LUVTruck.com

Ok, so I'm hip deep into this deal. I have dissasembled most of the two front corners and am down to removing the axle shafts. I removed the inner boot but can't free the shaft from the housing, it slides in and out a few inches them stops short of coming out. I don't want to force it or screw anything important up so I stopped and need some advice. I see the 4 bolts that APPEAR to hold a plate that may be the issue? If I remove them should the axle come out?

I have all new parts to replace the works, Inner/outer tue rods, upper/lower ball joints, upper A-arm shafts. all seals and bushings, shocks, brakes, new rubber for all the links, etc. so need it or not I'm doing it all, any tips on any aspect will be greatly appreciated, I don't have a shop manual, just relying on my mechanics instinct to get me through it



(Also, I'm swapping the steering box out from an 86 Trooper to add power steering. I have the complete PS box and steering arm. Do I keep the LUV steering arm or swap it for the Trooper arm with the box? Any tips?

On a Trooper you have to drop the entire front axle assembly out onto the ground, not sure about a pickup but I suspect they are the same. At least go buy a Haynes/Chilton manual, not as good as a shop manual but it should be a big help.
If the Trooper arm is the same length and offset and the steering arm will bolt up no need to change. If different you could probably still use the Trooper pitman arm as long as you also used the Trooper idler arm.
The power steering mounting bracketry and pulleys from the '86 2.3 may not be a bolt-on swap to the '80 1.8, see if you can find an '84 or '85 trooper with the 1.9 engine if you can't modifiy to fit the '86 parts. There are posts on how to mate the two steering shafts.

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'78 Chevy LUV,1.9,4sp,headers,31's,SAS Dana 30,Dana 20,SOA rear w/Aussie Locker, rough body, bought new 12/4/78.
'87 Trooper,2.3,5sp,headers,31's,ball joint flip & spacer,Aussie Locker rear,Superwinch hubs,brush guard w/5.5K winch,more to come.

Ok, I can drop the axle to the ground, question though, why would that be required? It doesn't appear that being bolted to the frame has anything to do with the axle comming out of the tube? I plan to buy a manual but all the stores with one are closed around here today. Anyone have a minute to look in thiers to offer some instruction or confirm the drop the entire axle out deal?

On the steering arm/PS swap....Great! I was told on another thread here on Luvtruck that the 86 stuff will work, now I bought the wrong stuff? Bummer.

It's been awhile since I done mine but I think there's a lock ring in there in the housing and be sure you keep turning the CV shaft while you put pressure on it, I could be wrong about the lock ring it's been awhile since I've redone mine just take a pick and run around the edge and if it's there you'll feel it. I'll take alook in my book and get back to you.

Thank you for looking in your book! I fished around for a lock ring but so far no cigar. I'll tell you one thing, these little trucks are built like tanks! I can't believe how much stuff you have to unbolt to do simple R&R jobs! Dang bolts are murder to get loose (upper control arms!)

In the Trooper book it shows a snap ring right at the edge of the housing on the inside, hope that helps.

Ok, I'll wipe all the grease away and see what i find. I did locate a Chiltons that was hidden in my truck! problem is that in the step by step axle removal it basically tells you to drop and drain the entire axle assembly but gets very vague about the actual process of removing the shafts so not much help, funny though, thier illustration looks almost identical to my picture above, everything appart, but the axle still connected to the housing, no further instruction.

Ok, here it is for the next guy who finds himself in my shoes someday.

To change the axle shafts and or the CV boots you do need to drop the entire front axle assembly. Furthermore, you should also remove pretty much the entire front suspension as well because most of it will either make the job impossible, or much more time consuming in struggling to get the axle assembly in and out (this includes the lower control arms and torsion bars). I wrestled it out leaving the LCA's in place but it took some struggling getting it around all the remaining parts in the way, I have a feeling getting it back in will be no picnic.

Here are the pics that Chiltons left out, (probably because the first pic would scare off most anyone wanting to do the job at home!)

There is a C-clip around the axle stub that is enclosed inside the center section when the axle mount is bolted to the truck, there's no way to access it without dropping the axle tube & center section down and pulling off the axle tube mount/hanger/flange deals.

Good write up, When I changed my front diff years ago to get 4.56 gears in my old 80 luv I did have to drop the whole thing to get the cv's out of a trooper but can't remember having to drop the front on the luv(must have) to install the 4.56 diff. Geting to old and work on too much stuff but good info thank's.

