I've read a bunch of posts, but found no answer. I finally got the pre-load right (14lb, a little on the high side, but OK, I think), but when I turn the knuckle, I can "feel" the bearings. Sort of a ratchety feeling, not smooth like I'd expect a bearing to be. It's not due to the high preload, as it did the same thing at a too low 4lb. Is this normal?

If not, here's what I've done, so far:

1) Greased the bearings a lot. By hand, though, not with a bearing packer.
2) Swapped bearings. My old ones looked OK when I took them out, so I tried them instead of the new bearings that came with the knuckle rebuild kit.
3) Verified the race in my new Diamond axle was OEM Toyota. As mentioned above, the behavior was the same with new 3rd-party bearings and with (used) Toyota ones.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mark

I'm in the process of rebuilding my knuckles right now and the shop manual calls for a preload from 4-just a little over 8lbs. I was wondering if you just used the old shims with the install of if you used new ones. I know the manual calls for a special service tool to get the correct shim thickness but I'm wondering if it can be done without it.

My problem turned out to be mismatched races and bearings. I used the races that came in the Diamond axles, but those could have been 20+ years old, as it appears Diamond uses used knuckle balls, not new ones. Anyway, once I installed the races that came with the bearings I was using, it worked OK.

Hunter, my FSM says the knuckle preload is around 8-13lbs. Are you sure you're not referring to the wheel bearing preload?

Anyway, I ended up using one thick shim that was on before, and none of the others from the kit, or the other thin ones that were on before. Mine's a little tight - around 14lbs - I figure they'll settle a little and I'd rather they be a little on the tight side, anyway.

Mark