steering arm removal

[nuclearlemon]

Is half the knuckle bearing supposed to come out with it, with bearing rollers dropping on the floor? QUOTE]
were there any shims when you got it off....it's been my experience that the bearing will peel apart if there aren't enough shims. of course, judging by looks, the bearings could have failed from lack of maintenance also.

 

[yooper]

Toyota has an SST for aligning the birfield in the knuckle...

Or just do what the rest of us do and keep track of the shim configuration when you pull it apart. Use the same combination when you put it together.

Matt

That was my plan, but the old shims are actually rusty and pitted - I'll try to measure them somehow, or eyeball them next to the new ones. I'll probably go with one thin, one thick, and then adjust if necessary, or splurge for the SST (I'm going to do my FJ62 front axle in the spring, and then my '73 FJ40 some day, so it's a decent investment.)

I was contemplating the knuckle update already. I might do it if Luke will exchange the arms for me, which I think he will since they are brand new. He's also planning a knuckle stud upgrade service with bigger, stronger studs - you send him your knuckles and steering arms and he machines them - I don't know if he's started this project yet.

I just got the DS dismantled, everything looks ok despite being bathed in thin mix of gear oil and grease - no rust that I can see, birf is solid. Draining the diff first made it not very messy.

My axle shaft does not have split rings on the inner shaft end, or even a slot for them. Is this unusual? Is it bad? Not ready to splurge for new axle shafts right now...

 

[yooper]

Is half the knuckle bearing supposed to come out with it, with bearing rollers dropping on the floor? QUOTE]
were there any shims when you got it off....it's been my experience that the bearing will peel apart if there aren't enough shims. of course, judging by looks, the bearings could have failed from lack of maintenance also.

Two shims were there, but in poor shape

The knuckle was pretty loose when I disconnected the steering linkage, which I thought was odd - I think the bearing was already broken. I haven't dismantled that side yet. I'll be holding my breath as I do...

 

[mattg]

The SST is pretty pricy. In fact I'm not sure its still available. Wasn't there someone who was renting one out for a refundable deposit?

were there any shims when you got it off....it's been my experience that the bearing will peel apart if there aren't enough shims. of course, judging by looks, the bearings could have failed from lack of maintenance also.

Interesting, I was under the impression that the wrong shims would result simply in a trashed inner axle seal. Though I suppose that in turn might kill the bearings.

Yooper, is this a trail truck? If not, just wondering how it handled on road at around 40-50mph...

Matt

 

[yooper]

The SST is pretty pricy. In fact I'm not sure its still available....

Yooper, is this a trail truck? If not, just wondering how it handled on road at around 40-50mph...

Matt

I THINK the SST is still available, about $120 from SPX . One just sold for $225 on eBay this week, though. I've been meaning to call SPX, and will tomorrow...

This is a drive to the trail, run the trail, drive home truck. I drove it home 400 miles at 70mph+ when I bought it last summer, with no problems whatsoever. it steered fine, tracked straight, smooth as can be with 35" MT/R's. There was some funny braking behavior going on for a while in the fall, with a strong pull to one side or the other at low speeds when braking hard on the street, but it went away. I've put maybe 20 trail miles on it since I bought it, all hard miles, but nothing crazy and no water or deep mud, so the water was in there when I bought it.

Just got back from the store for a stool, more paper towels, buckets, and Castrol Super Clean (an excellent part cleaning fluid). I'm eyeing the cheapo $80 parts washer at Menard's.

 

[nuclearlemon]

I'm eyeing the cheapo $80 parts washer at Menard's.

you will definitely learn to love a parts washer tank. i got the 20 gallon cheapo from harbor crap and have used the hell out of it. beats the hell out of spraying with cleaner, then scrubbing, then spraying, then scrubbing some more.....

 

[yooper]

you will definitely learn to love a parts washer tank......

Yep, the hour and a half I just spent cleaning just the locking hubs and hub bodies, squatting on the floor over a bucket, then using a full can of brake cleaner, convinced me. I'm gonna get the parts washer tomorrow. They're having an 11% off everything in the store sale, too.

Got the other side disassembled, the one with the bad knuckle bearing, and it looked pretty good. Axle oil seal was intact, but the grease in the knuckle was almost too thick, black and kind of ropy. Weird. Birf is ok I think.