[BoomBoom4216]

Question for anyone that's done this successfully.?

Has anyone managed to pull the front half shaft out of their Jimny without draining their diff first? Question goes because I've just put in fresh oil and now want to get into the knuckle and regrease the king pins and the CV.

Do you have to have the car jacked (normally), remove the wheel and then jack the front diff your working on to one side so that the oil tips to the other side?

Bit of a lazy way to do it, but wanting to check things out rather than just a 'time to time' repack of the king pins from the top of the knuckle plates. I want to check the bearings and races since its had the front end replaced by Suzuki and the preloaded washers done back in 2010...

Thanks.

[Gwagensteve]

Yes, you can do it the way you describe, but if there are no evidence of leaks or death wobble I'd leave well enough alone. It's a messy job just to have a look.

[BoomBoom4216]

What do you rekon about the grease in the CV and the king pins after 6 years?

I know Inox MX8 is good but not that good. Also want to check for water intrusion and dust inside. Bit of preventative maintenance of sorts.

[Gwagensteve]

If it's not falling out of the knuckle seals it's still in there.
If you aren't having oil fall out of the knuckle seals then the grease isn't contaminated with diff oil.

If you disturb the kingpins you're just as well to put new bearings in and setup starting torque to spec.

Take a hub off. If the bearings are clean odds are the knuckle is clean too- they're not sealed between the bearings and the knuckle. Otherwise open ithe knuckles if you suspect a problem or experience leaks or wobbles.

[BoomBoom4216]

Would there be a way to tap the king pins to add a grease nipple?

[Zook_Fan]

If you were to add a grease nipple you would be adding grease to a closed system, eventually bypassing it and destroying your seals. As Steve said, if the hub is clean and the back of the knuckle isn't covered in grease there is no reason to do anything further. The grease will last for the life of the bearing unless the grease has been contaminated.

[BoomBoom4216]

So after all these years of driving around town and other dusty and wet areas and there is no "real" need to pull apart the front end to inspect, clean and relube?

So no preventative maintenance is not ever needed?

I mean how would you know if your inner wiper seals are flogged out? Sand and dust inside and mixed with a little water slowly just corroding away and not enough seeping out to show any symptoms. My first set of wiper seals on both sides were flogged out due to going dry for the first 10 years of not taking them apart and lubing the inner and outer seals, the surface corrosion just ground the wiper edges away (couldn't tell just by looking at them from the side of the car looking under). I mean the diff balls were even corroded and needed sanding, prep and painting with epoxy black, still to last quiet well to now.

Short of jacking the car and testing the pull of the knuckle with the steering rods disconnected for pull flow and feel and up and down motion to test the king pins bearings for tightness / life, just keep driving the car till something observable is noticed?

And adding grease to a closed system, inside that knuckle is a fair amount of void, nothing short of a full 400 gr canister injected could do real damage, a proper full pump press top and bottom every year or so won't do much damage just expelled most of the old grease and impurities? If greas does build up I'm guessing that the axle and CV joint will copy it, the inner axle wiper seal should be strong enough to deflect it as that holds oil inwards and needs a good yanking to remove when it needs doing. And then the wheel bearings and associated parts, the front bearings are sealed from memory 2RS, so unless they're toast also a fair amount of static pressure would be needed to bypass either a single or double row of contact lips.

I'd honestly like to convert through front end to solid kingpin pins, simpler and adjustable preload and have a nipple where a small squire of moly grease every now and again is the only maintenance needed for smooth operation.

Then if said pressure was observed wouldn't that grease have truly got ten to and bypassed the ball wiper seal either by any deformity / damage and you would've seen it by then either dropping onto the garage floor or building up outside of the ball itself?

Thinking out aloud here - quote me if I am wrong?

[watermouse]

If you've got the time on your hands I say go for it. Do it monthly, or weekly even.



Or look for the symptoms of king pin play (steering wobble) and leaking knuckle seals and address accordingly. No play? No Leak? No disassembly required.

[Gwagensteve]

You're overthinking it, but if that's what helps you sleep at night then do a proper rebuild at a set interval as per watermouses recommendation. You can't just "have a look" though- if it's coming apart it needs to be setup with proper starting torques etc.