Front axle seals and boots stepXstep

[yarry23]

Was going to post a new thread with this question, then I discovered this AMAZING thread covering the same topic, so I'm posting here.

I have owned my M109A3 for a couple of months now, and have only recently started driving her regularly, as I am now legally an RV in the glorious state of Kalifornia. After delivering a bunch of Grrl Scout cookies in my massive '65 M109A3, I noticed I had a few gobs of grease on the inside of my front wheels - mostly the front passenger side.

I have attached a picture or two of the offending grease as well. After having done the reading on this thread and others, as well as the TM, it seems it is time for me to replace the front boot.

Question is, do I go zippered (and less work), or zipperless and rip the whole thing apart? Also, should I basically stop driving the beast until I get this job done?

I am somewhat of a mechanic noob, but learning fast, and the larger job has me somewhat intimidated. Any advice you guys may have would be greatly appreciated. I am not afraid to do what it takes, but I also have a limited budgetm, time, etc etc... You know the drill...

Thanks a ton!

 

[Clay James]

It should be okay if you're not fording water. Check and see it's gear oil. You can smell the difference. I tried repairing my seals twice when they were leaking gear oil but they kept leaking so I said **** it and kept driving for 1k miles or so and finally replaced the spindle and kingpin bushings and that worked. Here's my thread about it. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/79539-lots-deuce-work.html I would highly recommend rebuilding your brakes too. It's a lot of work but I think it has to be done on every single one of these trucks.

 

[AceHigh]

And make sure the vent on the axle is free. Pressure can push that stuff out.

 

[plym49]

Was going to post a new thread with this question, then I discovered this AMAZING thread covering the same topic, so I'm posting here.

I have owned my M109A3 for a couple of months now, and have only recently started driving her regularly, as I am now legally an RV in the glorious state of Kalifornia. After delivering a bunch of Grrl Scout cookies in my massive '65 M109A3, I noticed I had a few gobs of grease on the inside of my front wheels - mostly the front passenger side.

I have attached a picture or two of the offending grease as well. After having done the reading on this thread and others, as well as the TM, it seems it is time for me to replace the front boot.

Question is, do I go zippered (and less work), or zipperless and rip the whole thing apart? Also, should I basically stop driving the beast until I get this job done?

I am somewhat of a mechanic noob, but learning fast, and the larger job has me somewhat intimidated. Any advice you guys may have would be greatly appreciated. I am not afraid to do what it takes, but I also have a limited budgetm, time, etc etc... You know the drill...

Thanks a ton!

If the truck drives normally with no seeming front-end problems I would use the zippered boots this time around.

 

[yarry23]

Yeah, truck drives just fine. Sure, my arms are sore after driving it two days in a row, but I think that's just part of the fun!

Okay, I think zippered boots this time around is the way to go. I will let you know how it works out! As usual, thanks a ton guys!


~~yarry

 

[DeucesWild11]

Subscribed.. I know I will need to do something here soon as I have a split seal.. Think I am going to go with a zipper boot though.. Need to look up that vent on the TM mine looks like that pic too leaking a little bit of grease.. The other one is totally split though..

Thanks for this great thread with Pics.. Awesome!!

 

[islandguydon]

What a great thread. You get 1 rep point from me and 2 thumbs up for your dedication, perseverance and fortitude.

I would rather look this up than refer to the TM.

 

[jsthnt@gmail.com]

I am going to have to do mine. this is a great thread. What is the easyest way to tell if the bearings need replaced before you get into it? That way you have all the parts when you dig into it.

 

[Banshee365]

I simply can't believe this thread is still going!

-Kelly

 

[paramedic7831]

Saving for future fix. Thank you for the detail and pics.

 

[MRAP DREAM GIRL]

Banshee365,

Would you please tell a girl which TM's she should have next to her for doing this complete rebuild? I have downloaded everything in the Deuce section but just can't read fast enough to keep up

Just the number would be awesome, sir! I, like so many others, have also downloaded your fantastic step X step here and with the help of a couple of girlfriends think we can do this. Gotta get on this, being that I saw a very small leak yesterday.

