Front axle advise please.

[Mark01]

Tinkering around my truck yesterday, one thing I did was jack the front up to have a look round and have found play in the nsf hub whilst rocking in 12oclock to 6oclock motion. When I took the wheel off to tighten the hub I found that the play is behind the hub. I tale it the reunion bearings are shot.
I have had a look around on here for advise on buying all I need to carry out an overhaul, on Andrew prince post he says the Milner seal kit is not much cop. This post is a couple of years old now. So I am asking is this still the case or have they changed supplier.
Is there anybody I can go to for all the parts except a Toyota mainagent.
Would you go for a complete rebuild even though the cv's don't click.

Cheers, Mark

 

[Chris]

Mark, this one has been thrashed to death. The Milner top and bottom swivel bearings (trunions) are fine. Buy them with confidence. Before you do anything though, check the four nuts on the vey bottom of the hub unit. Lie underneath looking at the lowest point. These come loose and can lead to a whole wheel falling off. The bearings can be perfect - but still you get a failure. Complete rebuild? Probably not. But inner oil seals yes - use genuine ones. Clean things up and regrease where possible.

There is so much on front axle rebuilds that it's pointless repeating it here.

Chris

 

[Andrew Prince]

Mark,
As Chris says, your best bet is to use genuine Toyota seals and high quality bearings such as Koyo.

It may be your wheel bearings rather than the trunnion bearings that are packing up.

In terms of the CVs, I would inspect them when you strip down the axle. If they're not clicking in low range, then chances are they're good. No point in replacing them unless you need to.

Cheers,

 

[karl webster]

Depending how soon you need them mark ive got some genuine seals on order.
As for cvs i may be able to get them still if it turns out you need them.

Karl

 

[Mark01]

Thanks for the info.
I will check the nuts tomorrow, if they are tight I will order the bits up and look forward to Saturday in my workshop.
Karl I will let you know tomorrow if I am after some seals. When do you think you will have them in.
Cheers, Mark

 

[Chris]

I would say that if you have to go to the trouble of replacing your swivel bearings, then get a felt seal kit too. The Milner ones are genuine Mr T and priced very competitively indeed. I have done quite a few axle builds and have realised over that time that there are some jobs that simply should do if you've gone that far. You have to take the whole swivel off including the seals. No point putting knackered old ones back on. Trust me, in a few weeks, you'll be back doing it!

Does this mean rebuild absolutely everything, not really. Replacing a wheel bearing for eg is a very simple thing. If they seem ok when you get in there then let them ride. Likewise if you were doing the felt seals, I'd say do the trunion bearings. For £6 it's not sensible having to come back in a few months time. All the Milner paper gaskets are just fine too.

Chris

 

[Mark01]

Thanks for the tips guys.
I ended up buying all the seals from Toyota and the bearings from milners. I only went for the seals and gaskets from the main agent was i wanted to be sure nothing was missed out. The job went well yesterday, I took my time and cleaned and repacked everything. It was the swivel bearings that had gone south.
Not a bad job but did take most of the day before the truck was out of the workshop.
Next time I will definitely look about for the seals and gaskets as the main agent did make it quite a dear job.
One thing I noticed was that the hub oil seal that came in the milners hubbearing kit looked and felt exactly the same as the one from Toyota.
I've even lost the slight drone from the front axle when at about 50mph with this job and the fresh oil in it. Definitely a job worth doing when due.

Cheers
Mark

 

[Chris]

Well done. Done properly, this should last you for tens of thousands of miles. No need to go back in there in the near future I hope.


Chris