The Car Care Nut - 80 Series Land Cruiser Knuckle Rebuild
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I’m getting ready to do mine and watched most of this. I have also watched OTRAMM, RM and 6 North(?). Perhaps it is a matter of emphasis (?) but to me he seems pretty casual about steps like bearing preload for both the trunion and hub bearings. Perhaps it is his experience…
He also released the cone washers by banging on the side of the drive plate with a steel hammer, something that is discouraged elsewhere- but he did replace the bearings.
He also released the cone washers by banging on the side of the drive plate with a steel hammer, something that is discouraged elsewhere- but he did replace the bearings.
I like him & I skimmed it yesterday, but it's nothing new. The other videos are much more instructional for people who need to learn to do the job. He's not showing all the details, and that's not the point of his videos. There are a variety of things well-documented on mud as correct/the way to go which he does not follow, so there's that too.
I personally like 6th gear garage, and 2nd gear low the most. There's also the knuckle FAQ and various other threads with helpful tips.
I personally like 6th gear garage, and 2nd gear low the most. There's also the knuckle FAQ and various other threads with helpful tips.
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I have been following this guy and like him. Nothing new in his video.
That's how I get the cone washers lose myself but I use a brass hammer been doing it that way for years and don't see a issue with it.
Like he points out in the video this job is not rocket science the biggest part is cleaning everything.
And I would add that's one clean 80, sub100k miles. It appears to have a collectors adition badge.
I have seen this video in the play feed on YT, I haven’t watched it yet but I saved it to my 80 series play list. I haven’t done the knuckles yet but I have watched a few vids (2nd gear low, OTRAMM and 6th gear). Maybe I will embark on them with my next vacation.
nothing new, but i did enjoy watching him struggle to remove the seal. made me feel better about myself and my wrenching ability 
TurboDennis
SILVER Star
Absolutely terrible video from an otherwise great Toyota mechanic. The number of mistakes he made during this job is absolutely staggering.. I could literally make a list about a page long. Sadly for the owner, there is pretty much a 100% guarantee that this truck will be back in the shop for another knuckle job very soon.
How so ?
I have to disagree. It's pretty much to the book.
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TurboDennis
SILVER Star
Im not going to mention all the small mistakes that he made, because there's just way too many.. But i'll point out most of the big ones:
1) Using 48 INCH/lb on the bearing adjuster nut to set the bearing preload. Where did he even get this number from?! There is absolutely ZERO percent chance that the wheel bearings have proper preload with that little torque on the adjusting nut.
2) He completely forgot to install the thrust washer (between the outer wheel bearing and adjuster nut).
3) In my experience (having done 50+ of these axles), you really have to take your time seating the hub on the spindle by cranking the adjuster nut, then rotating the hub a few times in each direction, then banging on the hub with a hammer to shock it, rotating again, then repeating this a few times. If you don't do this, the bearings WILL lose most of their preload in short order.
4) He completely ignored the wear on the spindle, which was very obvious on the video. Compounded with the above 3 points, this will result in a disaster for the wheel bearings.
5) He put maybe a couple of hand fulls of grease into the knuckle. This is nowhere near enough.. Combined with the fact that he didnt pack the birfields with grease properly (which should be done through the axle shaft hole, prior to inserting it), i feel sorry for those shiny new OEM birfields...
6) Banging on the drive flange to free up the cone washers. This is a big no-no. Yes, I'm aware that it works, and is the easiest/fastest way of doing it, but this WILL distort the cone washer holes permanently, which will result in uneven forces on the flange studs, making them prone to failure.
7) Banging that much with a hammer on the spindle/knuckle seam to free it up will damage the soft metal there, causing possible alignment and leak issues. A very light tap on the outer end of the spindle with a wooden block would break the spindle apart from the knuckle instantly with zero damage or drama.
While not a "mistake" , technically, i did get a giggle out of watching him struggle with that axle seal for what was probably half an hour in real time. I have never encountered an axle seal that took more than 10 seconds to remove with a 3-jaw slide hammer.
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mudgudgeon
Resident galah
Hard pass. Enough said.
Not even gonna click the video link.
This stuff ^^^ is just not necessary even if you're 100 miles from anywhere, and need a trail fix NOW.
There's just no reason to be a gorilla for any of it.
If you don't have a torque wrench on the trail, give it your best guess, and reset when back home, but beating flanges with a hammer is just lazy or ignorant.
When i first had my 80, i learnt a lot of techniques from my dad, his buddy, my uncles, other buddies.
Reality is, all these people were using handed down shade tree techniques, many improvised and adopted because they
A- didn't have correct tools
B- didn't have workshop manuals
C- were too tight to buy some specialist tools
D- techniques worked adequately enough that the cumulative damage done by beating on shīt wasn't going to be a problem until months of years gotten the track
I remember changing bearings, and finding drive flanges distorted, having a bear of a time getting cone washers out, and doing my best to clean up tapered holes with a countersink bit, all the time thinking this can't be the best way to do this job.
Enter one used FSM via ebay, and a collection of tools, and sites like Mud, LCOOL etc
Filter info for yourself for best results.
BFH should usually be at the bottom of the list.
Purchase correct tool, and follow FSM at the top
mudgudgeon
Resident galah
Ps, above is not pointed at anyone, just picked up on a few poignant observations by @BTLSHP
I've beaten plenty of stuff in ways that would make Toyota's engineers weep into their sakè, but always looking to improve the way i do things.
Youtube is full of garbage videos and people seeking their 15 minutes, and phat stax of Googlecash
I've beaten plenty of stuff in ways that would make Toyota's engineers weep into their sakè, but always looking to improve the way i do things.
Youtube is full of garbage videos and people seeking their 15 minutes, and phat stax of Googlecash
Out of all the videos I've watched OTRAMM mixed fsm knowledge and mud gained wisdom the best in my opinion. For those who are looking to do this job for the first time, it is messy but it is NOT that difficult unless you are on a time crunch and learning.
From the car care nut I know he has more experience than me but I am ok with taking the extra time for some parts of it and using more grease in a few places. I also like to seat my trunion bearing races more but that may not matter once you torque things down(or maybe just camera angle issues). In addition I don't get paid by the hour and I can take my labor hour savings to buy some new parts. I don't know what the customer requested or could afford.
From the car care nut I know he has more experience than me but I am ok with taking the extra time for some parts of it and using more grease in a few places. I also like to seat my trunion bearing races more but that may not matter once you torque things down(or maybe just camera angle issues). In addition I don't get paid by the hour and I can take my labor hour savings to buy some new parts. I don't know what the customer requested or could afford.
I guess I’m just lazy and ignorant 
Not going to argue about any of the points given.
Not going to argue about any of the points given.
mudgudgeon
Resident galah
I guess I’m just lazy and ignorant
Not going to argue about any of the points given.
Hey, if the flip flops fit . . .
I had three. One split between the birfs, repacked with the frosting bag method (axles removed), and one each to pack the knuckles after reinstalling birfs.
