Toyota knuckle ball pitting?

[skyhighZJ]

I’m in the process of rebuilding a used SFA from a 1981 Toyota and I have found the knuckle balls have mild pitting from being stuck in the mud too many times prior to me owning it. If I clean the metal up real good should I try to use a heavy paint then sand down to fill in these pits or just put it back together and run it?
@frankenyoter or any others ??

 

[hurt4x4]

As long as it's just mild pitting I'd just run them. The wipers and felt should still keep the axle grease in/water out.

 

[BigSouth]

I usually run some emory cloth over the ball to slick it up without removing that much material. Just to keep any burrs from snagging the wiper seals. I use regular old Rustoleum gloss black to coat everything. I’d also recommend upgrading to the rubber wiper seals. I don’t have much use for the fabric ones.

 

[skyhighZJ]

I got the upgraded kit from trail gear and it has the rubber wipers and yes I ran a scotch brite wheel over the whole thing but just worried about the pitting not giving it a smooth surface. I didn’t know if paint would last to seal it up or if something else would work better. I don’t want to go through all this and have them leak cause leaks make my eye twitch

 

[BigSouth]

The wiper seals are gonna slowly remove the paint where it rubs from side to side. A good synthetic grease will keep the ball sealed up and shiny. Never had one leak, but I don’t submerge mine in mud or water either.

 

[skyhighZJ]

The wiper seals are gonna slowly remove the paint where it rubs from side to side. A good synthetic grease will keep the ball sealed up and shiny. Never had one leak, but I don’t submerge mine in mud or water either.

I have no intentions of mudding this thing from here on out but where I got it from was a different story unfortunately.

 

[untchabl]

The front housing I'm using in my build has alot of pitting on the knuckle balls as well. As mentioned, just clean it up best you can and make sure you don't have any burrs then roll with it.