Hilux 4x4 Forum

Water and mud cause many problems when you drive your 4x4 through these conditions, yes we like to show off in front of our buddies and enjoy the mud flying all over the place, like to spray our 4x4 vehicle's with mud so that when we drive home, other people will be able to see that this guy is a real 4x4 Enthursiast BUT.........

This is my story

For the last few months, yes it has already been a while now, (but I do not drive my 4x4 everyday, it stands in the garage at home and then I sometimes use it on the weekend) I have been smelling this buint oil smell, had a look in the engine bay a few times to see if I could see any oil leaking from the engine and underneath the vehicle to see if any oil was leaking onto the exhaust pipe, thinking along the lines that maybe the engine was getting on in it's age, yes it does smoke slightly but not enough to warrant a burnt oil smell like this, however...........

The other day on the way home from out 4x4ing, I noticed that the brakes were not too great, yes I do know that the front brake pads are getting low, but were still within their wear limit, I know that the one front wheel nut was broken and was going to tackle it the next time that I changed the swevil hub seals, because you have to remove the bearing hub and disc to replace the wheel studs.

Well when I got home, I noticed that there was excessive smoke pouring out from the right front wheel arch, thought to myself OH @#$#$@

Anyway popped the bonnet and saw that there was no oil leaking or much smoke in that area, I then felt the front locking hub for warmth, it did ot feel too hot, but this is when I noticed that there was smoke pouring out from the front brake caliper area, with the help of a lead light, I saw that the outer brake disc backing plate and the brake disc had some black looking grease on it, thus Bingo here was the problem, now I can change the broken front wheel nut at the same time :)



This photo above shows just how much grease was leaking onto the hot brake disc and thus the smoke oily smell.

Thus once we had cleaned up the shambles in the garage at Ronny's home, Yeah we all collect junk :roll:

We drove the Hilux onto the four leg two post single phase lift, the battery was then disconnected, the vehicle was then lifted off the ground once we had made sure that the legs were in their correct positions.

We did not lift it too heigh, but just heigh enough to be able to sit on a small stool and work on the front axle, got to make some changes due to ill health, some of us 40 old plus guys also have problems with our chassis and frame work, our parts are also wearing out

Anyway both of the front wheels were removed and put away in a safe place.

Out came the assortment of trays, and small bins that we put the various parts that we strip off so that we keep everything seperate, just makes the assembly more easier.

This first photo shows you the basic outlay of the hub section of the axle, if you magnify the photo you will see the grease oil at the bottom of the brake disc



I always like to take photo's when I work on my vehicle, of a nice heigh resolution, to use in my book as well and in various magazines that I send my articles to to be published. I am not going to worry too much here about my spelling mistakes, but I can tell you if I was writing this article in Afrikaanse most of you would be shocked, the word order would be something like this ( maar ek het n' bair mooi bakkie, all die mense dat ek sien, se' vir my dat hulle wil my bakkie koop, ek se' vir hom dat hulle mort bair geld he' as hulle will dit kry, sy lag vir my etc etc)



This photo above once again shows you the grease oil also found at the front brake pads.

Now step by step basically using some photo's I will explain to you the basic way that I went about stripping the right front section of the axle, the left side is very similar, however the side shaft is longer on the left side of the axle, because the pumpkin (centre part of the diff is not central, it is to the right side of the vehicle).

Get some nice clean cloths nearby, then use a 10mm socket and rachet and loosen the locking hub bolts, use a copper hammer and tap the locking hub end cover off, you will see a lot of MS or CV joint grease, just wipe the excess off and then use another cloth and wrap the locking hub in the cloth, place in a tray to one side, put the little bolts in the same tray as well, looking into the cavity where the hub went up against you will see lots of fowl looking black or grey grease, once again get your dirty rag and wipe away all that you can, you will then see the end of the side shaft towards you, you will then see a C - Clip

Use a pair of C- Clip pliers and open this clip and remove it, for safety wear a pair of protective glasses when you do this, sometimes the clip goes flying across the floor, once you have managed to remove the clip, dump it in a seperate container to be washed.

Then loosen off the bolts that hold the main free wheel hub body to the bearing hub, once the nuts have been removed, you will then see some spring washes, remove them as well and then you will see some nice looking cone washed, the easiest way to remove these cone washes is once again to use a copper hammer and tap the outer section lip of the housing, but be careful that the cone washes do not shoot out and hit you in the



Okay so you have managed to remove all the cone washes, now remove the free wheel hub body, also place it in a cloth rag and place to one side.

