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Groove on front axle ball, is it normal? KZJ78

graysworld

Active Member
Joined
May 27, 2015
Messages
98
I am renovating my front hubs and having stripped everything down, the ball on the end of the axle (I am not sure what it's called) where the swivel fits has a groove in it that goes around the circumference. Is this normal on Toyotas? I know that Landrovers are totally smooth. Also landrover ones bolt to the axle housing and are a replaceable part. Do I need to fill the groove with plastic metal? I am a bit baffled as I have seen a view rebuild videos and most have a similar groove and are also not completly smooth. I would have thought that if it wasn't smooth it would wear out the wiper seal quite quickly? I realise that there is no oil and only grease so it should not leak, but what about water ingress? Also I have only one shim at the bottom. I know the shims are there to adjust preload on the swivel bearings. So is it normal to have no shim on one side? Seems strange to me. All the videos I have seen have at least one shim top and bottom.

Any advice appreciated.
Regards Graeme
 
The ‘cannon ball’ often rusts, and it’s best to clean it off with a fine abrasive and keep them greased. Yes, the wipers help to avoid water ingress, but a groove has probably formed by a stone getting lodged over the years. It’s no big deal, but worth removing the wiper to check that there’s no stones or grit trapped. You can fill it if it’s deep, but really there’s no need unless it’s very deep.
 
Thanks Clive, I have attached a photo. as you will se the groove is quite deep and goes in the direction the wheel revolves not with the steering.
Toyota axle ball.jpg



Toyota axle ball.jpg
 
Wow, I see what you mean, that does look like nasty corrosion, I have to agree. Definitely worse than mine and I have used my car a lot in a seriously gritty environment, though not wet grit. Maybe at some point the hub has been left caked in wet mud for a long time. Salty wet mud by the look of it! Repair is entirely dependent on how you feel about it. Its only grease in there and some will always ooze out but that one looks like it could be a big ooze. If it was my car I would definitely use plastic metal to fill all those pits and the big groove. But if you haven't got that kind of skill and don't mind wiping off the muck periodically and squeezing some more grease into the hub there's no harm done. Its your call really. Do you wade much?

Regarding the king pin shims, the approach I would take is to assume that whoever did this job last time knew what they were doing and the right shims have been used to get the preload into correct specs. Unless you had a wobble or the steering was unusually heavy. Since you are rebuilding the hub anyway this is your chance to do it exactly as per the manual so you can achieve the peace of mind which comes from doing the job perfectly. Those shims come in packs of mixed thicknesses, but I wouldn't be surprised if you end up with the same arrangement you started with unless you are putting in new bearings. Put it back as you found it and check the preload. Only change the shims if its outside specs, that's what I would do.
 
That looks like it's been stood for quite a while. My old Disco started leaking grease from one of the front hubs and on closer inspection, a deep gouge had appeared in one of my balls, no idea how but I fixed it by filling with epoxy and sanding smooth. The fix was still working 3 years later when I sold it.
 
Thanks for the replies, I have bought some JB Weld and will fill and sand. JB Weld is very good stuff so should do the job. I don't know the history of the vehicle so took a bit of a chance. I have no intension of wading much. As far as the swivel hubs go I am replacing all bearings and seals, CV joints, wheel bearings, discs and pads. Also converting to manual freewheel hubs so I will check the preload and re shim if needed. I will post a photo in due coarse of the filling...maybe a while as I am off on holiday soon :)

Graeme
 
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I have finally finished rebuilding my front hubs and converting from electric locking hubs to manual ones. Thanks to everyone for the advice. I thought I would share what I did to overcome the fact that the manual wheel hubs i.e. the part the wheel bolts to and houses the bearings are longer on the manual than the electric ones. The choices are sourcing second-hand Hilux ones which I could not find, or new ones are available for £84 each at the time of writing on eBay.

I bought new stub axles and cv joints from Milner 4x4. They were very helpful cross-referencing parts. I needed at least one new stub axle as the bearing had been slipping and had knackered the old one. I decided to replace the CV’s as they did not look too good and while it was all apart there was no point in not. I used the own brand stuff from Milner with an assurance from them that it was okay…time will tell but I could not afford the top of the range stuff and I am not going to be extreme off roading. Problems I had to get over were mainly the hub being too short by 14mm. An engineer friend took the old electric hubs cut them and machined spacers from them. Photo below. He also made me some extra studs as the electric hub has 4 and the manual has 6. The extra holes in the hub were filled with four turned down Allen bolts these then acted as locating pins. The next problem is blocking the hole where the cable for the electric hub goes. I used the original bung, removed the cable and filled with silicone gasket maker. Next was the new wheel bearing nuts and tab washer would not fit as the bearings are effectively further in the hub. The old bearing nut and locking washer with countersink Torx screws can be used. The original hub nut has a ‘built in’ spacer. I think this is a better system for locking the nut in place. I removed the electrical contact ring from the outside of the lock nut.

I have also replaced swivel bearings and seals. There was quite a groove worn in the balls on the ends of the axle casing. I cleaned the grooves filled with JB Weld and sanded them down and painted them.

New brake discs (rotors) and pads and put new pistons and seals in the callipers and replaced all the flexible brake hoses. So, all in all a good job done. Unfortunately, the original rumble that I thought was the wheel bearings is still there! Time for Another post!

So, more questions in another post thanks for the help and advice. Graemehub spacer from old hub.jpeg
 
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