Blackdog
"Y'all smell that?"
I am a couple of hundred miles after the axle rebuild and thought I would share a few observations.
First, a rundown of what all I did.
1. Full axle rebuild with new bearings. I used the kit from Cruiser Outfitters and went with the Timkin bearing option. As far as I could find, the Timkin's were as well received by everyone that had used them as the Koyo's were. No bad reviews on MUD. Still too soon to give any kind of opinion of them myself.
2. Replaced the rotors. The old set looked fine but maybe a bit on the thin side. This was one of those "While you are in there" things. I opted for a set of Beck Arnley rotors that I bought locally. I saved a few bucks and I have used these before with no problems in other applications.
3. New brake pads. Again, I went cheap. I used a set of Monroe pads from Westwood Auto. I have been putting these on the front of my 80 for a long time and have no complaints. They have proven to be superior to any other store brand pad that I have ever used in any application in the past. I took advantage of the new rotor install and upgraded to the 100 series pads.
4. New universal joints in the front DS. I still need to go back and do the rear DS soon. I have a driveline vibration that I was hoping would disappear with the new front u joints. No such luck. Neither DS showed a definite sign of bad joints, but I went with the "shotgun theory" and threw some parts at it hoping I would get lucky.
5. New tie rod end on the driver side rear. This was a result of poor judgement on my part. More on that later.
6. New front differential fluid. Why would I replace all those seals and not put new oil behind them? I opted for the Lucas 75w-90. It was the same price per bottle as the castrol, so I decided to go with it.
First, a rundown of what all I did.
1. Full axle rebuild with new bearings. I used the kit from Cruiser Outfitters and went with the Timkin bearing option. As far as I could find, the Timkin's were as well received by everyone that had used them as the Koyo's were. No bad reviews on MUD. Still too soon to give any kind of opinion of them myself.
2. Replaced the rotors. The old set looked fine but maybe a bit on the thin side. This was one of those "While you are in there" things. I opted for a set of Beck Arnley rotors that I bought locally. I saved a few bucks and I have used these before with no problems in other applications.
3. New brake pads. Again, I went cheap. I used a set of Monroe pads from Westwood Auto. I have been putting these on the front of my 80 for a long time and have no complaints. They have proven to be superior to any other store brand pad that I have ever used in any application in the past. I took advantage of the new rotor install and upgraded to the 100 series pads.
4. New universal joints in the front DS. I still need to go back and do the rear DS soon. I have a driveline vibration that I was hoping would disappear with the new front u joints. No such luck. Neither DS showed a definite sign of bad joints, but I went with the "shotgun theory" and threw some parts at it hoping I would get lucky.
5. New tie rod end on the driver side rear. This was a result of poor judgement on my part. More on that later.
6. New front differential fluid. Why would I replace all those seals and not put new oil behind them? I opted for the Lucas 75w-90. It was the same price per bottle as the castrol, so I decided to go with it.
