Steering Knuckles leaking Diff oil after rebuild.

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To check for smell I put my index finger in it and bring it to my nose.
If you can’t smell gear oil wipe it clean keep a eye on it and your good to go.
 
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ppc said:
I wouldn't be to concerned at this point. All greases can separate when setting dormant. Put some miles and it keep an eye on it.
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I agree with the above. Admittedly, I'd be checking frequently. Worst case, you're into it again. Maybe, things settle down and you are good to go.
Reminds me to give mine a lookie lou.
 
MTrun said:
Not a very accurate one. I have the Wits end driver now, but had to eyeball them when I did it before 🙄
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I would be really suspicious of that method. Not that I think it would cause your leak so quickly unless it was really extreme, but I would expect it to shorten seal life considerably. Then again, I'm no engineer. (Edit: to be clear, I'm doubting MTrun's "not very accurate" method, not the Wit's End driver)
 
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Broski said:
How so ?

Honest question
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If the seal is seated unevenly, there's going to be some tension trying to force the sealing surface into an ellipse. If I remember correctly, the axle shaft seal kind of "floats" with the thinner rubber connecting it to the metal body of the seal (hope that makes sense), but I think misalignment would still be less than ideal.

And, to be clear, I meant the "not a very accurate" method. I have no reason to doubt the Wit's End seal driver, but I just realized that my post was a bit ambiguous there.
 
ppc said:
I wouldn't be to concerned at this point. All greases can separate when setting dormant. Put some miles and it keep an eye on it.
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Exactly. Some moly grease brands separate more than others.
 
Bringing back this thread…
Just had Land Cruiser Heaven rebuilt my knuckles a month ago. Few days ago I noticed sweating under the right knuckle and drip formation under the left knuckle. Is this a sign of poor work or natural for grease to separate and leak out? Thanks
 
NTH89 said:
Bringing back this thread…
Just had Land Cruiser Heaven rebuilt my knuckles a month ago. Few days ago I noticed sweating under the right knuckle and drip formation under the left knuckle. Is this a sign of poor work or natural for grease to separate and leak out? Thanks
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Post pictures, it shouldn’t be doing that but it could be other issues anything from worn axles to a bent housing
 
You can see a drip formation there and some wetness nearby.

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Any idea if they touched the breather? Which rebuild parts used (particularly the seal)? Etc

Clogged breather can lead to gear oil pushing past the seal and into the knuckle, or you can damage/compromise the seal on install (spring comes out, etc). If your axles are worn enough where the old seal was riding, it's possible a new one in the same spot wouldn't seal well enough (the reason many install the new seal a couple mm deeper). And shoot, unlikely especially if it's a cruiser shop, but I've seen rare reports of filling with gear oil instead of grease.

I would check/clear your breather, and also dip into the knuckle through the fill plug to see what the grease looks like
 
IMHO the threads on the knuckle bolts look to dirty to just have been removed a month ago.
The hardware also looks to dirty to have just been serviced.
Wipe that drip off with your finger and smell it 90 weight oil has a distinct smell.
 
Thank you all for chiming in. Yes, just serviced little over a month ago. The knuckles were a huge mess prior to rebuild but I know they’ve cleaned as much as they could for a shop, I guessed. Yup breather works fine. I replaced with new and relocated up higher in the engine bay.
 
Oops forgot to report that I did smell the oil. Does not smell like gear oil at all so that’s a good sign. Good chance it may be the grease separating because my grease gun does the exact same thing.
 
What I'm looking at is the Threads on the knuckle bolts, when you remove the nut it cut the threads clean.
If the drip does not smell like gear oil the it could be residual cleaner
 
Broski said:
What I'm looking at is the Threads on the knuckle bolts, when you remove the nut it cut the threads clean.
If the drip does not smell like gear oil the it could be residual cleaner
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Oh I see what you mean about the threads.
 
Here's mine 14 months since I did a front axle rebuild.
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As you can see the treads are still clean. you should see grease on the knuckleball.
I would pull the fill plug on the top of the knuckle and stick a zip tie down there and see what you got.
 
Didn’t think there was enough room but learned something new :)
As suggested… grease looks dark green and new. Whew

IMG_6734.webp
 
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