Swivel Hub/Knuckle Kit - Land Cruiser 80 Series & Lexus LX450 (SH6)

Home / Swivel Hub/Knuckle Kit - Land Cruiser 80 Series & Lexus LX450 (SH6)

Information

Article number:	DT-SH6
Availability:	Out of stock

Knuckle Kit for Land Cruiser 80 Series & Lexus LX450

With the 8” high pinion live axle front end, and late model HD Land Cruiser 70 series high pinion front ends from 2000 model year and on.

Kit contents is listed below.

Note: The earlier Land Cruiser 70 series - such as the LJ78, KZJ78, HZJ73, HZJ77 & related - with high pinion front differential up to 1999 does not use this kit, instead use DT-SH5

FJ80, FZJ80, HDJ80, HDJ81, HZJ80, HZJ81, LX470.

Pro Service Tips:

• Birifields & Drive Flanges: If you are working on an earlier vintage 80 series which uses the short style birfields (CV joints) and related short drive flanges, it's very important to check the splines for wear at the end of the stub shaft where they engage the drive flange.

Wear at the splines can and will lead to failure of these parts at a very inopportune time such as on a Friday afternoon right before a long weekend when you're wanting to go away on an adventure.

When the splines are worn it is prudent to replace these items with the later, longer, birfields and drive flanges. These items are listed in the "related products" at the bottom of this page.

• Grease leaking from the knuckle after a service, or if it's what's making you service your front end: A common reason to service the front end is from a sludgy greasy and oily mess leaking from the knuckle wiper seals. This can be caused by several factors and should be addressed when servicing your front end to "fix" the issue.

• loose front wheel bearings - adjust according to the factory service manual. Pay close attention to the directions as most "loose bearings" can be related back to improper adjustment with not being set tight enough the majority of the problem, especially with larger than stock tires. In my experience, bearing failures or problems occur far more often when bearing are initially set too loose than from being set too tight.

• worn spindle bushings - this can cause the birfield to 'walk around' under load and cause the inner axle to create a gap in the inner axle oil seal.

• clogged axle vent - pressure can build up inside the axle housing and push oil out to the knuckles.

• worn front axle shaft - wear at the seal surface on the outer portion of the inner axle can cause the oil seal to gap and leak oil, especially when under a load.

Lots of people blame the knuckle kit for oil and grease leaks and then try to solve the problem by using 'fancy' seals made by a couple of different suppliers. In my experience, these seals are a solution looking for a problem to solve - and that problem is incomplete servicing of the front end.

• Spindle Bushings: Also, it's important to consider updating or replacing the spindle bushing and bearing, or the entire spindle, if these parts are worn. The early versions of the spindle use a bronze bushing, the later versions use a short bushing for thrust and a needle bearing.

If the spindle bushings are worn out a few different things can happen: you will get a low frequency vibration or chatter in the front end and/or you will also get leakage of the axle oil into the knuckle grease as the inner axle seal will gap slightly under load, especially when off-road and in a turn. This will cause leakage of liquefied grease from the knuckle wiper seal.

• Inner Axle Shafts: Liquefied grease leaking from the knuckle wiper seals can also be related to a worn seal surface on the inner axle shaft. When the seal surface on the axle shaft wears out, the seal can gap under load and cause oil to leak into the knuckle housing, causing the grease to mix with the oil, then liquefy and leak out of the housing.

It is possible to band-aid this situation by installing speedi-sleeves over the worn areal, or by slightly changing the seal seating depth so the seal sits on a less worn part of the shaft, however neither of these will end up being a long term solution.

The only proper long term solution is to replace the axle shafts themselves.

Kit Contents: