Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Decided to start a new thread because the old one is too old.
4 hours Sun, 5 hours Mon. 6 hours Tue. and 4 hours Thur. I work slowly, read instructions and think about it.
A day before you start, use penetrating oil on everything you will have to loosen.
1. Wheels off.
2. Brake calipers off
3. Rotors off. Had to tap them with a rubber mallet to break loose.
4. Bearing unit. Used the power steering (as others have done) and they came loose after a few back n fourths. The bolts (4) - used a breaker bar and a small cheater. No problem.
4a. Spindle nut - used 3/4" drive and a 3' cheater - no problem.
5. Pulled the axels
6. U joints were not fun. Used a C press from Mechanics Tools. Worked well. The problem is the U joint yoke is rounded on the outside - hard to keep a receiver in place while pushing the bearing out. Tried a hammer with no luck, in fact I pinched the yoke a little. The U joints from Spyntech are ground flat on the outside - much easier to work with.
7. Ball joints. As expected they require a little work. Tighten the press real tight then wack the the bolt a couple of times then tighten the press again, etc. Drivers side was a little different than the passenger side. On the passenger side the press bolt was rubbing against the upper ball joint holder so bad I had to improvise to get the lower out.
9. The upper BJ hole on the drivers side was not perfectly round. Did a little sanding and finally go it started straight enough to start the BJ . Lots of push with the press and a few hammer wacks.
On the passenger side I wrapped some course emery cloth around a 1 3/4' hole saw attached to an electric drill and smoothed/opened the holes slightly. The ball joint hole appear to be 1. 9" and the joint are 1. 92" The ball joints still went in hard but much easier.
10. DO NOT pump grease into the joints until you feel resistance on the pump. The studs on the BJ,s WILL NOT move - period. Had to remove a tad of grease from the top and remove the zerk on the lower to bleed off the pressure. Then I could install the steering knuckle.
11. Putting the lock outs together - no problem. EXCEPT, Spyntech uses a spindle nut with a small pin sticking out which you torque to 50# then back off 1/4 turn, then a ring with a lot of holes one of which is suppose to go over the pin. The locking ring goes in ONLY one way. If one of the holes lines up with pin - great. If not you have to fish the ring back out and move the spindle nut ever so slightly - didn't line up - try again. All the while your hands are covered in grease. Finally I took a chisel and marked the spindle where the closest hole was to the pin and moved the spindle nut to that position. Wow, it worked. Then you install the outer spindle nut & torque to 150#. You have to reuse the 4 bearing assembly bolts you removed earlier. They must be cut to 1. 8" using a small cutoff wheel. I marked each bolt to 1. 8" and screwed them into the old bearing assembly until the mark just came out. Then using the bearing assembly as a guide and holder made the cuts. Unscrewing the bolts (real easy - fingers) helps clean the cut threads. The rest is straight forward.
Took it out for a drive and everything seems OK.
4 hours Sun, 5 hours Mon. 6 hours Tue. and 4 hours Thur. I work slowly, read instructions and think about it.
A day before you start, use penetrating oil on everything you will have to loosen.
1. Wheels off.
2. Brake calipers off
3. Rotors off. Had to tap them with a rubber mallet to break loose.
4. Bearing unit. Used the power steering (as others have done) and they came loose after a few back n fourths. The bolts (4) - used a breaker bar and a small cheater. No problem.
4a. Spindle nut - used 3/4" drive and a 3' cheater - no problem.
5. Pulled the axels
6. U joints were not fun. Used a C press from Mechanics Tools. Worked well. The problem is the U joint yoke is rounded on the outside - hard to keep a receiver in place while pushing the bearing out. Tried a hammer with no luck, in fact I pinched the yoke a little. The U joints from Spyntech are ground flat on the outside - much easier to work with.
7. Ball joints. As expected they require a little work. Tighten the press real tight then wack the the bolt a couple of times then tighten the press again, etc. Drivers side was a little different than the passenger side. On the passenger side the press bolt was rubbing against the upper ball joint holder so bad I had to improvise to get the lower out.
9. The upper BJ hole on the drivers side was not perfectly round. Did a little sanding and finally go it started straight enough to start the BJ . Lots of push with the press and a few hammer wacks.
On the passenger side I wrapped some course emery cloth around a 1 3/4' hole saw attached to an electric drill and smoothed/opened the holes slightly. The ball joint hole appear to be 1. 9" and the joint are 1. 92" The ball joints still went in hard but much easier.
10. DO NOT pump grease into the joints until you feel resistance on the pump. The studs on the BJ,s WILL NOT move - period. Had to remove a tad of grease from the top and remove the zerk on the lower to bleed off the pressure. Then I could install the steering knuckle.
11. Putting the lock outs together - no problem. EXCEPT, Spyntech uses a spindle nut with a small pin sticking out which you torque to 50# then back off 1/4 turn, then a ring with a lot of holes one of which is suppose to go over the pin. The locking ring goes in ONLY one way. If one of the holes lines up with pin - great. If not you have to fish the ring back out and move the spindle nut ever so slightly - didn't line up - try again. All the while your hands are covered in grease. Finally I took a chisel and marked the spindle where the closest hole was to the pin and moved the spindle nut to that position. Wow, it worked. Then you install the outer spindle nut & torque to 150#. You have to reuse the 4 bearing assembly bolts you removed earlier. They must be cut to 1. 8" using a small cutoff wheel. I marked each bolt to 1. 8" and screwed them into the old bearing assembly until the mark just came out. Then using the bearing assembly as a guide and holder made the cuts. Unscrewing the bolts (real easy - fingers) helps clean the cut threads. The rest is straight forward.
Took it out for a drive and everything seems OK.
