Spindle and upper trunion damage

[GeoRoss]

You thought I was BSin? Recall you mentioning something about this not being a show car job.....

Grease that seal or it will squeal.

Nope, I trusted you on that. For any fence sitters out there those pliers are golden. They are also idiot proof.

Show car? I guess it is a show car job as long as you squint and stand back ten feet.

Are you talking about the dust gasket on the spindle? If so the hub side was a greasy mess on that side when I put it on. I hope that is enough.

 

[mypancreasbroke]

Man, I really appreciate all your work and pics. My 80 is my DD, and the wife's out of work so the cruiser budget sits at $0, so I mostly just dream of being able to crack it open and rebuild things like this. But I've learned a lot reading through this, as well as being entertained. Can't wait to see it all wrapped up and finished.

 

[richardlillard1]

I’d call it a show car job. I had one side apart in an afternoon to pull the birf and check it for wear before slapping it back together, within a span of about five hours (to be fair, there was a lunch break in there), which is kind of slow for me. But I also didn’t pull the knuckle, so I guess there’s that.

Discovered the cause of the clicking was a bent steering stop. I guess the birfs don’t like it when you turn about 12° past the FSM recommendation of 30-32°. @Tools R Us was kind enough to weld some plate there to address the issue, which I didn’t bother painting.

My attention to detail was...less than yours.

I also reused those seals. Fite me.

 

[ChaseTruck]

I’d call it a show car job. I had one side apart in an afternoon to pull the birf and check it for wear before slapping it back together, ...

But isn't your vehicle more, shall we say, pliable, by now?

 

[GeoRoss]

Man, I really appreciate all your work and pics. My 80 is my DD, and the wife's out of work so the cruiser budget sits at $0, so I mostly just dream of being able to crack it open and rebuild things like this. But I've learned a lot reading through this, as well as being entertained. Can't wait to see it all wrapped up and finished.

That is the rub, if it is a daily you really can’t do this. The last time I did this job (10 years ago and 70k miles) it was a daily driver. A friend of mine and I did both sides in a long day. It wasn’t nearly close to clean on the outside, just the machines surfaces ind internal stuff.

I’d call it a show car job. I had one side apart in an afternoon to pull the birf and check it for wear before slapping it back together, within a span of about five hours (to be fair, there was a lunch break in there), which is kind of slow for me. But I also didn’t pull the knuckle, so I guess there’s that.

Discovered the cause of the clicking was a bent steering stop. I guess the birfs don’t like it when you turn about 12° past the FSM recommendation of 30-32°. @Tools R Us was kind enough to weld some plate there to address the issue, which I didn’t bother painting.

My attention to detail was...less than yours.
View attachment 1963791
View attachment 1963792

I also reused those seals. Fite me.
View attachment 1963793

That is how I did my first axle job, just the stuff to get it back on the road quickly. I had everything I needed plus extra axle seals etc so I could be prepared for anything. I remember hoping and praying spindles and birfs would be in good condition. They were luckily. This time I had more time bought the basic kit and wanted to clean all the cruddy grease off everything. Take my time and inspect the parts as I cleaned them. Wheel bearings and spindles first. Then cleaned the birfs to find them ugly so order them next. Bust up an axle seal and order a new one with spares this time.

The biggest delay for me was finding out that concentrated Super Cleaner strips paint. I wanted to do a better job cleaning all the old grease off the externals this time, maybe paint the hub because it had some surface rust. Stripping the paint meant I had to paint. If you have to paint might as well do it as good as you can. My paint job will likely fall in the next 6 months.

 

[richardlillard1]

But isn't your vehicle more, shall we say, pliable, by now?

I prefer to think I’ve been cold working the steel to make it stronger.

That is how I did my first axle job, just the stuff to get it back on the road quickly. I had everything I needed plus extra axle seals etc so I could be prepared for anything. I remember hoping and praying spindles and birfs would be in good condition. They were luckily. This time I had more time bought the basic kit and wanted to clean all the cruddy grease off everything. Take my time and inspect the parts as I cleaned them. Wheel bearings and spindles first. Then cleaned the birfs to find them ugly so order them next. Bust up an axle seal and order a new one with spares this time.

The biggest delay for me was finding out that concentrated Super Cleaner strips paint. I wanted to do a better job cleaning all the old grease off the externals this time, maybe paint the hub because it had some surface rust. Stripping the paint meant I had to paint. If you have to paint might as well do it as good as you can. My paint job will likely fall in the next 6 months.

