Pitted outer Swivel Housing

[IRLGW]

Any remedies for corroded/pitted swivel housings? Are they interchangeable or part of the axle?

Have already been through the obvious solutions - sell the bloody thing - new toyo front axle - chinese massage

Any settings for replacing the swivel bearings? Mine were easily removed by hand when I stripped the SH but from one axle rebuild guide it suggested needing to knock them through with a drift and metal bar. DOes this suggest that I need to renew the bearings?

Also I know it has been well documented in the said articles but definitively what is the best grease for inside the SH.

 

[Chris]

They are part of the axle. Just how bad are they? They aren't a load carrying part, they just need to seal on the felt washers. Even brand new they don't do that fantastically well.

CV grease for inside the SH and bearing grease in the hub. No question.

You need to follow the posts or the FSM for setting the rotational resistance of the hubs. Disconnect the steering arms and turn them by hand. If they are smooth, fine, but if they are notchy or rough they need to go. Are you sure that it wasn't just the bearing that came out easily. I find it hard to believe that the outer race didn't need knocking out.

Chris

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Is it you or a garage that think they're past it? A lot of mechanics don't realise they are not an oil seal, they should only be keeping (most of) the grease inside but letting a little bit out to coat the surface is a good thing. The FSM mentions having to top the grease up for that reason somewhere I'm sure. If they're really in need of rejuvenation then a coating of liquid metal for the pits and then sanding it back has worked for some. They don't have to be like the chrome balls on an LR, those do have to hold oil in I think.

 

[Andrew Prince]

x 2 on Chris and Jon's posts. The swivel bearing is made up of the cage & rollers and the race. Obviously if the cage is intact and holding the rollers in place, then that's the first test passed for the bearing. (Which sounds like what you did)
But you need to inspect the outer race - these are prone to brinelling, which is not a huge deal but in time the bearing wear and eventual failure accelerates due to this. The outer race itself is unlikely ever to fail but the play that the brinelling notches allow causes the rollers to move in the cage, which wears and ultimately fails. Minor brinelling marks are ok but if there are big notches (i.e. you can feel them with your finger nail - special scientific technique ) I would suggest replacing would be wise.

If you plan on going into the knuckle once a week like Chris does, then you can keep an eye on a wearing bearing. But for most of us going in once a year or so, it makes sense to replace any swivel bearings showing reasonable wear as they're fairly cheap.

I think 99.9% of SH's on 80s you look at will show signs of pitting. Unlerss the structural integrity of the housing is in jeopardy, just give it a scrub with a wire brush, a wash with some kurust (and wash the kurust off afterwards) and give a smear of moly grease to help the wiper seals.

Cheers,

 

[IRLGW]

Brill Lads,

I think we need the definitive guide to....... There is a lot a lot of info on this site but not always easy to find in the middle of a job!

The swivels balls are rusty and pitted but not maybe that severely from what you are saying. I just expected them to be bright and shiny like my old landrover ones so I think maybe a rub with wet and dry should clean them up again.

Ah ok so I dropped out the bearings but the races are separate. I hadn't realised that so would think that they are ok then.

Also Are the Koyo wheel and swivel bearings from Milner the OEM part?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

The Toyota boxes have Koyo bearings in them yes. Not sure if Milner wheel bearings are Koyo but the swivel bearing I got off them a few weeks back just in case is a Nachi part. AFAIK they're decent quality not made of cheese like some of the Milner bearings of old

 

[Andrew Prince]

I think we need the definitive guide to....... There is a lot a lot of info on this site but not always easy to find in the middle of a job!

You HAVE looked at the sticky at the top of the 80 forum with all the "how to's"?

 

[Roger Fairclough]

They are part of the axle. Just how bad are they? They aren't a load carrying part, they just need to seal on the felt washers. Even brand new they don't do that fantastically well.

CV grease for inside the SH and bearing grease in the hub. No question.

You need to follow the posts or the FSM for setting the rotational resistance of the hubs. Disconnect the steering arms and turn them by hand. If they are smooth, fine, but if they are notchy or rough they need to go. Are you sure that it wasn't just the bearing that came out easily. I find it hard to believe that the outer race didn't need knocking out.

Chris

The Toyota sealing system is in two parts, an outer felt seal to keep out the dirt and an inner rubber seal to keep in the grease and---hopefully---keep out the water. It is not totally effective. At the top/front of the knuckle housing, you will find a tapered plug. The top of the plug has a squared section for you to unscrew it. At periodic intervals I remove the plug and pour in an amount of EP oil. This thins out the grease and helps it to do it's job. At the same time I can probe into the bottom of the knuckle to check for water. If water does get in, it will congregate at the bottom as water is heavier than the grease. This is why the bottom bearing is always the first to show signs of rust.

Trail gear in the States do a replacement for the felt/rubber seal in the form of a single shaped rubber seal complete with heavier section steel retaining plates. They also do a knuckle bearing replacement kit and better quality drive shaft seals. Big Dave on the 70 section has just bought a whole lot of kit back from the States so keep looking on that section for a blow by blow description of what's involved in fitting them.

Roger

 

[frank rabbets]

With the Land Rover/Range Rover solid front axle the ends of the axle are held on by bolts and you can unscrew and throw away. They used to be/possibly still are chromed and polished to keep oil in. The chrome peels and cuts through the seals like a razor. The flange/bolts design is weeker than the solid Toyota axle. My friend put a Perkins 2.4 diesel engine in his RR and heavier duty springs to compensate for the extra engine weight. Trouble is he hit a bump and the axle tube end sheared off; and after a few feet the halfshaft sheared through as well. This left the wheel on the lower end of a polevault type arrangement and it went round in a 2 ft diameter arc and tore the whole quarter off. Straight to the scrapyard on 3 wheels.

Frank

 

[IRLGW]

I think we need the definitive guide to....... There is a lot a lot of info on this site but not always easy to find in the middle of a job!

You HAVE looked at the sticky at the top of the 80 forum with all the "how to's"?

Yes yes I have seen those but even within there is a lot of sidetracking and this and thats. What we need is the relevant information extracted and the side comments ignored. A bit more like an ECN?

Although some people have offered different ways and different parts to do the same job it would be great (in an ideal world) to have a summary of the best ideas for that job?? I think that's why we get some doubling up (or doubling over ) on some topics.

Not criticising of course just merely adding to the Kaizen