Front Air Locker Install unveils nasty stuff

[Bakes]

Well after a successful rear air locker install, today's task was the front locker install on my new ute. Firstly I must thank all who gave advice re the spines. Much appreciated.
Well, the dramas started after trying to take the hubs off. They didn't come off real easy. They were actually rusted on. Pretty much everything else from the hubs to the inside of the diff was rusted. I'm not talking surface rust, I'm talking big globs of rust which had to get chiseled off. What a drama I say. My ute is only 90,000km old. Anyway, after nearly a day of wire brushing, it now looks ok but all the bearings are rusted on aswell :-( quetsion 1 is what's the most effective way to split the king pin bearings off? I have a small press to get them on but nothing to get them off. Question 2 is can someone lend me a match for this thing? It's severely peeved me off..lol I'll post a photo when my laptop decides to turn on

[Sir Roofy]

Sorry to hear mate that would have been very daunting to say the least,if its that bad what might the diff housing
be holding?

[Bakes]

cheers mate, yes, i was a little irate as i saw it. we'll soon see in the morning i guess, ill rip the diff out then, but i guess all can be fixed, after all its just money right? :-(

[Silver]

You can get a little bearing puller from Trade Tools that will remove the king pin bearings - I posted a picture or two with details on here in Jan or Feb.

I don't know that they would cope with rusted on bearings - might be time for the safety glasses, angle grinder and cold chisel?

When you remove the cups for those bearings from the housing, with a bit of care and luck you can preserve the sheet metal and rubber caps that keep the king pin bearing space seperate from the CV space. Otherwise they are $30+ each from Nissan :-)

[Bakes]

these are the passenger side, but they are also taken after a good wipe down with parts cleaner

[Silver]

here is my earlier post on those caps

Hi,

On my GQ's trunnion swivel, the hole in which the trunnion or king pin bearing cups reside, also contains a sheet metal disc with a seal called a king pin cap. These are available from Mr Nissan (only?) and are a bit over $30 each. I suppose an enterprising type might be able to do something with a sheet metal disc and silicone, but the originals are not flat.

If I had thought more about why the opening had two little half moons on either side, I would not know how much they cost

While the manual says to remove them with a brass drift, after my first attempt, I found a suitable punch that looked remarkably like a straight blade screw driver shank did the job, because it could be fitted down neatly into that half moon slot, carefully alongside the edge seal on the king pin plug. I make no guarantees that you'll get all of yours out ok, but having learned my lesson on #1, I got the other three out ok.

[Bakes]

here is my earlier post on those caps

Hi,

On my GQ's trunnion swivel, the hole in which the trunnion or king pin bearing cups reside, also contains a sheet metal disc with a seal called a king pin cap. These are available from Mr Nissan (only?) and are a bit over $30 each. I suppose an enterprising type might be able to do something with a sheet metal disc and silicone, but the originals are not flat.

If I had thought more about why the opening had two little half moons on either side, I would not know how much they cost

While the manual says to remove them with a brass drift, after my first attempt, I found a suitable punch that looked remarkably like a straight blade screw driver shank did the job, because it could be fitted down neatly into that half moon slot, carefully alongside the edge seal on the king pin plug. I make no guarantees that you'll get all of yours out ok, but having learned my lesson on #1, I got the other three out ok.

Funnily enough, yours was the first post I read in my fit of rage trying to find a viable solution..I'm thinking it's just going to take time to fix this properly. Thank god I still have my wagon to run around in

[Silver]

I got a swivel hub kit online that included name brand bearings etc for a lot less than Nissan. Partsonline at Geebung from memory - found them searching flea bay.

The only thing it doesn't contain are those $30 caps. The lock washer for the wheel bearing lock nut was also a bit thinner than the original, and not really up to the job if you torque the outer lock nut up to specification per the manual. The tab stripped off. Just noticed you have a GU so you'll have the better lock nut system anyway for the wheel bearings.

[Bakes]

Just noticed you have a GU so you'll have the better lock nut system anyway for the wheel bearings.

I guess I'm really fortunate that I have two GUs. I have a pot load of going to the Simpson desert spares for the wagon that will fit straight in the ute, which will save me a heap.. As for the cups, 3 of mine are toast, but I'm not paying the 30 bucks, I'm thinking of doing a mould from the one good cup I have and make my own. See how that goes.. As for the little bearing puller, yeah... 115 dollars From mans toyshop. Just hope they have one in stock..

[Silver]

....... As for the little bearing puller, yeah... 115 dollars From mans toyshop. Just hope they have one in stock..

you must be going to buy a quality one. Mine was $39-50. I had a look on Trade Tools site, and they don't seem to have them listed at the moment. See how you go searching for an AB-2 Bearing Puller 24-55mm. Trade Tools' sticker calls it an Armature Bearing Puller TOG-AB-2.

Not wishing to 'teach Granny to suck eggs' and apologies in advance if you know this, but I found it worked best putting some tension onto the bearing, and then giving the shaft of the puller a tap with a hammer, more tension, more taps etc.

I am sure someone on here posted that they removed these with a grinder too - there was something about safety googles having been required but not used. Traditionally, grind a bit of a weak spot into the race, having first removed the cage and the rollers, and then a judicious tap with cold chisel and hammer to crack the race off.

Once again, noting that you are installing lockers yourself, apologies if you know all this. Oh yeah, did you find the excellent thread with photos that are on here somewhere?