I should have taken a better look before I got started. Thought it was just a seal, turns out it a pitted swivel ball was the root cause of leaking grease.

For reference, here is a picture of a pitted swivel ball.



I'm sorta surprised it was so pitted because it doesn't do any wading or really even any off road of consequence. Just rain, snow, and condensation. Also curious about the location of the pitting...not entirely on the bottom of the ball but well up the front.

Bottom line, where is the best value source for swivel ***** and the rebuild kits (bearings, bushes, gaskets, shims, etc)? Is it likely that I will need new pins? Teflon or stainless? This thing is a kid-hauler so I don't need anything 'special', just effective.

Lets talk about swivel *****. I've watched the LR toolbox vids. Doesn't look too difficult. Any special knowledge out there?

 

Re: your *****
Trevor at Rovahfarm had the best price when I did mine, I would go ugly early and do all the parts there while it's apart....i did the "fish scale" tension method for mine...worked ok

 

I have chrome and black swivel ***** that are free of any pitting if you're interested.

 

There is an 'early' version and a 'late' version of the swivel *****. the later version are teflon coated to resist rust and pitting. I found a used axle at a scrap yard locally and got the whole axle. Mine ended up needing just about everything including a CV joint so that made more sense for me to get the complete axle.

If they have been leaking, chances are the pivot bearings are shot, as could be the rest of the bearings inside. Not worth doing twice Not a difficult thing to swap out the axle ends if you are replacing the whole end, it unbolts and bolts on quite easily, and by replacing the whole end, you don't have to worry too much about pre-load bearings and such (if you have a good replacement axle)

 

open the "fill" plug and see how much grease or oil is in your *****. I just did my seals and it takes all of an hour or two per side I'd say. I took half a day per side to do mine because I power washed and cleaned everything. I used the seal kits from Atlantic British.... just make sure you use the proper seals for your drive shaft. Oh and some ratchet wrenches are nice to have too.

There is a debate on grease/oil.... they sell one shot packets for the housing for like 12 bucks each. I just packed the cv with this Best CV Joint Grease Parts for Cars, Trucks & SUVs and filled with oil. Now I'm not sure if my way is the best way but its easier to change.... keep your ***** clean.

Like jim said there could be wear on your bearings so take this into consideration with your time frame or just buy everything and take back what you dont use...


edit: oh and if it were me I would just check my grease/oil and drain is possible and then fill with one shot packets or oil if you don't mind the leak till I gather all the parts.

 

I used oil until I got them replaced, then used the grease. I figured once I took them apart, not much sense in reusing the grease, and the oil is cheaper.

 

but he could spend $25 on the grease and it may last a little longer with all that pitting and less leakage

 

The leak was slow and I did install a new seal which hopefully slows it further until I assemble the parts for the job. I'll run one-shot grease until parts arrive.

Thanks to all.