The Mule / 73’ with a past?

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Hood showed up and is awesome! Thank you, Mark for being the guy that follows through and does help out a ton even for a PITA shipment.

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Since I’m in limbo on the hood waiting for it’s turn to be painted and few small repairs to be done, I figured I’d go to knuckle college today…
I’m sure glad I decided to tear into this. The spindle bearings were super notchy. Lots of rags!!
Going to look into tool options.

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Since I’m in limbo on the hood waiting for it’s turn to be painted and few small repairs to be done, I figured I’d go to knuckle college today…
I’m sure glad I decided to tear into this. The spindle bearings were super notchy. Lots of rags!!
Going to look into tool options.

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Ahhh yes… the inevitable knuckle rebuild. Cruiser Outfitters has all the parts you’d need and any nut and bolt hardware you might need to replace can be gotten from
 
Not a lot of progress today. Went back and forth on just keeping shims in same location or getting an alignment tool. Rechecking all of the prior persons work. This axle was apart for sure. So… I am pursuing that direction. All seals and components on hand except for the tool. Need a set of spindle bearings also due to mocking up one side and the bearing got stubborn to come off. Always something.
Noticed the front axle oil was not right when I drained it. Decided to pull the third member to wash off and clean inside the axle and get rid of the pudding.

Cheers!

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Diff soup! I wish I could tell you the centering tool was going to be satisfying…it’s a convoluted & frustrating process unfortunately. Just have to keep at it, if you’ve got an idea of where it was shim-wise to start it’s helpful. Otherwise you’ll be pretty good at pulling the trunnion pins to muck with shims 😐
 
Diff soup! I wish I could tell you the centering tool was going to be satisfying…it’s a convoluted & frustrating process unfortunately. Just have to keep at it, if you’ve got an idea of where it was shim-wise to start it’s helpful. Otherwise you’ll be pretty good at pulling the trunnion pins to muck with shims 😐
I watched the fella do a reseal on “The 40 channel” and he just removed and added shims at will. From the bottom stack. Still not sure why that couldn’t be done for tight knuckle.
 
It’s just the pins have to be pulled into the bearings, which also seats the cone washers. You want all of it there for the measurements…
When I took it apart the spindle bearings were really tight. Clicking into detents of a worn race. Replaced bearings and cone washers torqued to spec and still to tight. Can a shim not be swapped for a thicker one to reduce tightness and move on?
 
When I took it apart the spindle bearings were really tight. Clicking into detents of a worn race. Replaced bearings and cone washers torqued to spec and still to tight. Can a shim not be swapped for a thicker one to reduce tightness and move on?
Exactly
 
There are FAQs and YouTube videos on setting the preload.😉
 
I’ve read the FAQ.
Ive also seen folks mention the shims changes the wear on the inner axle shaft seal. That part I don’t follow.
 
Ive also seen folks mention the shims changes the wear on the inner axle shaft seal. That part I don’t follow.

I believe if you off center the axle with too many shims from top to bottom, then the axle will wear on the seal either top or bottom. Marlin's double lip seals help with stopping any leaks due to this. The seal is in a fixed spot, so if you move the axle either way, it might wear on the seal.

EDIT....That said, I'd wing it and figure on changing the seals when repacking the birfs./bearings every couple years.
 

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