I originally started out just swapping in a 4.88 3rd member (finally!) in the front of my '85 Toyota. My inner axle oil seals must have been leaking a bit and the knuckles had gear oil in them. How far away am I from just pulling the knuckles off and doing a full rebuild? The leak probably isn't that bad, but when I park the truck and it isn't driven or moved for a couple months, a little bit of goo runs down the tire.

In order to yank the 3rd member, you of course have to pull off the hubs, spindles, and yank out the axles/birfs. But, the knuckles and steering arms are still left on. I'm not sure if I should continue and just throw it back together (I got new inner and outer oil seals), or if it's "easy" enough just to finish it off and pull the knuckles off and replaces the felt and wipers.

I've read the manual and Roger Brown's process, but not having done the work before I don't have a good "feel" for how much work is really left (particularly for stubborn parts such as ball joint seperation and those dang cone washers). My canumdrum is that I don't have replacement rebuilt kit and my truck would probably be down for another 2 weeks if I ordered today and paid for expensive overnight shipping. Whereas I could just throw it back together as is with the new seals and do a full rebuild later. I did completely dissassemble, clean, and regrease the locking hubs (and even painted the ends).

Your thoughts?