Topic: installed steering pin upgrade kit

[skittles]

So I guess the title sums it up lol
I ordered the kit a week or two ago and after two days and a little patience I got it all put back together I really gotta give marlin a this kit is sweet
It all installs twice as easy as the factory steering pins and trunion bearings. The bearings that come with it are koyos to clear up any confusion any of you might have on the kit.  The new 25mm chromoly pins slide into the inner bearing races like butter once you get everything lined up just right. Let me tell you these things are BEEF!!!!!
I don't think this kit will have any problem lasting me for years to come.
I decided to purchase this kit because I had my passenger side front tire leaning in toward the truck so bad that the felt gasket was pinched between the knuckle and the shock mount.  I tore apart the bad side first and found out that both top and bottom trunion bearings had failed and turned into shrapnel the outer surface of my 30 spline longfield was also scarred up a little bit. The lower bearing race itself was in pieces both flimsy bearing cages were crushed and mutilated. So I moved onto the drivers side which externally no damage could be seen when I removed the lower bearing cap PLOP all the pieces of this bearing seem to be in the same condition as the passenger side. Finally when I removed the drivers side upper bearing it amazingly was still in tact. The cage was loose and sloppy but it was still in tact.  Now I started to think to myself what could have caused all this even though I just rebuilt this axel less than 2000 miles ago. I did a little research on the subject and found that trail gear uses chinese knuckle bearings and this is who I purchased my knuckle rebuild kit from. But now I have some nice new japanese (KOYO) bearings in there and shouldn't have anymore problems.

Moral of the story is don't buy chinese bearings or you'll end up with a chromoly steering pin upgrade kit =)

THANKS MARLIN FOR HELPIN ME GET MY FRONT AXLE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.

     Trent

[OOPS]

TG bearings are JUNK. I broke an upper and lower and wiped out a 30-spline Longfield, and this was on the street. I contacted them and they told me that I was the only one to ever have this problem.

I just finished installing the upgrade kit myself after breaking a trunion pin in Moab this year.

[kneedownnate]

Great heads up and all, but where are the pics 

Oh, and everybody gets one TG screw up.  We can only hope that enough people have enough issues with them that they'll go under.  I'm sure there are some good people working there, so I only hope they'll quickly find gainfull employment somewhere that isn't the axis of evil 

[REG535]

x2 on pics

[skittles [OP]]

I can take a picture or two of it all installed however I failed to get any pics of the actual carnage.

[OOPS]

It was so easy to do I did not take any pictures. As long as the steering arms have a one inch pin, it is just a matter of pressing out the old ones and pressing in the new ones. If the holes are not one inch (TG) then the have to be milled or reamed to one inch, I would not use a drill bit. You want them a tight fit.

I was lucky, my six-stud were made by Marlin and they had the one inch pin, also they are made from billet steel. I do not know what TG's six hole arms are made from.

[86rustbucket]

chit, i have some tg bearings that are bound for the dumpster anybody know where to get quality bearings?      marlin seems to be out

[jimbo74]

chit, i have some tg bearings that are bound for the dumpster anybody know where to get quality bearings?      marlin seems to be out

at better parts stores, you can usually cross reference the numbers and find a good set, i think there are some made by timken and also nsk that are awesome as well

[86rustbucket]

or should i reuse the old ones they are koyo and they seem to roll pretty smooth?

[OOPS]

If the bearings and races are good, why change them. Use a good quality hy-tack grease when re-packing them. Make sure the preload is set right on the knuckles.

[87pickup]

I too have the 25mm pin upgrade and love them. They were super easy to install and i bought them for the strength factor.Also because when i ran wheel spacers the studs on the stock lower trunions were pretty susceptible to rock rash making them a pain to remove later

[86rustbucket]

OH YEAH  i just found 4 toyota bearings on ebay 4 24$