when doing the knuckle rebuild.... also brake question

[lonelydriver]

when overhauling the knuckles, do most of you guys also take out the birfield / inner axle, or just leave those alone.

Do you guys have any suggestions on the brake rotors/ brake pads. I'm thinking of maybe doing those while i'm in there anyways. So far just thinking of getting them from pepboys/autozone. Any problems with this?

Also any suggestions on brake fluid?

My braking is currently weak. I can't get the tires to lock up, so I'm planning to bleed the brake system and swap out pads and rotors.

I tested the brake booster per the fsm instructions and it passed, but I i feel the pedal slowly sinking if i sit there and hold the brake pedal down as hard as i can. Is this brake booster? Master cylinder? Vacuum leak? I'm a newb. Save me !

 

[lovetoski]

You need to remove the birfield and inner axle in order to do a knuckle job. No way around it.

On the brakes, any DOT 4 fluid from a reputable brand should be fine. Make sure the can is fresh, ie not opened.

Suggest you bleed the brakes thoroughly before deciding what needs to be done to them. Do it untill fresh fluid comes out of all 4 brakes. Essentially you'll be flushing the brake system, not just bleeding. It will get out all the air, but also put in fresh fluid. This by itself may solve your braking problems.

Since I'm a backyard mech, I like to keep my repairs separate if possible. In this case it would be to do the brakes (safety first) and get them right. Then tackle the knuckle. If you do both at once, you are compounding your chances for mistakes, errors. If you have done brakes before, then maybe it's OK to do both at once, it will save time. But sometimes when trying to save time I've messed up enough that I end up taking way longer...of course mine's a DD, so getting it done right in a weekend is pretty important to me. If you have time and space, then you have more options.

 

[lonelydriver]

After reading the rebuild guide on birfield.com,

it seemed that you didn't have to remove the birfield.

http://www.birfield.com/~morgan/tech/axle/part3.html

If it is necessary, is there any way to get teh c clip off without damage or is the c clip available from the local auto part store?

I'm gonna go home tonight and attempt the knuckle job but just wanted to make sure I had everything before I started.

regards,
-Kevin

 

[Mace]

Knuckle repair can be done without taking out the Birf/inner axle. Btu there is no reason not too. Most knuckle kits come with the inner axle seal anyway... And the birf does need to be repacked. You do not have to seperate the inner from the birf unless you want to..

I would do it all at once. Since you will have to pull everything apart

 

[Toadhopper]

I didn't separate the birfs when I did mine, I just cleaned them out really well.

You do have to remove the entire birf from the axel, which isn't too hard.

Toad.

 

[Gumby]

Pull the birf/ alxe and replace the axle seal. you don't have to seperate them.

Sinking brake pedal without loss of fluid is almost always a master cylinder.

 

[NocalFJ60]

I would replace the axle seal while you got it opened up. You can get your rotors turned if they still have enough width. If you are looking for some more powerful braking you can replace the calipers with ones from a newer 4runner which are bigger.

I agree about flushing your brake lines good with clean fluid. It is good to replace all the fluid every year or two. You should also take a look at the back brakes too.

Goodluck

 

[Mace]

Does everyone have an annoyingly large text for the first post???


Most of the time calipers do not need replacing. I have gone through a BUNCH of disk brake front ends. Very rarely do they need replacing.

Gumby is spot on. Master is probably leaking into the booster. Which sucks..

Or there is a hole in the brake lines somewhere. Are there any wet spots on the braking system???

Also.. If it was a Vacuum leak the motor would falter when you step on the brakes. And if the booster was bad your pedal would feel like a rock..

Master is probably the culprit.. I HATE pep boys or autozone or kragen masters. They are all junk. Buy new. Anything else is just a temporary fix. Unless you happen to be unbelieveably lucky (I am not)

New is the best idea..