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swivel housings


barriesheene

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Hi guy's. Numpty question but I'm a newbie with these fancy swivel housing things. I've got a leaking swivel housing. Smells like gearbox oil running out on to the tyre. I've never had a swivel housing before so dont really know whats involved :unsure: . Are they hard to replace ? Is this a garage job or a sunny weeked on the drive with plenty of tea ??? Thanks in advance for any replies.

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There is some pitting on the chrome swivel ball. The leak has only just started tho so I wouldnt have thought it would be that. Can i check the hub seal without dismantling everything ?? I've just found a post, ( u.s. forum ) saying to drain the oil and re-pack with grease ???? Any thoughts ?

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If there is pitting on the ball then its really time for a new one. You can bugger about and smooth/fill the pitting, but you're just eeking out life from the old one.

Having thought about it, it is unlikely to be oil in the wheel bearings, and therefore coming out from the hub seal. Can you see any oil traces coming down from the centre of the brake disk (axle side).

You can change the oil in the swivel for 'one shot' grease. Put in by Land Rover as its thicker and therefore less likely to leak. Personally I think its a silly idea, I want to know when its leaking as leaking means water etc can get in.

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Normally, the grease has gone, so you add oil (even though its called one-shot grease the consistency is more of oil!)

I did my Disco about 4 months ago (same principle) takes about 1/2 a day, it's a logical dismantle, my parts cost me £35 roughly (that's a selection of shims, bearing, all the gaskets and one-shot grease).

The wost part is getting the pre-load right! That takes the most time (and not damaging the copper brake line)

Cheers

Peter

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Just had a good poke about and it looks as though its coming from the seal. Not a very healthy looking colour either. Its got a bit of a milky tinge to it. My worry is something going wrong and the truck being off the road just as we have chance of snow ! I'm also taking a group of scouts up into the Brecon Beacons at the beginning of Febuary for their winter camp and will really want the truck for that :) . I'm thinking change the oil for grease just for a couple of weeks and then change both front swivel balls at the same time. The full ****part kits are on ebay for £100 so not too bad. There's alot in them kits tho. Looks very complicated to me :(

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the preload is nothing hard, just frustrating when you can't get the right combination (the preload is the resistance to movement of the swivel, done with the seal removed). You add or remove shims from the top pin until the preload is correct.

I not get the britpart kits, just get the balls from them and go bearmach for the rest of the bits. Then you know they will be the correct shape/size/not made of cheese.

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If the balls are pitted then water and dirt can get into the CV joint inside the ball, so think about replacing the balls, new ones (very expensive) or good SH ones from a wrecker that arent pitted will be the go. In any case the edges of the pitting will only eventually damage the lip of the new seal so the best course of action will be to replace them.

To set the preload go to your nearest fishing tackle shop and buy an inexpensive spring scale that will weigh 0 - 2 Kilo's - the preload setting is measured by the amount of force the spring scale uses to move the ball joint with the steering arms disconnected and before the seal is installed.

The one shot grease replaced oil in or around 1998.

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I did my offside front with an ebay kit, a good one for about 100 quid I wouldnt go cheaper as the bearings will be carp, was easy to do and there is a pretty good how to on here, very useful, especially the trick of undoing the ball bolts

I guessed at my preload but it seems ok

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Ok, update. I.ve had a better snoop about with the wheel off, ( fitted 50mm wheel spacers and 50mm wheel arch extensions ) Gear oil is gushing out onto the back of the brake disc, ( explains the **** braking lol ) axle side. Am I right in thinking hub oil seal then ?? Balls are pitted and there is a slight leak so they will have to be changed anywho's so I'll do the both at the same time. In the mean time is this oil coming from the front diff housing so i know what to keep topping up ?

On a diffrent note. Anybody thinking of spending £600 on wheel spacers and extended arch's think long and hard cos I dont know if its £600 worth of improvement if you know what I mean. I wouldnt do it again put it that ways. Should have got the gas sorted out instead. Must leave ebay alone when I have money in my pocket !!!!!

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  • 1 month later...

Sorry for the delay guy's, been waiting for parts. Just started full strip down and I've come across a problem. I've removed the stub axle as I'm replacing it, ( It's mangled ) but there is a bearing, a seal and what looks like a brass nut on the back of the old one but not on the new one. All the haynes says is " take it to your dealer ! " Is this something I can do or do I need to take it to a garage to get done while looking sheepish ? :) Also alot of scoring on the half shaft but no sign from where ?

06032012727.jpg

06032012726.jpg

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Houston we have a problem :angry: . The bottom pivot bolts wont budge. I've managed to snap 5 torx bits and mangle one of the bolt heads. I removed the housing by removing the top swivel point and removing from the top first. Can I get away with this on refitting after changing the ball and bearings ???? I'm stuck otherwise.

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As long as the pin is a reasonable fit on the inner bearing race you don't need to replace it, I have had the same problem as you before and left it in there with no adverse side effects.

Remember they are slow speed bearings, but load bearing, so actual fit on the pin is not super critical, even if it was loose on the pin you could pock mark it with a punch to stop the inner race from spinning on it.

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I'm struggling with that one, maybe it was just a loose drive flange?

Look inside the old stub axle, is there a bearing at the outer edge as well?

If the wheel bearings died at some point could there have been enough movement for the cv to rub on the inside of the stub axle?

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50mm spacers will be putting a hell of a strain on the wheel bearings and stub axles, and hard driving could be putting enough force on them to bend the stub axles, and deflect the wheels enough on their bearings that the half shaft is fouling the stub axle. That's my bet, anyway...

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There is an easy way to change the bronze thrust bearing (the brass bit) first to remove the old one, apply heat to it with a blow torch, it will drop off, to fit the new one, use an old pan, fill partly with light oil and heat it ( your bride should NOT see you do this :blink: if you're using the kitchen) put the new thrust bearing in the oil and when its hot it will drop on the stub axle. As to your drive shaft being scored I'd be looking at the inside of the stub axle to locate the damaged metal part, if not I'd advise a complete axle strip down, you could be looking at a broken tooth off the differential :(

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