It’s been fun watching this thread. I got the axle as clean as I could the first time I took it apart. Since then it’s been the quick and dirty route because I needed the truck back together for one reason or another. Time isn’t always on my side, so function usually has to take precedence over form. Not that you would be able to tell anything was done for form on my truck anyway, except maybe the license plate.

 

[GeoRoss]

I prefer to think I’ve been cold working the steel to make it stronger.



It’s been fun watching this thread. I got the axle as clean as I could the first time I took it apart. Since then it’s been the quick and dirty route because I needed the truck back together for one reason or another. Time isn’t always on my side, so function usually has to take precedence over form. Not that you would be able to tell anything was done for form on my truck anyway, except maybe the license plate.
View attachment 1964003

Yeah, I'm lucky that I had a window where I wasn't in a rush and have a second vehicle. My first axle service over a decade ago was a whirlwind of Git-R-Dun with a buddy and we knocked both sides out in about 10 hours.

Well I am almost done. I miscalculated on getting the battery warrantied and they closed before I could get that fixed. I need to add the gear oil, put the tires one and get the battery. I'll knock those out this week. I did spend an hour cleaning the carport. All tools put away and one sawhorse workbench taken down. The Mrs will be happy.

I do wish I had finished a week or more ago. I have huge mesquite trees in the front yard and I'm doing this in the driveway. I've spent that last two days being rained on with mesquite pollen with our first "hot" days (>95˚) of the year. Good thing I don't have allergies.

 

[Tools R Us]

... I miscalculated on getting the battery warrantied and they closed before I could get that fixed. ...

The battery was dead on the wife's LS this morning, I'm blaming you!

 

[GeoRoss]

And to put a period on this thread. I was able to get BatteriesPlus to warranty the battery. I tried to do this this morning but they said they need to try and charge it first, come back in a couple of hours. Whatever, I come in this afternoon and they wanted to charge it over night after the load tester said it was bad I pointed at their load tester and walked out with a new battery. Interstate or Costco next time, this was too much trouble.

I took it for a 30 minute shake down to bed in the new front pads, lots of 60-20 stops. No noise that I could hear but the tires. My youngest daughter was wrong! Hurray for me being able to do this simple job.

Most importantly, I am provisionally going to say my braking inducing "death wobble" is gone. I could never brake at speeds over 50 with out minor to "I need to change my underwear" shaking. I can only conclude it was either my front brake rotors were really bad or loose wheel and or trunion bearings. I'm leaning toward the bearings. The brake pads did show even wear across the board. I do need to change my tie rod and relay ends since they have a hint of play as I can wiggle the tire a bit (<1/8" inch) before the other tire moves.

Hub and disc temperatures are OK I think with the braking I just did. 95˚F ambient temps and the hubs were both ~150˚F on each side and the rotors were ~200˚F each measured with an IR gun. When I set the wheel bearings I did it with the tires on, set them to 50ft/llbs, spun a dozen times forwards and backwards. Loosened and spun. Tightened while spinning, lather-rinse-repeat a couple of times. I set the final preload to 25ft/llbs. The outer nut on the DS had to be turned about 15˚ past 49ft/llbs to get a star tab to line up.

I'll be more attentive to checkin the wheel bearings going forward. Since I jack up the cruiser when I grease the u-joints, I should add this to my checks.

The coda for this little project is that the paint I picked sucks. It doesn't like brake cleaner. Don't use this for anything that might see brake cleaner, say axles.

Thanks for all the vendors @cruiseroutfit @NLXTACY at WitsEnd that helped and everyone who helped. I hope you had as much fun following my antics and I did living them.

 

[Tools R Us]

... My youngest daughter was wrong! ...

Oh my....

Most any paint that comes out of a can isn't likely to resist brake cleaner, until it's fully cured, like weeks.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

 

[GeoRoss]

Oh my....

Most any paint that comes out of a can isn't likely to resist brake cleaner, until it's fully cured, like weeks.

Haven’t you been following? This project has taken many weeks. Oh wait, "Honey, this project took so long because I needed the paint to fully cure before I put it back together." Thanks Kevin!

I’ll take note of that paint curing thing and hope for the best. The Mrs is happy to have her driveway back, sadly I'm now back to mesquite tree mess cleanup duty.

