are you doing one side at a time or both at once? You might try doing one at a time (with a little break in there between rounds/sides) if your patience is wearing thin.

Getting those cone washers out was what drove me nuts. But you'll appreciate your Cruiser even more once you're driving it again.
 
i pulled apart a toyota 8in tonight. did my 62 this summer. went through about 5 rolls of paper towels cleaning in the process and ruined a pair of jeans. if you dont have a parts washer, this would be a great time to have one. can get a cheap one for around $40 plus $10 for cleaner.

question for the experienced:
should you sand down the rough part of the cup that wears the rubber gasket out? the axle i tore apart tonight is severly pitted and i plan on smoothing it out somehow. any suggestions?

thanks
 
hello,



I am slso in the process of my 1st axle rebuild.

Today I used 3 rolls of toilet paper and 1 full box of latex gloves.

Wear 3 pairs of gloves at once..... changing the top layer often.

I put a small trash can under the knucke to drop the greasy tp into....

I placed a broken down cardboard box under each knuckle to keep the ground

clean. Don't hit the tie rods on their TOPs..... a few taps per SIDE should do it.

Make sure to keep 4 spacers on top and bottom of the knuckle in the same

location when you reinstall them. VERY IMPORTANT
 
I am doing one side at a time.

I could never keep track of that many loose parts.. even in zip lock bags.. if I did both at once.

I dread tonight.. I have the 8 spindle bolts and the tie rod to start with.

I'm screwed.
 
Soak all those top spindle bolts in some pb blaster (or whatever you have that's similar) right now and it should ease the job tonight. Hopefully you have a brass drift & hammer ready, too. Sometimes they go easily, sometimes they don't... mine were a real PITA (well, two of the cone washers were).

Keep us posted... and get those paper towels ready for tonight.
 
I did soak the spindle bolts with PB Blaster. I also have a million rags available and a brass drift and hammer..

I heard someone say do not clean the wheel bearings with degreaser.. or any solvent as that may lead to rust..

True? Or not true
 
Proper tool for the job

The first thing to do is to buy the right tools. You own the most dependable/overengineered vehicle designed ever. Before I do anything to my ride is make sure I have the correct tooling available. If you have to borrow it once, buy the tool for the next time. The only tools you need to rebuild an axle is a seal puller, seal installer and the hub socket. Flag down a Snap-on, Mac, Cornwell or Matco, they will have what you need so you will have it the next time. People bitch becouse they are pricey tools, so are Toyota parts specially when you have to buy them twice. Tools pay for themselves when everything works correctly and the job is done right.
 
I would try to keep solvents away from the bearings. You should be able to squeeze the old grease / glop out sufficiently with the new grease. However, you should probably just consider replacing the bearings all the way around (definitely the knuckle bearings, as they come in the kit, at least) when you're in there. It's not the kind of job you want to do again anytime soon and the wheel bearings are easy to replace once you're in there (you'll just need to find yourself a fish scale and some non-moly grease). Of course, that does add to the cost a bit... wheel bearings aren't the cheapest.

Regardless, you should be able to get the wheel bearings clean with shop towels (first) and then by adding the new grease. I think the auto parts stores even carry a little "bearing greaser" gizmo that helps push the old grease out, but you can also do this with the palm of your hand for free.
 
Solvent has absolutly no effect on wheel bearings or any other type of bearing. As long as the bearings are cleared of all solvents and oil/lube/grease is applied before rust or corrosion starts there is no problem. I clean bearings with brake cleaner then drop them in a bucket of MEK before reusing them. Make damn sure that they are dry and cleared of all contaminates before they are packed. The only problem with solvents is what it does to the hands and finding it in your area. I've got a 55 gallon drum in the hangar so its free.
 
thanks for the bearing tip regarding the solvent.. etc..

Here is a quick question.

I have the spindle bolts off.. pulling the spindle... but.. never disconnected the brake line. And the brake line bracket doesn't come off so I need to disconnect the line.

Do I need to bleed the brakes when I am done? Will I see brake fluid when I disconnect the line? I just sprayed the PB Blaster on the bolt

That's where I am at this moment..
 
Patience is a virtue, but so is doing things right. Do not rush this job or cut corners. It is not as hard as you think.

The large cone washers on the spindle are a bit of a pain, but one the start to pop, they usually all come along in short order.

Be extremely careful that you do not loosen the knuckle studs as you remove the nuts and cone washers. If they are loose, they will never torque down correctly and it will set you up for broken studs in the future. I have seen literally dozens of these shear off, and 9/10 times it's because they loosen and no one checks or notices. The same applies to the 8mm studs that hold the hub on.

It is much easier if you pop off the tie rod. The tool for that is a bit pricey, but worth every penny. It makes the whole job easier and allows for much more accurate pre-load settings.

Toyota improved the knuckle studs retrospectively for these trucks. The updated studs have a star drive on top to assist torqueing them into the knuckle. The last 3 knuckle jobs I have done, I simply pulled the old studs and replaced with the new ones. Cruiserdan can get them for you and they are not expensive. Dan gets roughly $1.50 each for the studs-you need 16. My local stealership wants $7.50 each for them. Be careful where you shop.

Wheel bearings. I got flamed for this before, but, if you are going to all this trouble, you may as well REPLACE the 20 year old bearings and races you have now. It's quicker than cleaning the old ones, and you know you have good stuff that will run for another 20 years or until the gas runs out, whichever comes first. The best price/place is Autozone. Do a search for the Timkin part numbers.

Use a torque wrench, especially on the caliper bolts. 90 foot pounds is the correct setting. The knuckle stud/nuts is 71 ft/lbs.

Be careful with the inner axle seal. If you fubar it, the whole job will have to be re-done, so----patience!. By the way, even if you bought a kit, I would use a Toyota OEM inner axle seal. They are better and not expensive.

Have fun. I like doing this job. It's a good cruiser bonding time and I can usually finish in a long afternoon. If you can do a 1958 FJ25, you can do a 1997 80 series. It's a great design that lasted at least 40 years in the US, and is still going strong in the solid axle trucks overseas. It's a great learning opportunity, and all your cruiser friends will be finding reasons to hang at your house and drip knuckle grease on your driveway until you get the hint.
 
Now that I think of it.. I should have posted a picture of my brake line disconnect issue.

The nut is rusted good.. the spindle is loose.. and I cannot get it off.

I was thinking of cutting the rubber brake line portion ..clamping it first.. then somehow put it back together.

Not sure what to do... maybe I should keep trying to loosen the nut...

I'm definitely screwed.
 
Phoenix -

Don't cut the rubber brake if you don't have to. I think your problem may be that you're not using the proper wrench to disconnect it. Use a flare nut wrench (10mm, I think is the brake line, thought it might be 11mm) to get it off the the backing plate. Then plug the brake line with something (a pencil will work, even) so that it doesn't drip everywhere. Yes, you'll need to bleed the brakes after, too. You are letting air in the lines.

You could take some shears and chop the brake line in two, but you'll still need to figure out how to loosen those bolts and replace the line ... so you might as well try to disconnect it properly first.I wouldn't try putting a damaged one back together though (these are your brakes, after all!).

This is all normal ... you're doing fine. You may want to consider buying extended brake lines (either rubber napa lines or stainless steel), which would allow you to remove the dust shield without disconnecting the brake line next time, but regardless, you're fine... and a brake bleed will probably make the car perform even better than before (stopping wise, that is).
 
the bracket ( the one on the dust sheild ) for the brake line is held on with 2 rivets...drill them out ! this is what I did , then use srews and nuts to re-attach it .


Hth's , Daryl
 

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