Once you have removed the free wheel hub body, also wrap it in a piece of clean rag and place it to one side. Now you will see the first nut, then a locking washer, then another nut then a thicker spacer washer, to be able to remove the first nut, you have to look for the place on the flat of the nut and with using a flat chiesel, unlock the tab, instead of stuffing up the nut using a hammer and a flat chiesel to loosen the nut, we have got this excellent idea instead :!: :o

Yeah take a drive down to the local plumbing business and buy a socket that is used to remove geyser elements, this socket is the same size as the nuts on the front axle, but you will have to modify it slightly when you refit the bearings and to torque them to the correct torque, I will explain this to you later

I was busy with the next part, but did not do as FD said and when I tried to load it, it went missing, thus will try again, but in the mean time here are some more pic's.



Photo showing the re-torque of the small 6mm OD bolts at the rear of the swival hub housing, these small bolts can break very easy thus be careful,

Photo showing how the rear seals get fitted, you cannot fit these seals with the swival hub fitted, you have to fit them over the end of the axle, this is the round section, then fit the swival hub housing, then you can fit the metal half moon backing plates

Sometimes the round axle end will be very rusted, you might find rust pit marks, use sandpaper and clean up the surface as best as you can, if you think that the pit marks are very deep, send me some pic's and I will let you know if you can still use this axle housing or not.



Torquing the upper and lower swival hub nuts.

Yeah this is a photo of me had had a busy day at work, repairing the trucks, thus this is why my clothes are looking rather tired and dirty, but this photo shows me hard at work on my Hilux, hey ladies are you looking for a hansome mechanic




Ronny says that he does not carry a sparewheel in his 4x4, he carries a spare mechanic instead and that is me :roll:

When you remove the top and the bottm swival hub bearing retaining blocks, you must make sure that you do not get the spacer plates mixed up, whatever you take out the bottom must go back in that way, the same goes for the top, these spacer shims are a special thickness to line up the side shaft in the housing, this was done by the factory when they re-assembled the front axle.

Just some photo's showing the various parts that were stripped pff and placed in seperate trays for cleaning.

The brake parts, make sure that you do not loose the anti-rattle springs.



Axle end shown from various angles

Hey Simon

You must smile for the camera man

Hey Simon, Can you not be a bit more thorough?

Just kidding. Thanks for the detailed information

:) I actually thought that I was not telling it all, but will carry on tonight, that bakkie of yours looks real nice, did you actually drive across the poles, have you ever tried to drive over tyres.

Have a sweel weekend, nice to know that at least the article's can help somebody.

cheers

8)

Simon,

I am in the planning stage to replace my Hilux`s front discs and you have explained the job at hand in detail. Thank you for the photo`s and notes.

Cheers

Hello all, it seems that I am not required on another 4x4 forum :roll: thus I will just continue with my posting here so that maybe somebody will benefit from my experiences that I have had when working on my own 4x4 vehicle's, I am a do it not a talk it......

Anyway I am once again busy uploading some more pic's to photobucket and once they have been uploaded 20 of them, I will continue with this subject. I have some very clear photo's that will show you the various sections of the axle that I worked on.

So now it is time to fit the metal backing half moon plates to the rear of the swival hub, if you look carefully at the other photo you will see that the felt gasket must be put on first, then you get the rubber seal and then the metal split flat ring, the flat ring fits into the groove recess on the back of the swival hub housing, there is no torque for these bolts but you can just tighten them using a size 10mm short spanner, the reason why I say use a short spanner is because you will not have lots of levage so that you will snap off the small bolts if you overtighten them. But I did use a torque wrench set at to start with at 10nm, then used a spanner.


You have to make sure that you fit the half moon plates the correct way, see the above photo for details.

Bed Time :arrow:
Do not put any grease or oil on these seals, rather leave them dry when you re-assemble them.

Now comes the messy part, you can wear some surgical gloves but I prefer to just use my bare hands and fingers, get a better feel if there are any rough edges.

This photo below shows you what the basic Birfield Joint looks like, this is the joint that sometimes people break when they force their vehicle through a difficult section of the trail, but there are also other factors that will influence this joint to break as well, high speed thrashing a vehicle to get through a difficult section will also break it, also huge tyres fitted to a vehicle, this is why I say that a person who wants to fit huge tyres to their vehicle must consider the fitment of Longfield side shafts,
http://www.longfield.com



Once you have cleaned out this joint, make sure that it is dry after you have washed it with water, then basically inspect the housing and balls for wear, mostly you will not find anything wrong with it, if you are unsure, then send me some high resolution pic's to my email
bigballs@vodamail.co.za and I will have a look, the only time that you will see that this joint is stuffed up is when you rip the vehicle through a difficult section and you hear grinding noises coming from the front axle and you will also loose traction from that wheel.

