[brettm]

Truck has play in drivers side swivel bearing (top). Started to dig into it today a little, and quickly noticed that the top pin bolts were very loose. Snugged them up and the play went completely away. Quick test with the luggage scale and the preload seems to be within tolerance.

I'm planning to dig in and re-do both swivels anyway - but curious what would cause the pins bolts to back-off? Lack of threadlocker? Used blue instead of red? Was expecting to find worn bearing (haven't got that far yet). Swivel seals were last done around 20k miles ago by a reputable indy rover shop in Seattle.

 

[Angus]

Lucky find. If the swivel pin falls out, the entire front suspension (and steering) falls apart. When I rebuilt mine, I used blue Locktite on the bolts and ensured they were torqued correctly. Someone probably forgot to torque them after checking the preload tension.

 

[el_guru]

Did you check the preload with the large swivel ball seal released.?
I am doing a customers today and it’s essential otherwise the preload will be far too loose as it’s measuring the significant drag of the large diameter seal.

good luck.

 

[Red90]

Remove bolts one at a time. Clean threads, locktite and torque to spec.

Do not use that shop again.

 

[brettm]

Assume I should also chase the threads with a tap as well as clean the bolt threads?

Yeah seal was still on. No worries - going to tear it all down and clean up anyway as also needs new brakes. will set preload with just housing on per manual.

Here’s a pic of how nasty it was around that pin. Assume grease snuck out the pin.

 

[Mirra]

New brakes = new wheel bearings! You’ll have a much better steering truck when you’re done! Post up some progress pics!

 

[brettm]

Had some time to dig in a bit more today and have the driver side disassembled and half shaft out. Other than some very tight bolts - all came out without any surprises. The parts are so nasty, I'm spending more time cleaning and degreasing than anything else.

Interestingly all the bearings look fine - even the after eight mint bearing inside the railko, so my wobble would have been more the bolt backing out issue vs. bearing failure. However, going to replace them all while I have the patient on the operating table - then I know when it was last done.

 

[brettm]

Question for you guys ... do I need to break apart the CV joint and inspect/regrease it - or just put it back in there? If so, I'm confused about "CV joint grease" to use. From searching here - it seems like the oneshot molly in the swivel ball is what lubricates the CV - but watching this video he appears to be using some much more viscous kind of grease that came with his new CV joint for an initial-lube. If I pull it apart to clean it - assume I need to do likewise - but what grease do I use here? Manual just says "Lubricate with a recommended oil during assembly".

 

[el_guru]

Don’t “break apart” the CV joint. All the balls are nicely bedded in their respective positions.
clean it well with diesel/gas then pack the crap out of it suitable cv joint grease.
Finally use the appropriate amount of one shot moly for the swivel.

 

[sheki]

Trailerfitter's Tool box on YouTube has a great 10-12 video series on the teardown and rebuild of the swivel ball. There is even a video about EP90 vs One shot grease.

 

[brettm]

Made some more headway today, stripped down the passenger side to the axle. Went a lot quicker than drivers side now I'm familiar with parts and how they come out.

Interestingly, there was no play in the passenger side top-pin, however the top pins bolts while not 'loose' - were barely snugged up and took minimal effort to turn.

I have a few questions, that I couldn't find great answers to via search if anyone is still reading this thread

1. The ball-to-axle connection that came out seemed to be right stuff vs a paper gasket - or maybe even right stuff plus paper. Should I use right stuff when it goes back or the paper gasket that came in the kit? If paper, then does it just go in dry or does it get preconditioned with something? The Trailfitter Toolbox video quotes the shop manual as "Coat both sides of joint washer with sealing compound"; however this isn't mentioned in the 97 NAS manual - just says to use a new joint washer. If precondition - would I use Permatex High Tack for that?

2. Related... the only part that I forgot to order was the paper gasket for the lower pin (assumed it was in the kit). Would it be fine to use right stuff for this - or should I wait and order gasket.

 

[brettm]

Parts all cleaned up (well except the caliper which I feel like I need something stronger to clean) and ready to go back in today.

 

[Mirra]

Pack up the wheel bearings plenty. Looking good!

 

[erover82]

1. The ball-to-axle connection that came out seemed to be right stuff vs a paper gasket - or maybe even right stuff plus paper. Should I use right stuff when it goes back or the paper gasket that came in the kit? If paper, then does it just go in dry or does it get preconditioned with something? The Trailfitter Toolbox video quotes the shop manual as "Coat both sides of joint washer with sealing compound"; however this isn't mentioned in the 97 NAS manual - just says to use a new joint washer. If precondition - would I use Permatex High Tack for that?

2. Related... the only part that I forgot to order was the paper gasket for the lower pin (assumed it was in the kit). Would it be fine to use right stuff for this - or should I wait and order gasket.

1. RTV, gasket + RTV, gasket + dressing - these will all hold. Gasket + RTV is more work and the slippery nature of uncured RTV can sometimes cause a joint to tear and squeeze the gasket out. I prefer either RTV alone, a good quality gasket, or dressing such as High Tack on an uncoated fiber gasket.

2. I'd just cut a gasket out of bulk gasket from any auto store.

 

[Mirra]

Paper gasket and some hightack or light grease. I HATE RTV and Rightstuff- it’s overkill and miserable for the next person that works on it.

 

[brettm]

Well … this didn’t go very smoothly. One of the new railko bush after-eight mint bearings is missing a roller. So much for OEM parts. 😂

 

[brettm]

Starting to look a bit more respectable under there...

 

[Mirra]

Keep up the good work!

 

[flyfish]

it seems like the oneshot molly in the swivel ball is what lubricates the CV

In the video, he was putting one shot directly into the cv because it was dry. But otherwise, that is what goes inside the swivel assembly.

 

[brettm]

Keep up the good work!

Thanks. Was a little daunting at first to dig this deep into the Rover - especially as I consider myself a bit of a mechanical n00b still. It’s been kind of fun and satisfying to get everything cleaned super well, all the consumable parts replaced and put back together.