Parts list for D1 swivel preload job

robot808

robot808

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Aug 30, 2009
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Elmhurst,IL
I want to help a friend with his 96 D1 with ABS. I sold him my truck a while back and now he has the Wobble of Death. Knowing what I had done to it, I think the preload is about the only thing that is left to be done up front.

So, could somebody tell me all the parts needed to do the job?
I changed the wheel bearings recently before selling it to him, so those shouldn't need to be changed.

Does anyone sell a kit?

Thanks for any help,
 
p m

p m

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Apr 19, 2004
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At a minimum, you won't need any parts at all - as long as the swivels have an assortment of shims of various thicknesses. It is not always the case - the last one I did only had two kinds of shims, and there weren't enough of thin ones to adjust the preload correctly. So check AB (roverparts.com) for a set of shims.

You _may_ want to replace the little bearings, or Railco bushings, or the entire upper halves of the "kingpins." I did it once, but never felt any difference.

You may also want to keep at hand cotter pins for the TREs, and maybe spare castellated nuts as well - depending how long ago those were tightened, you may end up mangling them somewhat.
 
Tugela

Tugela

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May 21, 2007
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Ha! I just did a complete swivel rebuild myself. And by "just", I mean when I was home 3 months ago. It was easy but went slowly. I went all in and replaced the swivel pins, CV shaft end bearings, wheel bearings, swivel bearings, shims, 1-shot, seals, the works. But only because my truck has 150K miles and I don't think any previous owner touched any of these things and I always get sucked into the "While I have everything apart I might as well also..." mentality.

But yeah, basically to reset the swivel pin preload without doing any of the other crap I did, you just need shims and the tools for the job. I had 0.05, 0.10, 0.30, maybe another size in my assortment. Rovers North sells them new, but PT or Will or somebody will probably send you some in an envelope for cheap.
 
R

robertf

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Jan 22, 2006
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for those of us who have given up on ABS will a defender upper swivel swap in place?
 
d1driver

d1driver

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Oct 19, 2005
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Pittsburgh, PA
I removed shims a few years ago and it tightened mine up. I now have 182k miles on it and everything is nice and tight still.

Get some shims from someone in different thicknesses. While taking yours apart, measure the shims in there now with a caliper and write their thickness on the shims themselves. Add up to see where you are now. Then, with the combination of new shims and your old ones, go down maybe 10%. Put it back together and see how it feels. Not enough, go down another 10%.

This worked for me. Then again, my wheel bearings and all the seals were already replaced.
 
p m

p m

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ptschram said:
To do it right requires a pile of parts. To do it the CB way...

Upper swivel pin
Upper swivel bushing
Upper swivel bearing
Lower swivel bearing
Shims
That's the minimum, but "while you're in there", hub bearings, hub seals, drive flange gasket.

I've got it all in stock but don't have access to pricing right now.
Click to expand...

PT, is it bad that I never changed lower swivel bearings on any of my trucks, including a quarter-million-mile Disco?
They seem to be doing fine.
 
ptschram

ptschram

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Sep 27, 2004
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p m said:
PT, is it bad that I never changed lower swivel bearings on any of my trucks, including a quarter-million-mile Disco?
They seem to be doing fine.
Click to expand...

Peter-there would have been a point where I would have said no, but in the past two years or so, I've seen at least two where the lower bearing came out in pieces and the wheels was inches away from falling off.

Many, many, many folks don't think replacing the upper bushing or pin is important, but if you look at both closely, you're gonna find wear on both.

As for swapping out to the Defender upper pin, there is nothing to be gained from this and the availability of the ABS parts is getting slimmer and slimmer everyday.

I am deeply saddened at the loss of replacement parts availability that I see every stinking day.
 
p m

p m

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ptschram said:
Peter-there would have been a point where I would have said no, but in the past two years or so, I've seen at least two where the lower bearing came out in pieces and the wheels was inches away from falling off.
Click to expand...
Hmmm... will check next time.
I did replace the upper pins on one truck, but I haven't really noticed any wear. You just reminded me that the 3-deg-clocked outers I bought on DWeb didn't see any swivel preload love from me.
 
Knightspirit

Knightspirit

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Sep 22, 2019
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Mount Shasta, CA
I am just looking to do this as well - and I was initially going to just remove the thinnest shim from both sides to see if it changes anything regarding my consistent death wobble. But as I looked at it - it appears that you have to completely unhook the brake line from the caliper - thus making this a much bigger deal than I hoped (ie now the brakes have to be bled etc). Can anyone confirm this for me - is there a way around disconnecting the brake line?

Thanks!
 
tpsykes

tpsykes

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Mar 10, 2016
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Gate City Va
Knightspirit said:
I am just looking to do this as well - and I was initially going to just remove the thinnest shim from both sides to see if it changes anything regarding my consistent death wobble. But as I looked at it - it appears that you have to completely unhook the brake line from the caliper - thus making this a much bigger deal than I hoped (ie now the brakes have to be bled etc). Can anyone confirm this for me - is there a way around disconnecting the brake line?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
You may be talking about the abs sensor? It just slides out.
 
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