Ok, next question.....

This might seem simple (and probably is) but I can't get the idler arm off the damn thing! The castle nut spins the entire through bolt assembly when I try to remove it, I used an air wrench to try to blast it off before it could spin, no cigar. Tryed clamping it with a C-clamp, no cigar, I'm out of ideas.

*BTW, I did try to remove the large nut that anchors the arm to the frame, HA! GOOD LUCK! I had a 6 foot breaker bar bending like a bannana and it wouldn't break free!

I would try to hold that rounded thing from spinning with a pipe wrench, you may be able to grab an edge with that.
While someone is pulling hard on that 6 ft breaker bar, try whacking the bolt head hard with a hammer if you can. If the socket is covering the head remove it and whack it anyhow and try again. This works many times. Impack wrench would help here also.

I got it. I removed the other end from the pitman arm and pried down on it to give it some pressure and zipped it off with the impact. So much for designing for servicability, would it have bee so hard to put a hex or at least two flats on the stupid thing?

Slightly OT, but where did you source all your replacement pieces?
My front end is shot and I need all the bushings replaced. (and likely ball joints and tie-rods too.) Were you able to buy a bushing kit?

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1980 4x4, 3" body lift, G180/G180 head, Pacesetter header, Offenhauser Dual Port Intake, Weber 32/36, Electronic Ignition, Glasspack & a Smokestack.

All of the parts I bought were sourced at either NAPA or ebay. Some of the bushings do not appear to be available, namely the diff mount rubbers but they are a simple round generic type bushing so that's an easy fix.

Also the drivers side half shaft axle, inner axle is not offered new as a complete assembly but the outer assembly is on it's own so I just replaced the outer half shafts and CV joints after getting it all appart, I reused the inner CV joints after complete dissasembly, clean, and re-grease with all new boots.

The inner axle seals and pressed on bearings do not appear to be available but a local bearing supplier sad they can match the old ones. Stay tuned, still working on that one. I'm most concerned about the inner axle grease seal as it is the only part that looks worn/ruined.

Ummm, I know its scary but you can get half-shafts at Autozone or Oreilly auto parts.

Autozone PN: 7755 LS, 7756 RS
Oreilly PN: 60-1118 LS, 60-1027 RS

Sorry, I only know because I was going to totally redo my front-end until I decided to do a solid axle swap.

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Jim
80 LUV 4X4 Stock Drivetrain, 3" Body Lift, Shackles & Torsion Twist
99 K2500 7.4l 4l80e all stock

I got the half shafts (both look identical) except the drivers side does not include the long axle that goes into the center section, you need to R&R that off and reuse the old one.

I found no service manual help in getting everything appart but after some digging around and removing the boots and all the grease I found out how to get them dissasembled (a very thin wire retainer ring that is well hidden in a tiny machined groove is what holds the big CV bearings and races in place). This leads to another subject relating to my first post on this thread! You CAN remove the CV joints and outer axles without removing the entire front axle! You just remove the above mentioned retaining wire ring (again, which is well hidden!) and the CV bearing assembly comes out releasing the outer joints and axles........Wish I had figured this out sooner, would have saved some time.


I now have them back together, now just have to have the bearings pressed back on at the machine shop before I can put the front end back together.

*Another little related issue......AFAIK the inner axle shaft seal (the one that goes inside the I.D. of the brass shaft ring seal) is not available, a decent replacement is but it does look a little different than the original, should be ok but lacks the fine lip seal of the original.

The ones that I looked at included the long shafts to go into the differential housing

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Jim
80 LUV 4X4 Stock Drivetrain, 3" Body Lift, Shackles & Torsion Twist
99 K2500 7.4l 4l80e all stock

Well it's comming together finally! I am just waiting for a few small parts, brake flex hose clips and some strut bushing kits to arrive and I can button up the front suspension and put the wheels back on. I discovered that one of my hubs has a cracked cover from someone tightening the bolts wrong or something, looks like I'll need to find one somewhere to replace it.

Does anyone have a procedure for reinstalling the hubs properly so that I don't have the same issue?

I have a complete set of hubs if youre interested in them. I think theyre just missing the springs, but the rest is there as long as you have the hardware(bolts, retaining clips, stuff like that). Hit me up if youre interested.

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Jim
80 LUV 4X4 Stock Drivetrain, 3" Body Lift, Shackles & Torsion Twist
99 K2500 7.4l 4l80e all stock

I'm interested!