Right click on the image and select option "open image in new web" if the image is not seen full or its very small to see.-----------
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 separate, 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
Right click on the image and select option "open image in new web" if the image is not seen full or its very small to see.-----------
This photo above once again shows you the grease oil also found at the front brake pads.
Right click on the image and select option "open image in new web" if the image is not seen full or its very small to see.-----------
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 ratchet 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 gray 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 separate 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
Right click on the image and select option "open image in new web" if the image is not seen full or its very small to see.-----------
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 chisel, unlock the tab, instead of stuffing up the nut using a hammer and a flat chisel to loosen the nut, we have got this excellent idea instead.
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,
Photo showing how the rear seals get fitted, you cannot fit these seals with the swivel hub fitted, you have to fit them over the end of the axle, this is the round section, then fit the swivel 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. Right click on the image and select option "open image in new web" if the image is not seen full or its very small to see.----------- Torquing the upper and lower swivel hub nuts. When you remove the top and the bottom swivel 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 off and placed in separate trays for cleaning. The brake parts, make sure that you do not loose the anti-rattle springs. Axle end shown from various angles Right click on the image and select option "open image in new web" if the image is not seen full or its very small to see.----------- So now it is time to fit the metal backing half moon plates to the rear of the swivel 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 swivel 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 leverage so that you will snap off the small bolts if you over tighten 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. 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, 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, 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, spread a little oil on the seal runner surface, to be able to insert the axle shaft back through the swivel 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 Now clean away any excess grease from the flat surface where the gasket goes between the spindle axle shaft and the swivel 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. 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 chisel 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, you 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 corrosive 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 chisel 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 able 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, because 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 in between 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 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 Parts to buy when you overhaul the front axle of a Toyota Hilux solid front. Please note some people might disagree about me using CV Joint grease on the wheel bearings and in the swivel hub, however it works for us, maybe you would prefer to use wheel bearing grease on the wheel bearings and 90 gear oil in the swivel hubRight click on the image and select option "open image in new web" if the image is not seen full or its very small to see.-----------
Do not put any grease or oil on these seals, rather leave them dry when you re-assemble them.
