So I have the swivel ball out and I just noticed the mounting holes are wallowed out. They had black RTV in them so who ever replaced the seals last knew about this.
I'm thinking "while I'm in there to just go ahead and replace it. Need to pull the passenger side to change seals and I hope it's not the same.

 

I have heard of people doing that to compensate for lifted suspension geometry. As the lift gets higher the axle rotates a bit without proper radius arms to compensate.

 

WaltNYC if we ever meet I'll buy you a beer!
Thanks for this info, I'm certain that is exactly why these are slotted out. Saved me who knows how much grief not to mention $$$
Thanks again,
dcphotos

 

So still at this project. Waiting on parts from Rovah Farm. Trevor ROCKS!
While waiting I went ahead and replaced the bearing races for the axel. It's an easy enough job.
I was chasing threads and cleaning up bolts when I noticed the thread pitch on the bolts that hold the drive flange
on were stretched. I had order one replacement from Trevor as the PO had installed an "odd man out" bolt.
Nine more are now on order. I hope to have this project finished by weeks end. Time will tell...
dcphotos

Mr. Pink is the replacement I ordered to replace the one on the right. I'll now be replacing all of them.



replacing bearing race. easy job with the right tools.

 

That is a fancy race press tool. Another, low-tech way to do it is to use an old race (that I cut a slot in) to hammer them in.

 

So I finally got my Disco back on her feet after over a month. It was a greasy, sweaty road but now that I’m on this end of it I’d say it was worth it.
The Texas heat had me going thru 3-4 shirts a day.
This started out as the need to replace the driver’s side swivel seal that was leaking and the passenger’s side inner seal that was leaking 00 grease into the axle.
Shipwrights disease took over and I ended up replacing all the wheel bearings, seals and upgrading to Defender 90 vented brakes. The rotors were down to 10mm and the RAVE says 12mm
Is the limit before replacing them. Since I needed new rotors and pads, I opted to spend the extra $$ on the larger D90 calipers. Pads and rotors were pretty much the same price.
I bought some brake line and made up new hard lines as well. Again, easy enough.
In all it wasn’t that bad a job, waiting on parts stalled it out more than anything.
Brakes seem to be better but I haven’t checked the rear pads and rotors so I have a feeling they are shot as well. I’m on the fence upgrading them to D110 kit that Rovers North has.
I most likely will, Shipwrights and all.
driver's side all cleaned up


D90 rotor

stock rotor and pads. Pads have 40K miles on them

one greasy mess

wheel bearing in dire need of fresh grease. I changed them out for new.

housing freshly painted after media blasting


passenger side all buttoned up

new hard lines fitted

just back from test drive. all good

nice to NOT see grease weeping

 

that looks great. Nicely done on 'The Full Monty'

 

Thanks for starting this thread @dcphotos ! I am in the process of dealing with my swivel ***** as well, as I realized a good about of grease was coming out. Upon cleaning the grease off I recognized a good bit of pitting. Just to get anyones opinion, does this pitting (see image) result in a rebuild? Thoughts on epoxy? I'm pretty sure the seals need replacing, but this pitting I'm pretty sure is causing some of the issue also.

 

Those need to be addressed or you are in danger of running your cv dry. I don't know if epoxy will work. If replacing, try to find the teflon-coated swivel *****.

 

The photo shows extensive damage to the sealing surface. The swivel ball needs to be removed to replace the seal, so would be good to replace the swivel ball. A new seal alone will not help much. Interesting idea to try epoxy, but will need to be sanded smooth and round. The swivels cost a pretty penny, but I wish I would have sprung for new at the time. Agree with Walt that teflon coating is the way to go, but maybe you could find used chrome on ebay in decent condition, if budget is a concern.

The surfaces on my swivels have many small pits, 3mm range or so. There is a bit of leakage, but the grease stays put mostly. Have not needed to add for over 2 years, but not daily drivers.

Recommend against replacing wheel bearings unless they are worn out. Factory bearings likely better quality than replacements. I would carefully inspect the swivel bearings and stub axles, then replace if needed. Mine needed replacing. Then it is very important to make sure you get the proper shims to set the preload. The Workshop Manual has a very good write-up for this. I found shims at Rovers North, but several years ago now.

For my trucks, this work, along with replacing some bushings (panhard rod, radius arms) helped minimize the steering wheel shake when driving over train tracks, etc. The steering improvement could be the most important aspect of the job.