Next up? I have a list of normal stuff (brake lines,power steering pump rebuild and tie rods), but I think I'll go with my idiotic plan to build an auxiliary fuse/relay box out a mid 90's Camry/Corrola fuse/relay box. I think I've sourced near OEM dimension relay and fuse terminals so no splicing. I also found some ear piercing horns out of some vintage Volvo to scare the morons at my doubting daughter's school whose dangerous drop off/pick up antics need a reply.

Famous last words.

 

[Tools R Us]

... I also found some ear piercing horns out of some vintage Volvo to scare the morons at my doubting daughter's school ...

That will learn them for instilling doubt in dad's skills!

 

[GeoRoss]

That will learn them for instilling doubt in dad's skills!

Kill two birds with one stone!

 

[subzali]

where did you get those snap ring pliers?

 

[GeoRoss]

where did you get those snap ring pliers?

Kevin suggested these in a thread about what tools to carry. They work really well and are pretty darn cheap.

HJE Wilde 9" Right Angle Tip Lock Ring Pliers American Made Hand Tools

 

[Tools R Us]

Kevin suggested these in a thread about what tools to carry. They work really well and are pretty darn cheap.

HJE Wilde 9" Right Angle Tip Lock Ring Pliers American Made Hand Tools

Care is needed, random wandering on that site can be expensive!

 

[GeoRoss]

Care is needed, random wandering on that site can be expensive!

I'm in "need" for some crows foot and flare wrenches. I don't know how long I can resist.

 

[MoCoNative]

On the draglink ends, on my own quest to find death wobble, I would have told my ends were all decent. Got under there and had my son run the steering back and forth to the bump stops and such. It revealed a huge amount of play at the pitman arm tierod end. So I ordered another, but the parts daigram was goofy where I ordered from and got the other end, so I ordered again and replaced both ends in the end. I could not get any play from those ends, or rough feel from pulling on the draglink or wobbling the tires by hand. I would have said they were good until watching while turning. Helped with steering wander, getting them off was kind of tough, had to really wrench on the downhill one, seems the water accumulates on that one. Getting the steering wheel back straight took some seat time to find a good true center, adjust, watch for center, adjust again, although the FSM measurement of length for settup was close to right.

What kind of brake cleaner did you use? I have used several brands, but I do know the time I grabbed the cheaper "non-chlorinated" stuff it pulled paint right off, good, old 25 year old paint. So now I never use the "non-chlorinated" stuff, just the regular stuff or chlorinated, does not seem to effect paint much, sometimes dulls a high gloss, but I rarely have it lift paint, unless brake fluid already has. Pissed me off too, was expecting the same results I always have, sprayed down the backing plate to clean up the dust and crinkle, crinkle, grrr.

 

[GeoRoss]

On the draglink ends, on my own quest to find death wobble, I would have told my ends were all decent. Got under there and had my son run the steering back and forth to the bump stops and such. It revealed a huge amount of play at the pitman arm tierod end. So I ordered another, but the parts daigram was goofy where I ordered from and got the other end, so I ordered again and replaced both ends in the end. I could not get any play from those ends, or rough feel from pulling on the draglink or wobbling the tires by hand. I would have said they were good until watching while turning. Helped with steering wander, getting them off was kind of tough, had to really wrench on the downhill one, seems the water accumulates on that one. Getting the steering wheel back straight took some seat time to find a good true center, adjust, watch for center, adjust again, although the FSM measurement of length for settup was close to right.

What kind of brake cleaner did you use? I have used several brands, but I do know the time I grabbed the cheaper "non-chlorinated" stuff it pulled paint right off, good, old 25 year old paint. So now I never use the "non-chlorinated" stuff, just the regular stuff or chlorinated, does not seem to effect paint much, sometimes dulls a high gloss, but I rarely have it lift paint, unless brake fluid already has. Pissed me off too, was expecting the same results I always have, sprayed down the backing plate to clean up the dust and crinkle, crinkle, grrr.

I'll be replacing the tie rod and relay end soonish. I have the parts in hand but didn't install them during the axle service because I just wanted to see if I could isolate the wobble issue. Fingers crossed at this point it is a fixed issue. I don't currently have any tracking issues.

You maybe onto something on the non-chlorinated cleaner. I got a deal on the non-chlorinated ($2 less per can) when I was buying. I'll check an see if regular is safer. Thanks for the tip!