By L_Tilly on Wednesday, August 22, 2001 - 09:11 am: Edit

I posted this question as a continuation of an earlier thread but I think it got passed over, so...

This weekend I'm pulling my swivels apart to replace the seals. I have looked over some options and will most likely be doing the service as per the shop manual (ie from the outside going in). MY parts order includes seven or so seals as well as replacement roller bearings for the stub axel (AB advised that w/ 70k + miles they may be due for replacement, and since they were only about $10 each I figured "why not").


My main question here deals with the crome swivel ball itself. Since I'm going to have this puppy out how could I go about cleaning its exterior really well? After about 1000 miles since I switched over to synthetic oil, the balls on both sides have become quite clean (they were previously covered by grease & gunk). However, there is one small patch on the top of the passenger ball that has some black buildup. It's a small patch right next to the seal and is definetly "on top" of the ball, as oposed to being gouges in the ball itself. I really want to clean this off so that the ball is doing its job unhindered and the build up doesn't put unneeded wear on the seal. As an FYI, this is NOT the side that has the blown seal.

In addition to cleaning the swivel ball, if there are any other suggestions out there, please speak up! I'm going to look over the shop manual pages again this evening or tomorrow and may post additional questions if something jumps out.

L_Tilly lnctilly@mediaone.net
96 Disco "Beowulf" - NH, USA

By dougjames on Wednesday, August 22, 2001 - 10:04 am: Edit

Re: cleaning it well-No.The dirty area is 'outside the articulation range' of the swivels. It has no influence on anything other than YOUR desire for it to be clean. Clean it. Replace the seals, etc. Go get it dirty after !