A twist to the cold weather spindle bushing

landtank · 01-25-07, 06:41 PM

I had an experience today with my truck. After 2 hours of 75mph highway driving I had a distinct vibration come over the truck. It could be felt in the steering wheel and on the floor.

As of right now I think it's the spindle bushings.

Until now cold weather problems with the bushings have been with first startup in the morning. But I feel this is my problem. I equate this to the age of my truck and a new problem related to an old culprit.

A few old timers might remember my first bout with cold weather spindles and the trouble I had with finding the problem. This time it's more of a ZEN feeling and I'm ready to react.

I'm not sure right now how I'll proceed but I'm thinking:

2 - 150.00 birfs off of EBay
2 - brass bushings
2 - drive flanges

My thought is to couple the repair with an evaluation of the JDM birfs. Unlike usual Dan only gets a piece of this pie but it's for the better good.

IdahoDoug · 01-25-07, 06:47 PM

Why not make one of Beo's bushing greaser things? Shove fresh grease in there in a few minutes time and see if that's the issue. I hope it was Beo's, anyhow..

DougM

landtank · 01-25-07, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IdahoDoug

Why not make one of Beo's bushing greaser things? Shove fresh grease in there in a few minutes time and see if that's the issue. I hope it was Beo's, anyhow..

DougM

At some point there is no compensating for wear. I had everything pulled apart not that long ago, maybe 25k ago, so I think this is just the next phase in bushing wear.

Kind a kin to how clicking starters are moving toward ignition switches instead of the old standby of contacts.

beno · 01-25-07, 07:04 PM

Maybe some new spindles might be just the ticket Rick....

landtank · 01-25-07, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beno

Maybe some new spindles might be just the ticket Rick....

The thing is, I had one of those Birfs in my hands and it looked real nice. Now with this new problem I'm thinking a good controlled study of these birfs might be a good idea. I have two weeks vacation coming up in a few weeks and will pile on about 15k before winters is over on these guys if I put them in now.

My originals have some age related wear as you can imagine and will make excellent spares should I grenade one.

beno · 01-25-07, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by landtank

an evaluation of the JDM birfs.

Can you expand on this? Where will you be sourcing these from?

Sounds sweet.

-o-

landtank · 01-25-07, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beno

Can you expand on this? Where will you be sourcing these from?

Sounds sweet.

-o-

Cruiserparts.net offers, from what I was told, is JDM birfields. I helped a guy with his cruiser a while back and he bought and I installed a birf from cruiserparts.net.

While I didn't do a complete analysis between the oem and that unit it looked real good. The exciter ring transfered perfectly which was an issue with some other after market birfs.

So if you look on EBay you'll find this guy who sells birfs. If you dig deep enough into his feedback you'll find that this is where cruiserparts.net buys their birfs from.

I think most will assume Chinese junk but I'm willing to evaluate them to see what they are made of.

beno · 01-25-07, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by landtank

Cruiserparts.net offers, from what I was told, is JDM birfields. I helped a guy with his cruiser a while back and he bought and I installed a birf from cruiserparts.net.

While I didn't do a complete analysis between the oem and that unit it looked real good. The exciter ring transfered perfectly which was an issue with some other after market birfs.

So if you look on EBay you'll find this guy who sells birfs. If you dig deep enough into his feedback you'll find that this is where cruiserparts.net buys their birfs from.

I think most will assume Chinese junk but I'm willing to evaluate them to see what they are made of.

Copy that. Interesting.

Good luck with this and let us know what you find--

Beowulf · 01-25-07, 07:51 PM

Rick,

Any clue what this means:
1995-97 WILL REQUIRE THE USE OF A TOYOTA #43421-60040 NEW DRIVE FLANGE

This implies he is using an earlier style birfield that won't work with the later style drive flange.

-B-

beno · 01-25-07, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beowulf

Rick,

Any clue what this means:
1995-97 WILL REQUIRE THE USE OF A TOYOTA #43421-60040 NEW DRIVE FLANGE

This implies he is using an earlier style birfield that won't work with the later style drive flange.

