Parts needed to do knuckle job

[Cruiserhead05]

I have a late model 40 and a 60 that both need the knuckles done. i have the original manuals and they walk me though the process alright but i just wanted to know if someone could give my and tips on doing this. what stuff will i need to do it and how hard is it. Also i wanted to know, will i just need to replace to knuckle seal or is there more to it. my 40 leaks through the hub so i figured it was just a bad knuckle seal. any tips or help is much appreciated.

 

[cruiserhead]

You can go to www.coolcruisers.com and look at the 2 seperate kits that are offered.If it`s just the seals,it`s a afternoon or more.Check your bearings while your in there and repack them.

 

[dd113]

Go ahead and plan on the bearings. Most all of the time they are bad. If you go to all the work what is another $75 or so? Last I checked JT Outfitters had the best prices on kits. Best advice I can give is to go to The Home Despot and buy a big box of painters rags and latex gloves. You will need a fish scale and a torque wrench. A parts cleaner is a big help but you can get around it if needed. While in there I would turn the rotors, pads as needed, soft line as needed, rebuild calipers and new wheel bearings. You MUST use a new inner bearing hub seal. Also a good time to rebuild the locking hubs. Check the kit. Some dont come with the new, required, locking tabs or inner axel seals. NAPA has both as well as the hub oil seals and bearings.I would just go ahead and rebuild anything you need to touch while you are down there. A little more money and time but then you can put the entire ft axel away as a worry.

 

[CruisinGA]

I just did mine. Listen to David.
I bought a kit for mine from SOR, as all the others were out of a kit for the old school birfs with drums. This is not a concern for you. I went ahead and bought a 20 gal $80 parts washer from Northern before I started, and 15 gal of mineral spirits at Home Depot. HUGE help, I ended up not needing that many rags. I would recommend putting something underneath the knuckes, it gets nasty. There is a earlier thread about the hub socket that you will need and the best place to get it. I did not replace my wheel bearings, but I did replace my king pin/knuckle/trunion bearings (different names for same bearing). I don't think my old ones were bad. The only tricky part was removing the axle seal. I worked the old ones out with a small crowbar, you must be careful doing this, if you score the inside of the axle housing where the seal sits, your screwed bad. Print out the writeup in Tech, and have your manuals with you. Its a messy job, but very enlightening if you don't already know how your birfs and axle knuckles work. You will need a set of brass drifts and several hammers ranging from a RBFH (real big friggin hammer) to MBFH (medium big friggun hammer) I used a 4 pounder and a normal carpenters hammer. The SOR kit wasn't that expensive and includes everything but the birfield snapring and wheel bearings which are not always necessary.

 

[rick_d]

best price on kits is heartoftexasoffroad.com then cruiseroutfitters (.com? in SLC Utah). Additionals you may want are new nut kits (54mm aka 2 1/8" OD) and wiper kits aka 1/2 moons (both in 'delux' kit at H-O-T). While you can clean them yourself, I have had far better luck using engine machine shops to hot tank parts (knuckle arms w/o shims, wheel hubs w/o bearings, knuckle housing and spindle). It takes an hour, but you eat lunch while it happens and the stuff is clean! Backing plates must be cleaned in place (or bust loose the hydraulic system). Check your brake pads (easy to do) and rotor thickness (for 150,000+ trucks). I have 99% time repacked wheel bearings and only replace if damaged (rare). I have never replaced cone washers (but always have spares). Tools that are a must:
brass drift (punch)
longer punch (steel, for knuckle bearing race)
BFH
fish scale 5#-15#'s accurate (found at Wal-mart- mine had a tape measure)
torque wrench
basic sockets (10, 12, 14, 17, 19)
2 1/8 hub wrench or thin wall Craftsman
tie rod tool or tool of devil pickle fork or BFH w/ sacrificial nut
moly grease
red hub grease (or cool blue)
gloves (nitrile)
rags or paper towels

helps to have:
Toyota SST for knuckle arm drive out (two open end wrench tool, shaves 1/2 hour to 1+ hours off job time)
8" dial/digital caliper (6" works if you don't try the math puzzle below)

things you don't want to know how to use (aka skip at all costs):
Toyota SST center gauge
don't misplace the bottom shims!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (top shims are for preload)

shoot for 9-11#'s, they will loosen with time...

 

[informationjunky]

I second the pricing at Heart of Texas, not to mention he is one of the few who actually cares about his customers.

As for tricks, remove the cone washers by putting a brass drift on the end of the stud and hitting with BFH, a couple of taps and they will pop out. DO NOT try the way the manual states, it will just damage cone washers and take all day (dont ask me how I know).

Have some wire ready to tie off the calipers when you remove them (unbolt brake lines along axle to give you room to pull dust plate), razors to scrape (carefully) off old seals, lots of gloves, I used the gallon paint can carb cleaner for cleaning most of the parts.

And as for the tie rod removal, don't laugh, but I ended up buying this puller;
http://www.jcwhitney.com/item.jhtml?ITEMID=19652&BQ=jcw2

It worked like a charm!!

Also, while you have it up on stands, you might as well align the tires.

John

 

[citabria]

No matter how much or how many you buy, you won't have enough nitrile gloves and rags. Trust me. BTDT

 

[rick_d]

nitrile gloves,...

my big question is how when the first one is taken off grease always seems to be on the inside of the glove (yet not on hand). I kinda feel like David Blaine everytime.

 

[Trevor]

If you're planning on repacking the birfs, you'll need replacement snap rings. I wore the doctor's gloves and it really helped. I also managed to break my index finger by getting it stuck in the birfield. :-\ You should try to avoid that.

 

[dd113]

Hey Trevor, Are you the Trevor of Augusta? What happen to you?

 

[CruisinGA]

His cruiser got shot, and he's been in trauma withdrawal ever since

Trevor-I thought that you only needed to seperate the birfield for inspection/odd impulse. I have been told that you can easily pack the birf without seperating it, just pack as much grease in as possible from all angles. This is what I did, worked so far. ???

 

[MarkFJ40]

Somebody had done a write up on rebuilding the knuckles but I can't find it. I thought it was on 4x4wire.com
I've done it so many times I could do it in my sleep.
Try and do it someplace clean. I always seem to end up doing it in a gravel parking lot. ???

 

[Trevor]

[quote author=dd113 link=board=1;threadid=5092;start=msg39632#msg39632 date=1063161593]
Hey Trevor, Are you the Trevor of Augusta? What happen to you?
[/quote]

Yeah, it's me...I'm still in Augusta. I'm working in South Carolina and commuting in my Swiss-cheese Cruiser. One of our neighbors wasn't taking his medication and shot at our front door and my Cruiser in the middle of the night, for no reason. He also shot a few other cars in the parking lot. Nobody was physically hurt, but I still get really, really pissed every time I see that hole in the side of my Cruiser.

And back to the subject...I'm sure one can repack the birfs by just pushing more grease in there. I wanted to inspect mine because the axle seal leaked so bad, there wasn't any grease left.