Closed knuckle question

[benwah]

My steering knuckle seals just arrived for my 62. While the whole front end is torn down, I'm painting the axle with por-15. Is it ok to paint the knuckle where the felt seal will travel? The knuckles were rusty and has some pitting due to it was parked in a field for a decade. I"m thinking the paint might smooth out any imperfections.

[flyingtim01]

I don't think you're supposed to paint them, just clean them up and make sure they're clean and smooth. I seem to remember rebuilding the closed knuckle front axle in my old CJ3A, and polishing up the ball ends, then trimming the felt seals/wipers to fit the balls. Those things will leak a little no matter what you do, it's part of how they work. If you google 'knuckle putty' or something along those lines, you'll come up with all sorts of recipes that include mixing things like 80-90, STP, wheel bearing grease, John Deere cornhead grease, etc. Everyone seems to have their own special mix to keep the leaking to a minimum.

[LONGHAIR]

Why wouldn't you just replace the whole thing with a later model open knuckle unit? You eliminate that hassle, get better turning radius, get better brakes.....

[61K10]

maybe being an old org tk is why. there was a thread the owner used JB weld and re-sanded the knuckles. they came out nice. mine knuckles were ok, just small scratches.

[benwah]

Ok thanks! I'm not new to these axles just never had changed the seals before. My plan is to clean up those knuckles and go from there. I'm just going to use 90 wt. And yes its an old original 4x4 truck.

[willett]

I think you will have a hard time keeping 90 wt in there if yours are pitted

[flyingtim01]

Knuckle pudding is the phrase I was searching for.

But as Willett pointed out, you'll probably have a tough time keeping straight 90wt in the knuckles. Although, no harm in trying. Worst case is it leaks out and you have to refill with something else

[willett]

I've heard of guys filling them full of quality bearing grease

[61K10]

john deer cornhead grease

[JPBrecheisen]

Originally Posted by benwah

My steering knuckle seals just arrived for my 62. While the whole front end is torn down, I'm painting the axle with por-15. Is it ok to paint the knuckle where the felt seal will travel? The knuckles were rusty and has some pitting due to it was parked in a field for a decade. I"m thinking the paint might smooth out any imperfections.

You're ok to paint the bells where the seals ride on. I've done that in the past with no issues. I did my Willys that way and its been fine.

I filled in the pits with JB weld. I just cleaned the bells to bare metal then spread the JB weld in with a body filler spreader and sanded smooth once cured. Its a bit of a process, but it works just fine.

Novak sells some "knuckle grease" that supposedly is the correct weight, but they don't give it away. Unless you run around in 4x4 all the time, you can pack the knuckle bearings with a high quality tacky grease just as you do a wheel bearing. After that, you can use a needle fitting on the grease gun and fill the u-joints in the axles shafts as well. I don't use mine in 4x4 a lot, and when I do, its low speed stuff. Its up to you, but its an option. I put a bead of grease on the inside of the seal when I put them together and coat the inside of the housings with grease to keep them from rusting and to keep the seals lubed.

Below is a link to the 1962 I'm working on. I had to do some bell repair on this one too. You can sort of see the process in the pictures. Good luck with it.

Jonathon

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...light=1962+GMC