Trial by force of the Spicer Life front knuckle u-joints

[mwilson]

Both sides done. Let's see how long that they will last.

 

[mwilson]

And yes, that is a liberal coating of Never Seez. I slather it on anything on the dirty side of the truck.

 

[mwilson]

A little off topic but that's what I do....:-laf


My Snap On dealer/crook had a torque wrench with a swivel head that he took in on trade. Calibrated it and gave me a good deal on it. It only tightens which is fine for me.

The swivel head gives enough clearance for the handle when there is an obstacle. I do use it a lot in tight spots...in this case it placed the handle beyond the fender so I apply the force a lot easier.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Now.... that wasn't so hard, was it?

I use anti-seize and torque like it's free. The front hub where it goes in the knuckle, wheels stud threads, wheel centers, U-joints, ex-girlfriends, and rifle barrel threads. I've never had too much.... Kept me from getting married a time or two.

Ever seen one of those caliper carrier brackets come loose? I had a guy call me, I'd put wheel bearings in his '03 3500. The front wheel locked down. I wasn't too far, and since I figured it was warranty, I went down there ASAP. I presumed the crappy O'Reilly's bearing puked. Nope. The lower passenger side bolt had worked loose, fallen out, and when he stepped on the brake, the resistive force twisted the whole caliper and bracket up and out, digging into the wheel, locking up the wheel from the inside!! Luckily, it happened as he had pulled up to a stop light, so no major damage, but it convinced me that those bolts need to be double checked before anything EVER leaves my shop again!! If that had happened at highway speeds in traffic, it would not have been pretty!! I used a favorite cheater pipe and a good Snap-on (warrantied) ratchet to tighten them, that day. Better twisted off than coming out again!!

By the way, what ball joints are you using?

 

[mwilson]

Those are the Moog's that I installed at 67,000 miles. So far, so good in the 70,000 miles since.

I have decided on the Dynatrac's the next time it is due.

 

[mwilson]

The front end has been apart before and I covered everything in Never Seez.

In spite of that both rotors were stuck on, had to heat and beat, heat and beat, etc. I could see the ring of Never Seez where the hub meets the rotor but they were still stuck.

Pretty quick after the first couple of sessions the big chunks of rust starting falling out.....what had happened was the inside of the rotor had rusted and trapped the outside flange of the hub behind the rust. don't recall ever seeing that before.....

Had to take a chisel to the rotor and clean the rust off.. Now that area is all silver too....

 

[HHhuntitall]

The front end has been apart before and I covered everything in Never Seez.

In spite of that both rotors were stuck on, had to heat and beat, heat and beat, etc. I could see the ring of Never Seez where the hub meets the rotor but they were still stuck.

Pretty quick after the first couple of sessions the big chunks of rust starting falling out.....what had happened was the inside of the rotor had rusted and trapped the outside flange of the hub behind the rust. don't recall ever seeing that before.....

Had to take a chisel to the rotor and clean the rust off.. Now that area is all silver too....

I've never seen that either....... wow! Winter Weasel snot! I've painted the rotors with high-temp, I wonder if that would help with rust any? I don't have that problem, down here, thank goodness!!

 

[JR]

I've seen guys take new rotors and paint them with high temp ceramic paint and then buff off the braking surface. Seems to work pretty well but between the high humidity we see here year around being right on the lake and the stupid amount of cancer they impregnate the roads with nothing is immune. I think the best option is buying a good set of rotors to begin with. The cheap Chinese junk at most parts stores is low carbon and full of impurities. I've seen new rotors with a solid 1/16"-1/8" of rust around the outside of the rotor after one good winter.

 

[Yo Hoot]

Just be sure when you remove the caps from the Extra Life joits that you mark them first and put the caps on the same journals you took them off of. Reason is there is a precise amount of grease in each cup. When you pull the cup, you don't pull off the same amount of grease on each one. If you mix them you change the amounts.

I use a grinder with a cutoff wheel to take the old joints out. Friend of mine showed me and it's a lot easier plus you don't beat your yokes and bend them in the process.

https://youtu.be/XGUqAp6Q6WY

 

[JR]

https://youtu.be/XGUqAp6Q6WY[/url]

Ahh,another fellow rust belter :-laf

 

[HHhuntitall]

I've used a smokewrench many times.... just be fast and don't let the yokes get hot!! The '03+ Dodge with the AAM U-joints in the rear shaft almost always has to be cut.

