Knuckles...

So today I started the dirtiest part of the restoration so far...the knuckle rebuild.  For those that don't know what the knuckles are...they are the front ball joints that allow the Landcruiser to have the front wheels in motion, the brakes and all the front bearings.  They are very important!  Today my goal was to tear down the passenger side so I could get the parts ready for cleaning and paint, and hopefully by next weekend be putting it back together.  I found wonderful instructions online and the process was VERY easy to tear down.  The first thing to do is remove the tire...followed by the hub, brakes, brake backing plate, spindle and finally the knuckle.  All the bolts came out easy...except for the last couple of brake lines...I'll deal with them later, but they are a pain.  The brakes were a piece of cake to take apart.  The most difficult part of the process was the steering and bearing studs.  They have to come out, but are held in by pesky cone washers.  A bit of research, a couple of nuts threaded on and a big hammer...and they turned right out.  The other problematic area was the axle seals inside the ball.  The seal puller I bought was a bit big, but after working at it they finally came out!  The final step in the process (there were 40 altogether for the tear down) was to wipe the grease out.  A role of paper towels later and it looks new.  Next up is cleaning the parts I can paint and painting them.