A beginner services the 80 series front axle

[ByronJ]

. Though I bet you did it like that from the first time and did not end up in a sticky mess like I did .

 

[Knucklehead]

Used this from an aussie site as an alternative way to line up all the bits that bolt to the knuckle housing.

I just lopped off the heads from a couple of bolts with a screwdriver slot hack-sawed into the end to aid in their removal.
The idea is to put all the bits over the locating studs, start a couple of the bolts to hold it all in place, then remove the locating studs.

Anyhow, all being well, should be a while before you see the inside if the knuckle again.

 

[ByronJ]

Now that is a more sophisticated approach . Yep I hope the insides of those knuckles will become strangers to me .

 

[Chris]

Oh now that is clever. I shall be making a couple of special studs asap. Bravo. Beats shoving a couple of screwdrivers in there that's for sure.

Very nice looking CV grease in there. Not from Colgate is it by any chance?

Byron no I did not do it like that the first time, no, but I bloody well did the second!

 

[ByronJ]

Washing the muck out of the diff and axle.

As Frank suggested earlier in this thread I decided to change the diff oil fairly soon after the rebuild in order to check all was ok and to help clean up the old muck from the axle and diff. This is what I found

Changed diff oil after 100 miles - It came out like gritty thin tar!
Changed diff oil after a further 500 miles - It came out looking like oil with coal dust in it.
Changed diff oil after a further 1000 miles - It came out looking much better, just a little dirty.
Changed diff oil after a further 5000 miles - It came out looking pretty much like it did on the way in .

My conclusion is the seals are working properly and the successive changes have washed my diff and axle clean of muck so I will next change the oil after 24, 000. Result.

 

[frank rabbets]

When I bought my 80 it had 30,000 miles on the clock with FSH but I don't think any one had changed the dif oil. I wondered why it was a different colour to the rear as at that time I was not aware of front swivel grease contamination. After another 24,000 I changed the oil again and contamination was still slightly present. And always is. I must do an experimental pressure check on the front hubs and see if they breath air to atmosphere in themslves because I have a feeling that the shaft oil seal acts like a one way valve and any pressure build up in the hub goes past the seal with some grease and vents through the only designed breather on the axle.

 

[Towpack]

As the hubs do not have breathers, akin to those on the diffs, pressure/vacuum build up is possible in theory but in practice is far more likely to dissipate past the relatively poor seal provided by the wiper seals on the back of the hubs before forcing any oil or grease past the internal hub/halfshaft seal. JMO