Bendix and Spicer and Grease, Oh My!

My goal this weekend was to get both of the knuckles disassembled and all the parts inspected. All I can say is GREASE SUCKS.

As with other little thing I learned because I over-research all of this stuff, both knuckles were assembled incorrectly. Aside from straight grease being used in both instead of “knuckle pudding” shims and snap rings were missing or installed on the wrong sides. Luckily, it doesn’t appear that it caused any lasting damage.

I began with the passenger side knuckle, and was somewhat disappointed that I had a Bendix style joint that uses ball bearings to articulate. One of the biggest disadvantages of this joint is that repairing the joint requires that the axle shafts be replaced since the major wear points are on the shafts themselves. However, the later (and current) Spicer joints use a Spicer universal joint for articulation. This joint uses a relatively inexpensive (and replaceable) inner cross.

After the interesting find on the passenger side, I started work on the driver’s side. This went far faster after I realized that paper towels seemed to be better at wiping away grease than shop rags. Who knew?

Fortunately, the driver’s side has Spicer style joints instead of Bendix. After cleaning all of the grease off (or as much as I could) I tired to disassemble the joint. After removing the snap rings, I tried pushing the caps out and was unsuccessful. Either things are really stuck in there, or I was using the wrong approach, so I backed off and decided to try again next week. I really didn’t want to end up having to buy a set of axle shafts if I bend the hell out of the shaft ends.

And now, lots of pictures…