-B-

Beo--I think that's why he listed 2 drive flanges above...Right?

landtank · 01-25-07, 08:02 PM

I think that's a miss print as his other auction has the same info but notes a 90-94 as needing the drive flange. On the truck I did which is a 93 it needed the thicker drive flange.

Tools R Us · 01-25-07, 08:47 PM

Or you could upgrade to some that are already packed and have boots!

Fleabay Link

Brother Brian's had a vibration, noise that only started at highway speed after fully warmed up, it turned out to be the pinion bearings.

Squash · 01-26-07, 08:30 AM

Make sure you measure your birf's length before ordering since there are two diferent lengths. Not a total problem because everything else fits. The solutions are proper drive flange thickness or spacers and extended dust caps if you end up with the wrong unit.

BTW I was just handed a set of birfs with grease fittings at the dust cap ends which offer the ability to get grease into the cage without removal, plus PRV/water release valves which will replace the normal filler plug for my 93. These birfs have been used in our Canadian underground mines for close to twenty years. I have spoken to our supplier and he is willing to help with any requirements.

Squash · 01-26-07, 09:45 AM

A few more photos

concretejungle · 01-26-07, 09:53 AM

squash, that's interesting stuff there.

Rick, i bought a spar birf from the guy on Ebay. I think they are made by CVunlimited out of SC. Anyway, it looks really nice and i figure for what i paid i can't lose. Right now it's just hanging out as a trail spare.

Squash · 01-26-07, 09:54 AM

Skid Plate with drain

Squash · 01-26-07, 10:00 AM

Some of you may like this sort of thing... Copied from Supplier

Prevent the attack of corrosive water,
grit abrasion, pitting, and seal damage
on the exposed Landcruiser axle
and swivel housing and king
pin bearings.
No more hard chroming of the
housing to extend working life.
No more seal destruction, grease
dilution and housing wear.

Contaminants that grind away
at the housing and seals
causing a full front end
replacement are kept
well at bay.
The fully sealed rubber boot
makes the housing impervious
to the wear and tear that is
a common problem on tough
off road conditions

Squash · 01-26-07, 10:14 AM

GEARLESS CENTRE DIFFERENTIAL

Our premium product is the Gearless Centre Differential transfer case conversion for the Toyota Landcruiser HZJ 75/ 78/ 79.(I am sure pre 1993 also applies) This converts the standard part-time transfer case into a full-time four wheel drive, making it the perfect 4WD differential. It functions as an automatic lock-unlock driveline torque balancer to prevent destructive axle wind-up when operating in 4WD continuously on hard surfaces. These forces are caused as the inside and outside wheels travel different distances during tight cornering.
By automatically indexing to neutralise windup, the Gearless Centre Differential acts with a full differential action through the transfer case between the front and the rear prop shafts.

Standard Toyota output gears -------------- Centre photo
Low speed Gearless Centre Differential --- First Photo
Two speed Gearless Centre Differential --- Last photo

landtank · 01-26-07, 12:48 PM

I may have jumped the gun but after another 5 hours on the highway there is quite the ruckus going on under the truck. I'm climbing under it to take a look in a few.

Probably just a U joint.

vahid · 01-26-07, 01:30 PM

Hey All,
Since a snow storm about three days ago in the DC Metro area, only rarely, when I first get on the road, experience the following on my '96 LX-450 about 122K miles truck:
When driving uphill, I think as the automatic trans shifits into second gear (at about 10-15 mph) I hear a faint grinding noise which lasts slightly more than a couple of second. It may or may not happen a second time within a few more soconds--but after that it tends to go away until another cold start.
It can be felt on the gas pedal too if it's too noisy in the cabin. It does not happen when braking or going downhill or at higher speeds or after about the fifth mile of driving.

Any ideas/instructions/pictures is appreciated in advace.
The u-joints haven't been replaced as best as I know. I do have a rattle noise in my exhaust system currently though I doubt that is the cause.
Also, I recently changed the front rotors+pads, thanks to the good instructions I found here) and packed my outer bearings with grease.

Does it sound like a U-joint problem? what do you think.