rebuilding my knuckles.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

A hot pressure wash will do wonders before you start taking everything apart.

You can drill out the two spot welds on each backing plate that hold the brake line bracket and spot weld a nut on the inside. Usually this is done for trucks that see their knuckles apart from frequent wheeling, but I do it on all the trucks so I don't have to bleed brakes.

I am not surprised it lasted for 300k. It is a good design. I am doing mine and even though the wheel hub seal was sitting loose on the spindle (and probably the real cause of the mess around the knuckle), and for the fact the PO used some kind of combo spindle nut/washer thing that was hand-loose (vs nut and thrust washer), everything held together for a long time before I took time to take it apart. Toyota designs seem to break slowly vs catastrophic death.
 
if your talking about inner axle seals, cruiser outfitter has them i stock i believe.
 
I have cut the wipers to get them on in a pinch before (because I have blown so many trunion bearings that my hi-steer arm was kinda mangled and I couldnt get it out) and it worked fine, I just put the cuts at the top and stapled them. But I tear down my axle maybe 5 or 6 times a year, due to damage.

The felts last forever, so you dont need to wax them. Its the rubber that goes bad and allows the knuckle to leak.....also if you peassure wash your knuckle balls everytime you are at the car wash, not only do you risk shoving water into them, but the balls will rust and pit faster, then they will leak all the time. My philosophy on leaking knuckes, engines, trans's, etc.... is it is just my on board rust prevention system....
 
Marlin HD inner seals will put a stop to the leaking, no need to remove the knuckle to replace it either. Then get Bobby longfields wiper seals for the backside of the knuckle like stated above.

My knuckles were leaking, left a small quarter sized puddle when I parked. After installing the Marlin HD inner seals, no more leaks :) I used a pair of channel locks to remove the old seals, and Marlins install tool to install the new ones.
 
One reason for the rubber knuckle seal failure that I've noticed lately is the rough finish on the housing balls. (gawd, does that sound wrong....) When I put the new front under Patch I sanded the seal surface on the outside of the balls smooth. I also covered them with paint so that they can't rust. (I live a stone's throw from the Pacific and have a prevailing breeze that runs off the water right down my driveway.) So I'll see how that experiment works out.....
 
biggest problem I see is folks trying to force the long side axle/birf and all in at once without somebody gently turning the drive shaft.
Never go up and down and to much jerking action if you do.....its certain the seal will get messed up.

Take your time.

When you gently turn the drive shaft that inner axle will find the side gear:beer:
 
ntsqd said:
One reason for the rubber knuckle seal failure that I've noticed lately is the rough finish on the housing balls. (gawd, does that sound wrong....) When I put the new front under Patch I sanded the seal surface on the outside of the balls smooth. I also covered them with paint so that they can't rust. (I live a stone's throw from the Pacific and have a prevailing breeze that runs off the water right down my driveway.) So I'll see how that experiment works out.....
Click to expand...

I think there's some misconceptions in this thread. That photo in post one is from the inner seal leaking (as someone already said) which allows the diff fluid to mix with the knuckle grease. The knuckle isn't sealed by the rubber wiper. It's the metal ring that does the "sealing" and it isn't supposed to be 100% tight. In other words, it's a metal to metal seal and it's supposed to weep just a little bit to keep a film of grease on the knuckle.
 
x2..........
WarDamnEagle said:
I think there's some misconceptions in this thread. That photo in post one is from the inner seal leaking (as someone already said) which allows the diff fluid to mix with the knuckle grease. The knuckle isn't sealed by the rubber wiper. It's the metal ring that does the "sealing" and it isn't supposed to be 100% tight. In other words, it's a metal to metal seal and it's supposed to weep just a little bit to keep a film of grease on the knuckle.
Click to expand...
 
WarDamnEagle said:
I think there's some misconceptions in this thread. That photo in post one is from the inner seal leaking (as someone already said) which allows the diff fluid to mix with the knuckle grease. The knuckle isn't sealed by the rubber wiper. It's the metal ring that does the "sealing" and it isn't supposed to be 100% tight. In other words, it's a metal to metal seal and it's supposed to weep just a little bit to keep a film of grease on the knuckle.
Click to expand...
yes you are correct my inner seal is leaking but with the mileage on the truck i figure if i am taking it apart go ahead and overhaul it.
 
toy4xfun said:
yes you are correct my inner seal is leaking but with the mileage on the truck i figure if i am taking it apart go ahead and overhaul it.
Click to expand...

As I would do as well. I wasn't referring to your posts when I said "misconceptions" btw. For some reason, often people seem to think that the rubber wiper on top of the metal seal around the knuckle is supposed to completely seal the knuckle grease and that is not the case.
 
hey crazy, i might have to change my tranfercase, you know the battery story, but today i went to pop the clutch when i went to rock the truck to get it moving i heard a clunking noise coming from that area under the truck. and i told you when i changed the gear oil it had water in it. to morrow i might climb under it and have the wife rock it so i can see where it is coming from.
 
Then you can have the one currently in my truck....just come to tims when we do my marlin
toy4xfun said:
hey crazy, i might have to change my tranfercase, you know the battery story, but today i went to pop the clutch when i went to rock the truck to get it moving i heard a clunking noise coming from that area under the truck. and i told you when i changed the gear oil it had water in it. to morrow i might climb under it and have the wife rock it so i can see where it is coming from.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom