A different approach to 80 series front axle rebuilds. Really?

[Chris]

Yes, I know, barely credible isn’t it that there could be a variation to this time-honoured classic bit of maintenance. Well, normally I rebuild front axles on a Saturday, but this week I did it on a Sunday. I figured that was a pretty significant difference and here’s the results.

Well it made YOU look.

For those of you tackling this for the first time, I really would suggest that you do it on a Saturday. A Sunday build is pretty advanced really it’s pushing the boundaries of 80 series maintenance.

Part I

First thing was to get the wheels off whilst the oil drained. Looked OK ish I suppose but pretty dirty. Nothing really on the drain plug.



All of OK far. But hang on what’s this? Looks like Mr Chisel has been to visit at some point in the past. Bloody bodgers. Don’t know what I am going to find now. Feel like Indiana Jones and the garage of doom.



Stub axle looks fine, no scoring on there at all.



On with removing the stub axle only to find that the grease fairies have been and stolen all the grease that’s supposed to be in there. To be fair this stuff does migrate very slowly over time so it’s hardly surprising. No sign of oil in there which means that the oil seals have held up.



Here’s some of the grease in the Birfield. Not much but there is some. Now these CVs have not been clicking at all or anything untoward.



Now if you fix cars and you don’t have one of these in your garage get down to Machine Mart on a VAT free day and buy one. They’re about £40 and worth every penny.



CV washed out and dismembered. Some wear marks on the cage and some actually inside the cup. These are totally unbranded CVs. There isn’t a single identifying mark on them at all. So even cheaper than a Milner one! Oh well, better put it back together. Might need those.





Back to the axle end. Oil seal pulled and cannon ball cleaned up nice and spotless.



For portable cleaner, Jizer is your friend.



Races for the swivel bearings were knocked out. Now to be fair, they weren’t too bad. The top ones were alright but the bottom ones had some Brinelling and were mostly stuck in the straight ahead position as usual. But this is a full strip down, so into the bin with them.



Here’s the hub on the bench ready for a clean and inspect, but before that, it’s time to get the discs off and get these bad boys on. Nitrac grooved specimens.



Part II

This section covers the swivel hub casting preparation. Now, the original casting really were pretty grotty and having spare castings on the shelf I reckoned I’d take a short cut at this point. This didn’t turn out quite as I planned.

Original casting yuk.


Spares marginally better.


These were ABS castings so I needed to machine up some plugs to blank off the holes.


So with the castings cleaned up I put in some new studs. As these are so critical, I bought new ones and glued them in with stud lock. I had the casting heating all day in front of a fan heater so that the reaction would be complete. Went in fine all looking good. Then it all went pear shaped. One side was perfect. But the other ...



When I came to put the control arm back on the bottom of the swivel, the tops of the studs were miles out. I mean miles out. I removed the worst stud and it still wouldn’t go on. Then the next. Nope then the third stud and still no joy. After some measuring and messing around I found the holes were not in the right places. When I pulled the old studs out there were bent. I thought they had been the victims of some clumsy twat dropping the housing. No, they had been hammered to that position to get the arm on. Looking in side after a rigorous clean up, I could see damage in there and what I took to be cross threaded new tapping. I figure that in a previous life someone had these fall out as we know they can and fixed it with whatever they had to hand. This is why I have always advocated thread chasers and NOT taps for repairing threads. Get it cross threaded and you make yourself a new path. This casting is pretty much scrap. After all the time I put into it. No shortcuts with this – these studs could cost you your life.



So back to the grotty original. One of the reasons I wanted to avoid this one was there was a problem with one of the 6 x 6mm tappings in the back face where the wiper seals bolt on. Someone had used a self tapper in the hole but not before they had clearly tried to drill out a broken stud first. The drill had skidded off and gone sideways into the casting.



A visit to Mr Miller sorted this. I was going to drill it, until I realised what was in there. I used a flat milling bit to cut down vertically through the damage and remnants of the bolt. The nice thing with the miller set up is that you can drill then set up a tap in exactly the same place and get a perfectly vertical entry. Ooer. Apologies to Tom Daly.



All sorted and a new bolt in place with plenty of thread depth.



All the threaded holes have been cleaned out, washed with brake cleaner and blasted with air. Putting this lot back together is going to be sheer joy.



Cones, washers and nuts all cleaned and checked. Arms back on finger tight for now. And here’s the housings ready to be re fitted.



The problem with these big old beasts is that as they get older proper paid for maintenance just makes less and less economic sense to many owners. They reach a point where main agent work is a distant dream. This is where people then start to care less and will use self tappers in a hub or chisels to tightnen nuts. And there are worse examples that that, we all know. There is a sense of pride in doing this work properly and carfully. Each time I do one, I feel as though I have saved it from the hands of more bodging. 80s rock and are of course the greatest Landcruiser ever made. Even in that gold colour.

Part III coming soon. Like at the weekend when I pull the front diff

 

[yogi]

Impressive write up Chris!!

Being a career bodger and then having to attempt to repair some of my own (and others) bodges, I feel your pain.

 

[frank rabbets]

When I did my front axle I noticed that the hub was stretching a frightening amount if I used the factory recommended preload on the steering arm so I only used 1/2 of that. Be interesting to see what you think Chris.

I notice your front shocks have gone white with fear.

Frank

 

[Chris]

Frank, you know why they call them SHOCKERS?

Because they're from Ironman.

OK will get to that in the next few sessions Frank. I can't say I have noticed that before and I have done a few. From memory isn't the pre load something like 9lbs of drag? I presume we are talking swivel pre load on the top and bottom bearings here?

 

[898kor]

Nice write up Chris.

I am also a big fan of cleaning and preparing before re-fitting, numerous benefits such as no debris in bearings, cleaner, easier and of course it looks better!

To me, the big advantage in taking the time out to do it properly is not just the confidence its been done properly but the knowledge it gives and the subsequent ability to repair the truck in the in field if needs be.

 

[Ben]

Nice work Chris and great write up.

Youve inspired me to update my thread.

 

[Chris]

Happy to be of service Ben. Go for it. It's always entertaining.

Thanks 898. I agree but it also means it's easier to get it aprt next time as well. This isn't just a truck preparation the reality is that it combines that with restoration too in a way. Well done, this truck could in theory outlast me! I'd like to think that the Victorians would have looked at an 80 and said "I don't think we can improve on that"

 

[Olazz]

Nice one CJ.

I will need to do the ones on the Blue 80, and was deciding whether to do a Saturday or Sunday version. I think I'll opt for the advanced Sunday version.... unless of course you fancy doing them for me so I don't get all grumpy grubby in the process.

Erm... got a bit confused with having to remove the wheels to let the oil drain though... is that in the advanced manual?

 

[Chris]

Yes it is. I warned you it was advanced. The axle oil has to come out through the stub. Ha ha. Yes I thought that when I wrote it. I shall go back and edit it and then people will wonder what you are talking about. Wooaaarr. The power.

Nip up and I'll do yours. Anytime. Only take me a minute. Right.

 

[ByronJ]

Thanks Chris. Clear and helpful as ever. Great timing as well because my front axle rebuild is moving up the list - if the torrential rain ever stops down here in Wales...

 

[frank rabbets]

Hi Chris

Can't remember the figure but I'm talking about the bottom and top bearing preload adjusted by removal or addition of the shims. The housing goes oval when you install the correct preload, and I think it's only a casting. Less ovality on mine right or wrong.

I notice my owners manual says to change the front dif oil every 24,000 miles. I think this would have prevented many a diff being ruined by grease contamination if adhered to? I always change mine at this interval. It took me some time to realise why the front diff oil was opaque compared with the rear oil.

Takes 4 times longer to do a job properly than do it as quickly as possible.

Frank

 

[Chris]

Thanks Frank, yep on the same page there. Top and bottom bearing pre load. Never noticed ovality particularly. But never really had to 'jag' it up to get the pre load figure. Been lucky I guess but this time I am not simply putting the originals back on. Going to be a bit of a hotch potch of parts. All genuine of course but in relation to where they came from. If that lot goes together on the nod I'll be surprised. Well, in the write up it wall all be seamless, naturally. Cough.

 

[898kor]

Hi Chris
The housing goes oval when you install the correct preload, and I think it's only a casting. Less ovality on mine right or wrong.
Frank

Interesting, I'm not disbelieving you for one moment but my instant response was to question that statement - going to do some research now to satisfy my own curiosity (I just don't see enough forces to distort anything).

 

[Andy]

Excellent thread chris, but is, but a bit confused by the below, 'some wear marks' in one breath, and in the next one, 'there isn't a single mark on them at all'

"CV washed out and dismembered. Some wear marks on the cage and some actually inside the cup. These are totally unbranded CVs. There isn’t a single mark on them at all."

maybe the yorkshire firewater is taking effect

i have just dismantled my old genuine Toyota ones to see exactly what condition they are in, and there are some marks on the cage and a wear dimple in the cup where my (the) balls sit.

cleaned in my sooper dooper machine mart parts washer for my 80 series

andy

 

[Gary820]

Shows how truly mighty the 80 series is, can be held together by self tappers and still drives perfectly.

 

[clivehorridge]

Nice one Chris!

Pretty much up to the write-up standard we've become accustomed to!

I'll be following the Frank/Chris debate on the preload issue as it unfolds, interested to see how that concludes.

 

[Chris]

Andy, I shall go and edit that. I meant, not a single IDENTIFYING mark on them as in Toyota, HDK, Lezura etc.

Clive I don't have anything to add to the ovality debate at all. I understand what Frank is saying, completely. I have just never seen it / recognised it happening. So until I get to that step again, I can't comment. Obviously you could only 'crush' it so far but you certainly could distort it some. All I have ever done in the past is put the shim back in, finger spin the bolts in, nip up last half turn or whatever and measure the preload. That's been it. If I had to get the breaker bar out to pull the cap down, I'd be mighty suspicious. But Frank is a guy who can't just use a mikerometer but can spell it too. So I trust his observations wholly.

 

[Chris]

Well it's not even the weekend and here's part III

Here’s a look at the end of the drive shaft.


There have been questions about wear before and I know it can vary quite widely as to how much wear there is. One answer is to fit Speedisleeves which are a repair solution. I think Rob has done this. But stepping back a second, it wasn’t leaking when I pulled it despite this wear. I have tried a seal on the shaft after applying a little oil so that it slipped on. I think what you don't appreciate is how snug a fit the seals are on the shaft because the only time you put the two together is when you slide the heavy thing up the axle tube. If you do it on the bench you may think differently about wear on the shaft. Even dropped right into the wear groove it’s a tight fit. You can seat the seals out very slightly in the axle casing but I have to wonder if putting the new seal into the same place where the shaft is already worn is no bad thing. The pressure on the shaft is going to be slightly less now and maybe wear decelerates? Especially as it’s going to get nice new oil and a wipe round to remove dirt and crud. It would be neat if you could get different sized seals like oversized bearings. But hey, I think there are thousands of miles left in these.

I have pondered the upgrade from bushes to needle rollers for some time. I did this on my mud plugger ‘cos it was a cool mod. But on reflection I don’t think the fine needle rollers are best suited to the filth that I subject them to. The solid bushes on this new truck are really tidy and I have decided to put the roller in here and swap the solid bushes back to the monster when I next break into the axles.

Here’s the build. Genuine parts.


First I cleaned up the old stub axles and removed all traces of gasket etc. Then knocked the old bushes out. This can be tricky actually. The first one came out pretty quickly with a punch down the tube and a few taps.

You can see an nice glimpse of bush here in this shot if you look up. (sorry should have warned about the high potential for bush and shaft gags in this section). No, stop now. Right now. We'll have no shaft gagging here thank you Mister.



The second one though was not having it. There is about half millimetre lip of bush that protrudes into the tube and in order to get a punch engaged you need sneak up on it. Yes yes Mr T has a proper tool. I tried to make one once but failed. So, on the second on, I trimmed up a piece of pipe to the internal diameter of the stub tube, but not as small as the bushing. That allowed me to tap it out much easier. I shall keep that in the tool box for the next ones I end up doing. They look to be fine for re use later in the other truck.

No scoring or any other pitting in the recess.



Last time I put rollers in I pushed them in almost by hand. Here are the old bush and the half bush with needle rollers for comparison.



This time I needed the press. No pressure really on the gauge but they needed a steady push not a whack.



Then the new top hat went in.



Here’s how the CV sits. There isn’t much side to side movement in there and of course when running gravity tends to keep the shaft running in the bottom of the rollers. They are not a snug fit on the CV. There is of course quite a bit of end float on the CV here. There is some in the shaft too at both the diff and CV ends but this is necessary to prevent binding I guess but it’s hardly what I would call precision engineering. Plenty of slop.



So that's about it for tonight. Part III.5 coming soon I am sure.

Oh and another box arrived this afternoon from America. But that's not for this thread

 

[Gary820]

When I did mine i thought about the needle bearings but previous trucks had them and got sick of replacing them!!
Didn't have a wear groove on my shafts.... feel left out now!

 

[Chris]

They were an upgrade for the 100 series so I figured they must be a proper job. Time will tell I suppose. I will grease them well. I forgot once on one side and they disintegrated. There's very little weight on them as the CV and shaft are held centrally by other forces as well and of course, the weight of the wheel isn't hanging on them. The splined drive flange holds the CV shaft end pretty firmly.