Thanks for so much great information,

MDG

 

[DeucesWild11]

Dream Girl, I don't have the TM handy and I have to do this as well so thanks for asking the question. My leaks are pretty good, I can stick a finger or two through the rip. From what I have heard they call leak a little bit. I haven't had the chance to fix it yet so I have been pumping some grease in the fitting at the top, just so I don't run out.. I don't drive it much, a few miles a week but I need to get to this so I don't risk damaging the CV joints..

Best of luck!

 

[silverstate55]

Banshee365,

Would you please tell a girl which TM's she should have next to her for doing this complete rebuild? I have downloaded everything in the Deuce section but just can't read fast enough to keep up

Just the number would be awesome, sir! I, like so many others, have also downloaded your fantastic step X step here and with the help of a couple of girlfriends think we can do this. Gotta get on this, being that I saw a very small leak yesterday.

Thanks for so much great information,

MDG

Zippered boot replacement can easily be found in TM9-2320-209-20-3-1, Chapter 11-6.

Oil Seal replacement, steering knuckles removal, etc... can be found in TM9-2320-361-20, Chapter 7.

Same as above for TM9-2320-361-34, Chapter 10, but has much larger & easier-to-view drawings.

Download these & save them on your computer, so you can easily pull them up without having to wait for downloading & sucking up bandwidth.

I just finished mine on both sides; it took longer to clean off the built-up dirt/grease combo, and clean out the old grease, than it did to actually do the disassembly & reassembly. It's easier than it sounds, as long as you take your time and properly organize everything you take apart. I used PB Blaster to soak the driver's side cone bushings in the steering arm, and each tap with a BFH resulted in a cone popping straight up in the air about 3-4 feet, which I was able to catch on the way back down to earth from its orbit.

It's time-consuming but not particularly difficult, but it is well worth the effort as you can fix so many other things while the front axle is apart.

 

[MRAP DREAM GIRL]

SS55,

Like I said above, I have down loaded everything in the Deuce section and now I'm starting to print hard copies. Biggest issue is trying to read everything, work, and be directly involved with as much as possible with my trucks.


Thanks for putting me right on spot here. In fact thanks to everyone once again



MDG

 

[Tow4]

Don't print everything out, only print out the pages that cover what you are repairing. You can word search the .PDF, it's a lot harder doing that with 500 pieces of paper.

 

[tuckered]

. . .It's time-consuming but not particularly difficult, but it is well worth the effort as you can fix so many other things while the front axle is apart.

Just curious. . .

From reading the posts, only one person has replaced the u-joint on the ball. It seems as though many vehicles had not had their inner axle seals replaced since manufacture, well almost. With soo much other deferred work being completed, wouldn't it be prudent to replace the u-joints too? If those bushings, seals, and grease being so old, wouldn't the u-joint be older, more like due for replacement too?

Just a thought

 

[jesusgatos]

Checked my u-joints when I went through the frontend and they were still in good shape. Didn't see any reason to replace them. Would like to upgrade to aftermarket shafts, so figured these won't be in there too much longer anyway...

 

[plym49]

The boots on my truck are cracked at the bottom and need replacing. I already have the replacement boots but I might have to drive the truck 300 miles or so before I have an opportunity to replace them. The inner front tires do get grease contrails, so some greas is being flung out.

The drive would be in the dry and on good roads without much dust. No dirt roads at all.

Should I not make the drive? Or, do it as-is? Or, do it but pump in some more grease and, if so, how much? (My first notion would be to pump in a lot; if I did would that exacerbate things by flinging much more grease on the tires and possible encouraging the cracks to get larger?)

I anticipate advice to replace them before the trip, and believe me I would like to, but it might not be possible.

 

[Tow4]

Unless the cracks are gaping open I wouldn't worry about it. Mine leaked grease for a long time (found out the zippers weren't sealed) and I didn't change them until the zipper blew out.

Don't drive through any deep water.

 

[NMSMITTY]

I have oil flowing more than Texas and found this thread trying to figure out what it would take to fix and man this is awesome info. I have noticed that it worsens as I drive so before I tear into it I'm going to check the vents. Thanks for all the effort of putting this together. I have the PDF down loaded and ready if I need to tear into it.

Thanks from the beach in New Mexico!!