Place the shaft in a vice like in the pic above, then make sure that your hands are clean, take one last sip of your beer, because it will be a while before you can pick up the bottle again.

Grab a tub of CV Joint grease also known as MS grease, scoop some out with your index finger and then start to push it down into the joint, it is quiet easy, if you are in a climate that is very cold, you can heat the grease slightly to make it more easy to work with. So have a look at the pic below and you will see just how messy this small important job really is.

But before you insert the shaft back into the axle housing, first check that you have fitted the small inner axle housing seal, on the right side it is more easier than on the left, because the pumpkin is closer to the right than on the left side, splread a little oil on the seal runner surface, to be able to insert the axle shaft back through the swival hub, you have to make sure that the flats of the Birfield joint are in the correct position, the shaft will not go back any way, only with the flats to the top and the bottom, once into the housing you can turn the shaft, you might find it better to jack up the left wheel slightly off the ground so that you can turn the wheel so that the splines of the centre diff will line up with the splines of the side shaft that you are inserting to locate inside the axle housing.

Now clean away any excess grease from the flat surface where the gasket goes between the spindle axle shaft and the swival hub housing, clean the metal surface with some meths to make sure that there is no oil substance left on the metal, now smear some silicone gasket maker on both surfaces, but not too much, fit the gasket and then the axle spindle.

Torque the bolts to 60nm and test with a spanner afterwards.

At this moment I am sitting in a mErcedes Benz truck with a pantec trailer behind waiting in line for the trailer to be tested at the roadworthy station, this is the n3rd time that I have been here, last week Friday they said that they were too busy and that I must come back Monday which was yesterday which I di but then their roll up door would not open, thus here I am now back again, got my lap top resting on the steering wheel and instead of wasting time, here I am slowly completeling this topic, I will post more photo's relating to this topic tonight

Now we go to the wheel bearing hub, however as I said earlier in this topic, one of the wheel studs was broken, thus to remove it, place the bearing hub which also consists of the brake disc on a nice flat piece of wood on your wood bench, use a round steel chiesel that is smaller than the OD of the wheel stud and give the drift a few light taps with a hammer, the stud will come out, you have to just use a bit of common sense to determine which direction the stud will come out, ylou will see that there is a top hat section to the one side of the stud, tap the stud on the broken off section.

Once you have removed the broken stud, use some copperslip or anti corrisive paste, smear a little on the shank of the new wheel stud, insert the stud and then use the same drift, just tap it into position until the top hat section is flush with the inside of the brake disc.

Be careful of your fingers, otherwise you will loose a nail or two and I can tell you that is sore.

Now take another suitable chiesel or drift and have a look inside the bearing hub, you will see the bearing cups, they come out one way only, if you are looking at the hole, they come out towards you from each end, you will see a small area that is just big enough for you to be albe to put the end of the drift against the bearing cup, give the drift a few taps and the cup will come out, sometimes if you battle you may have to smack it harder or use a hydraulic press instead.

Now to refit the new bearing cups you must once again smear some anti corrosive paste on the outer surface, this will make them easier to remove the next time you have to change the wheel bearings.

You do not have to worry about getting the bearing cones mixed up, they are not the same size, however it is always better to just use a cable tie through the one so that when you have greased it, you will know where it goes, to grease a wheel bearing cone there is only one way and what I find is the best way to do this is to smear some grease we once again use MS grease for this application, do not use wheel bearing grease we find that wheel bearing grease will not work well here, becasue when you reassemble the manual locking hub, the MS grease in the hub will mix with the wheel bearing grease and then you will have a gemors, we have also found that the MS grease can handle the water if it enters the wheel bearing cavity.

To grease the wheel bearings, use the palm of your one hand, put grease in your palm and then use your other hand and grip the bearing and push the wider side where the rollers are up against the flat of your palm, this will force the grease inbetween the rollers so that you will see it come out the other side, do this the whole circumference of the bearing cone, then place the bearing in a clean place, do the same to the other bearing, before you put the inner bearing into the bearing housing, first smear some MS grease into the housing, not too much because if you do overfill the housing your wheel bearings will overheat.

This photo above shows you that once you have fitted the wheel bearing axle shaft, you must remember that you still need to fit the brake disc backing plate, there is also another metal plate that also has a rubber seal mounded into the plate, you fit this plate with the seal lip towards you, see pic. Then screw in the bolts and torque.

