RE: TOY: Birfield Joint or Hub

["Payne, Mike K." <MPayne1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Time is one thing I do have... 15 hours (in my case probably twice that for
lack of experience) of grease and dirt doesn't scare me.  I took off a week
from work (gotta use my vacation sometime) just to take this on, so I
wouldn't be rushed.  I even acquired a friends spare vehicle to make parts
store trips (wife will have the car and my other truck... well it has seen
better exhaust days) so I think I am set. But like I said in my last post
there seems like a lot of unknowns and things I could screw up pretty
seriously for not knowing what I am doing...

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	David Morrison [SMTP:davidm3286@yahoo.com]
> Sent:	Wednesday, September 06, 2000 11:30 PM
> To:	toyota@4x4wire.com
> Subject:	RE: TOY: Birfield Joint or Hub
> 
> 
> --- "Payne, Mike K." <MPayne1@allstate.com> wrote:
> > I was told that a birfield would cause steering
> > malfunctions... is that the
> > case or is that only normal but not definite?
> 
> It can but not always...esp if it hasn't broken into
> pieces yet.  A lot of times it will severely limit
> turning radius...but not always.  My guess is that you
> have a cracked Birfield that has not broken into
> pieces.  Quick and dirty fix is to go in replace that
> birfield, replace the inner axle seal and use RTV to
> seal all the hub surfaces.  For your first time figure
> 2 to 3 hours.  I've seen guys do this in under an hour
> on the trail when they had the complete axle shaft to
> swap in.  It takes me slightly over an hour to do it.
> 
> 
> > In 2WD the truck seems fine so I was hoping it
> > wasn't a birfield... mostly
> > because I am not looking forward to digging the
> > pieces out...
> > 
> > Thanks for the input though...
> > 
> > IN any event I will be tearing down the front
> > assemblies on both sides down
> > to the birfields one way or the other (preferably
> > intact) and I was hoping
> > someone would have an idea of what I will need... I
> > plan on replacing all of
> > the "wearable" parts while I have it apart... inner
> > and outer bearings and
> > any seals etc... but to be honest I am unsure what
> > exactly all of that
> > entails... a list of suggested parts to have on hand
> > would be preferable if
> > anyone has the time or inclination.  Suggestions on
> > where to get parts would
> > be excellent... aside from the obvious part stores. 
> > (I am new at this can
> > you tell? :))
> 
> Thats a dirty long job, I just did it a couple of
> weeks ago.  You can buy an axle rebuild kit that
> includes all the seals and gaskets as well as the
> knuckle bearings... AllPro has them for around $120. 
> Wheel bearings, inner and outer you can get from local
> parts houses...I got Timkin for around $80.  Then you
> have the birfields...used replacements run about $50
> each at All Pro, Marlin or the yards, All Pro carries
> a new HD joint for $129 then there are the Marfields
> from Marlin or the Newfields from CV Unlimited for mid
> to high $200's.  
> 
> My knuckle bearings weren't real bad, but did have
> some brindling and scoring.  The streeing feel is
> noticably better.  My wheel bearings and races looked
> great so I didn't replace them.  I took my time, since
> I hadn't taken the knuckles completely apart before
> and also pulled the 3rd member, it was also a hot
> summer day in TX.  I cleaned everything up, but did
> not prime & paint.  I also used a die grinder to clean
> up the gouges on the inside of the housing from broken
> birfields and the inner axle seal mount where the PO
> had removed the seal with a screwdriver or chisel. 
> Total time took me about 15hrs
> 
> =====
> David Morrison
> Austin TX
> 96 BMW 328i Sedan
> 85 4Runner Crawler, Lifted 
> 
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