As for amount of grease in the U-joint, in most the joints I've installed, there are cross tubes from one side to the other. I fill those and the caps, then by force they top themselves off and squeeze any extra out the seal. Centrifugal force makes sure the amounts are even across the tubes, and the outer needle bearings get their share. I am unaware of any specifications from Spicer or anyone else on amount of grease in the units themselves.

 

[Yo Hoot]

I've used a smokewrench many times.... just be fast and don't let the yokes get hot!! The '03+ Dodge with the AAM U-joints in the rear shaft almost always has to be cut.

As for amount of grease in the U-joint, in most the joints I've installed, there are cross tubes from one side to the other. I fill those and the caps, then by force they top themselves off and squeeze any extra out the seal. Centrifugal force makes sure the amounts are even across the tubes, and the outer needle bearings get their share. I am unaware of any specifications from Spicer or anyone else on amount of grease in the units themselves.

The ones I got had a little note in the box that said not to mix the caps.

 

[HHhuntitall]

The ones I got had a little note in the box that said not to mix the caps.

That's curious... mind if I ask what brand?

 

[Yo Hoot]

Spicer

I typed Spicer and this forum said my message was too short

 

[S.Morris]

Just getting back from picking up new glasses, making the jump from bi-focals to progressive lenses. Let's see how this works when trying to hit something........

Mike

Took me a long time to figure out why I was having issure backing up with glasses ( had chocked it up to old age lol). Here is the issue, progressives do not allow a focused pheriferal vision ....If you look out of the corner of your eyes left or right , in the mirrors you get a slightly distorted view. If you fully turn your head and look straight at the mirror it is much better but very difficult to break old way (pre glasses).
What worked for me was getting a set of bifocals and keeping them in the truck just for backing trailers (problem solved).
Just one more thing to look forward to as we age. lol

 

[mwilson]

The ones I got had a little note in the box that said not to mix the caps.

My Spicers in the Moog box had the little note as well, do not mix up the caps and do not add any grease. I'll see if it is still on the bench when i get home tonight.

Mike.

 

[mwilson]

Mike

Took me a long time to figure out why I was having issure backing up with glasses ( had chocked it up to old age lol). Here is the issue, progressives do not allow a focused pheriferal vision ....If you look out of the corner of your eyes left or right , in the mirrors you get a slightly distorted view. If you fully turn your head and look straight at the mirror it is much better but very difficult to break old way (pre glasses).
What worked for me was getting a set of bifocals and keeping them in the truck just for backing trailers (problem solved).
Just one more thing to look forward to as we age. lol

I hated these progressives the first day at work, thought my eyes were going to fall out onto the desk.....as soon as I started the drive home I was fine. The next day was easier and now
I think I really like them. As my mother says, "Point your nose at what you want to see.."

I will be backing up this weekend and will see how it goes. I do look fully at the mirrors anyways, have had glasses of some kind since I was 8 years old so I may not have any trouble with that.

The thing that is kicking my a** is backing up the zero turn while loading it. I learned on dozers where the steering clutch gives the same result forward or backward. When operating excavators I could swing the upper around and watch the tracks. The zero turn works completely backwards in reverse which makes me back up like a drunken sailor, I will conquer it eventually....

 

[HHhuntitall]

Yeah, I learned on old Case construction equipment, so you only had high/low shift levers in front of you for each track, and track brakes on the floor.... which never worked, so shifting the lever to low gave the same effect as the brake levers on Cat/Komatsu.... Backing up was always a pain, as forward was high in reverse, too.... Try running a Cat for several days, then jump on the old Case trackloader.... the bed and stack will never be the same on my old Pete dumptruck....

 

[mwilson]

The very first piece of equipment I was chucked into was a Unit cable shovel. I was about 10 years old.

Had to hold the brake for the shovel rack with one foot, brake for the shovel itself with the other foot, one hand to run the swing lever and I can't remember what the other hand had to do. Then the bucket tripped/emptied by whacking a release with your elbow. That thing took some serious coordination......

I hit the dump body more than once with that.........

 

[mwilson]

This guy has been practicing.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOEER_NhUvc


This guy has not been practicing.......



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTbPImpC9nA