Some more photo's showing the backing plate as well as the axle shaft all in place





Note in this photo below, the three different size torque wrenches, they are for the various torque setting sizes that are required, these wrenches are very expensive, thus do not drop them, the smallest size costs R1200.

Tapping out the broken wheel stud below



Photo showing where to tap the bearing cup to remove it



Photo showing what the area looks like where the bearing cup was positioned

Photo showing my dirty fingers actually the wheel stud, note the anti corrosive paste on the shank



New bearing with grease sitting in position, now you have to fit the seal, the dished part of the seal goes towards the bearing, the flat side must be tapped in so that the flat side is flush with the bearing hub

Simon, could you provide us with a parts list for this overhaul? Is it better to just bite the bullet and buy all genuine parts?
I need to do the job and would like to have all the spares bought and ready before starting.

Thanks in advance

SC.

I've heard of a short cut to renew / replace only the felt gasket on the rear of the swival hub. What they remove the backing plate from the rear of the swival hub. The then cut the one side of the new gasket and fit it in place with the cut right at the top and the refit the backing plate.

Do you think this method would work at all?

Are you refering to the two half moon plates, if so, this method might work for a month or two, but not in the long term, the reason why I state this is because, what about the rubber seal and I like to clean up the round end of the axle of any rust that may damage the new felt and rubber seals.

Also it is better to inspect the other four bearings, repack them with grease at the same time..

I have heard that as well but I dont feel comfortable with doing it that way. I reckon if the seal comes without a cut in it, then thats the way it should be fitted. Yes its the longer way but just think how weewee'd you would be if after 6 months you have to do it again because the grease has found its way to the cut.
Grease is a funny compound that will find it's way to all places when it heats up.

Just M2cW

I always though that it would only be a short term solution because there is always a reason why manufaturers do it one specific way! :evil:

Thanks Simon. Are there any of these parts that aren't available from Midas etc or parts that you would definately buy from the agents?

I would only buy the wheel bearings and the swivel hub bearings from Bearing Man, maybe Midas might have them as well, then also the swivel hub kit from Midas, the cv joint grease, silicone, copper slip you can get from midas as well, the other stuff from the agents, just depends what is in the swivel hub kit when you buy it.

Going for a walk now, will chat later.

Thanks Simon, did mine on the weekend, and your article helped to get everything back together.

8) And that is how easy it was, 8) please note when you are busy with this repair and you have a question or problem, all you have to do is phone me and ask cell 082 499 1924 (but not 1am in the morning) :x

Hi Simon. Thank you for a great report. It is a brilliant piece of work. I copied your content to a separate page for easy reference in future and to read easier.
I saved it at http://www.hilux4x4.co.za/simon/overhaul_front_axle/ which is also listed under the article page at
http://www.hilux4x4.co.za/articles.php
Thanks again, well done :D

Lubrication for SFA axle hub. On the top of the hub, (on the front side), there is a plug, which I assume is for adding lubricant into the hub. My question is: what lubricant should be used for the front hubs?

Harrold, it would have to be CV grease with a grease gun, I'm sure.

Simon, just read your article, .... very informative! Thanks, will read it over again when I'm ready to do mine ... I think the inner seal is leaking diff oil into the swivel joint. will have to attend to it one of these days.

Mine is not leaking or anything, but I do have a broken wheel stud.

Shame that the Article jumps straight into the ball joint overhaul, would like to see detail on removing disc and pulling off shaft :roll:

Hi Rich, I also felt that little bit to be missing, but figured that now that I know what it looks like in there, it should be a cinch to fill in the gaps.

P.S. And if I really come unstuck, Simon says to just give him a call as long as it's not 1.00 in the morning .... so I'd wait till 1.30 and THEN call him.

Mud Dog wrote:P.S. And if I really come unstuck, Simon says to just give him a call as long as it's not 1.00 in the morning .... so I'd wait till 1.30 and THEN call him.

Harold wrote:Lubrication for SFA axle hub. On the top of the hub, (on the front side), there is a plug, which I assume is for adding lubricant into the hub. My question is: what lubricant should be used for the front hubs?

That's correct Harold, assuming CV grease had been used before. Some guys like to use oil, so remove the plug and stick something inside to check what's in it already.

Rich, wait unitl your swivel seals show signs of leaking before you remove the discs to change broken studs, as the job is virtually the same with only a few extra bolts and a whole lot more cleaning to do.

Rich, wait unitl your swivel seals show signs of leaking before you remove the discs to change broken studs

Depending on how many studs are broken. If it is 4 out of the six I would rather do it now, it might only start leaking two years from now.

pietpetoors wrote:

Rich, wait unitl your swivel seals show signs of leaking before you remove the discs to change broken studs

Depending on how many studs are broken. If it is 4 out of the six I would rather do it now, it might only start leaking two years from now.

Touche :!: But Rich did say ".......I have *A* broken wheel stud"

Hi guys,

IIRC the front hub should be lubricated with molubdinum (sic?) lithium NGLI # 2 grease (will check tonight), which is sold in the white plastic tubs as "MS Grease" (will check brand as well). The NGLI number is the viscosity? of the grease (I think).

When I had my first Hilux, I made a grease nippel/socket with which I could grease the hub, then proceeded to grease thoroughly (about 1 tin on each side!!!). When I opened the diff filler screw/bolt some time later, a lot of black oil overflowed from the filler hole. Conclusion: I totally overgreased the hub, to such an extend that the grease was forced through the oil seal into the diff itself. Maybe be careful of that (at least I know that hub really was thoroughly greased!!)

Cheers,

Chris

I'm led to believe that over greasing can cause seals to 'pop'. Once you get diff oil into the hub the grease is thinned down and becomes too viscous, and that's not a good thing I'm told. :problem:

Hi There.
Here is the info i received from Toyota today for the parts requried to overhaul. I need to do mine in the near future and would like to save a few $ by purchasing part of the items from Gemini or Autozone, but not sure which ones.
Here is the info that Toy gave me:

Duwayne wrote:Hi There.
Here is the info i received from Toyota today for the parts required to overhaul. I need to do mine in the near future and would like to save a few $ by purchasing part of the items from Gemini or Autozone, but not sure which ones.
Here is the info that Toy gave me:

So are you going to re-mortgage the house or take an evening job Duwayne

Duwayne wrote:Hi There.
Here is the info i received from Toyota today for the parts requried to overhaul. I need to do mine in the near future and would like to save a few $ by purchasing part of the items from Gemini or Autozone, but not sure which ones.
Here is the info that Toy gave me:

Duwayne, look at this topic - viewtopic.php?f=67&t=3627

And it is still running 100% correct, no problems at all

have you got all the bearings and seals sizes i need to do mine and want to get the parts bofore i start

koppies wrote:have you got all the bearings and seals sizes i need to do mine and want to get the parts bofore i start

Hi Andre

Read this link as well.

http://www.hilux4x4.co.za/front-axle-re ... /index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

thanks dawie dit sal baie help gaan more begin met hom.

I need some advice on the oil seal for the axle as somewhere i read that the Import diff and the local diff, differ somewhat. are the 2 sides hafts between the import diff and the local diff the same, i have the import SFA and have already replace the oil seals twice but the oils just seems to keep leaking into the grease, i fill the diff to spec with oil but it seems to keep leaking, so was wondering if the side shaft on an import doesn't match the local oils seal i get from the dealers. any views on this?

I Sven,

I believe your truck(like mine) needs some new Brass bushes installed in the front axle.

These brass bushes tend to wear with age and then the oil leaks past the bush, through the seal and thins the grease - or something like that.

Conact Louis at Megaworld 4x4 in Menlyn to do it for you!

All SFA front diffs are import, so you can't fit the 'incorrect' seals, but remember to fit genuine OEM and not pirate seals ... they will leak. Also one has to be very careful not to hurt the seal when fitting it and when putting the ½ shaft back in. Another possibility for a leaking seal is a bent ½ shaft or axle housing.

thanks guys, could it also be incorrectly tightened swivel hubs possibly pushing the half shaft up or down as i do have slightly uneven tyre wear upfront.

Sven wrote:thanks guys, could it also be incorrectly tightened swivel hubs possibly pushing the half shaft up or down as i do have slightly uneven tyre wear upfront.

Doubt that, the machining of those cones place the shaft in the centre and if shimming was required it's too little offset to make any significant impact IMO. If however there is excessive play on those cones it might be a contributing factor. That could as well have an impact on uneven tyre wear, but I think the culprit is more likely to be incorrect alignment or worn tie-rod ends.

would like to know, i have a guy here in nelspruit selling a full set of gaskets/seals/dust covers etc but for a land cruiser axle, he seems to think that the parts would work on the hilux aswell, is this all wrong, i guess i should bring my parts to him to see if they the same, wants R450 for the entire set.

IIRC the last time I priced the kit it was about R1200 from the dealers, so that's a good price if everything is there and all is OK (not damaged). Only thing is that I cannot imagine that the inner axle seals will be the same ... the knuckle seals might be, but no sense in buying a kit that you can only use ½ of unless you can get the unmatched parts separately.

If the kit is for the L/C45 it is the same.