Tools for birff job - Page 3

Brentbba · 04-05-09, 10:36 AM

Boyd had a smiliar tool for the inner axle seals. Made installing them very easy. I'd get it. If I thought I'd ever run into you, I'd ask you buy a second one for me, reimburse you and split the shipping costs! Bearings and races are as stated above a brass drift job unless you've got a press. Mike and I did ours together as rookies under the guidance of Boydmick. I think we were both tink, tink, tink on side one and BAM, BAM BAM on side two once we learned that there was no way a brass drift was going to damage anything!

Bluetribal · 04-05-09, 11:00 PM

I will place the order for the Marlin seal installer tomorrow. I will probably get the seals from him as well and return the Toyota ones or pass them onto the next birff victim.

So I spent $90 at NAPA yesterday. And I got a free bucket out of it. They had a promotion for a free bucket with a purchase of $25 or more. Hay, I should have gotten 3 then!
Anyway, I got the 6 tubes of Valvoline Poladium, 3 qts Valvoline 80-90 gear oil, 100 Raven gloves, Engine cleaner, and 4 Lg bottles of brake cleaner. I also got 4 tubes of NAPA Premium wheel bearing grease because the guy said it was higher rated than the Valvoline wheel bearing grease. But I am not buying it 100% plus I think I want to switch to a tub rather than the tube for the grease gun. It's going to go in my hand anyway so why switch grease in the gun?

I didn't get the brake fluid yet because I couldn't find how much I needed or what kind to get in the morning before I left.

I also had to exchange my Craftsmen dial torque wrench because I accidentally bought a 3/8" wrench instead of a 1/2" Fortunately they were both on sale for $59.99 so it was a straight swap.

So I think all that's left is some aluminum turkey trays to catch the goop, PVC pipe, 6x8x2 wood, maybe some coveralls and some new knuckle studs.

Oh, and I found a brass drift at the Tool Depot as well.

Bluetribal · 04-06-09, 01:36 PM

Well, just ordered the Marlin inner seals and install tool

And called up Toyota for Snap rings & the newer knuckle studs. I passed on the Spindle bushing since they wanted $80 a pop, probably over priced. So hopefully those will be in good shape on my rig or I will be running to Toyota Saturday before they close and riding my bike to work Monday.

landcruising · 04-06-09, 01:55 PM

On the trunion bearing races make sure you have a brass drift small enough to get on the lip when pounding them out. I borrowed one and seem to remember it being about 1/4-1/2 " diameter and long enough (about 10-12" long) to get through the top of the birf knuckle. It took some solid hits to break mine free. I was not comfortable using a socket extension as shown in the faq's since your entire steering is supported by these bearing and races. If I remember correctly it was simply some solid brass round stock that a friend got at marshalls hardware off miramar road.

I did not use a special tool for inner axel seal but used a larger diameter one seal press tool and taped in close than carefully tapped in the final amount. In hind site for piece of mind I would have purchased the Marlin tool for $14 and just shared with anyone in need. Maybe we could start a tool share program or list. We do this to a small amount in the beach and toys group since we don't all nead a swr meter for example.

Bluetribal · 04-06-09, 04:12 PM

Well I bought the Marlin Seal installation tool and will be happy to share it in the future!

The brass drift I found at Tool Depot is probably 8" long and is tapered down to a dull 1/4" point.

Bluetribal · 04-07-09, 12:45 PM

Well the American Toyota package came in yesterday and I got a 6' long 1 1/2" dia PVC pipe at Lowes.
Today I go to Napa today to swap out the bearing grease tubes with 1 qt tubs, buy 3 qts of brake fluid and get a gasket scraper, then it's off to Bob Baker Toyota to pick up the Knuckle Studs & snap rings.
Tomorrow I should be getting my package from Marlin with the seals and install tube.

So now, I think the last question is about the piece of wood someone recommended I get. Is this to hammer in the inner seal if I didn't buy the Marlin tool or is this to drill 1 1/2" holes in to put the birffs in to let them soak?

mkfour · 04-07-09, 11:36 PM

Birfs + wheel bearings or just birfs?

Either way, a bearing packer comes in handy.

You can fill a 5-gal bucket 1/2 up with diesel. Disassemble one side and pop some parts in the bucket. Meanwhile disassemble the other side. Then go back to the bucket and the diesel will have loosened up some of the crud and grease and makes cleaning a little easier.

Bluetribal · 04-08-09, 08:11 AM

Yeah, birffs, bearing, & rotors. Got my seals and install tool from Marlin yesterday. I also picked-up a gasket scraper & Valvoline brake fluid at Napa.
So now I just need to get my rotors from SD Trux and it's almost GO TIME>>>>>

Bluetribal · 04-09-09, 07:55 AM

Man, the rain is trying to put a damper on my Birff job.... It's only a 40% chance on Saturday but I will be pulled up to the garage with all of my tools & parts in the garage on the pool table and I will have to set-up the pop-up canopy over the front of the cruiser. What are you going to do?

Brentbba · 04-09-09, 09:07 AM

Make sure you've got enough room on each side to pull the inner axle out all the way in your garage!!!! ...and dont forget to lock your front lockers.

Dan2722 · 04-09-09, 10:09 AM

Well if we can't wrench at least we can shoot some pool.

See you Sat. morning.

Bluetribal · 04-09-09, 11:38 AM

Wont be in the garage but yeah there is a wall on my driver side that I will make sure I am 4' to 5' from.

No lockers :(

Thanks Brent

sdcrzr · 04-10-09, 04:30 PM

Hey Mark,

Didn't realize you were doing knuckles as well as brakes. Teaches me for not staying current with the forum.
Take your time. When you think it's clean, clean it again, use nothing but Toyota hardware, and of course, have plenty of beer on hand. Not allowed at the shop of course, but you weekend warriors, well........

You'll do fine.

Best of luck,
John

Bluetribal · 04-10-09, 06:45 PM

Thanks John, and thanks for the Brake Rotors!!! They are Kick Arse!!!!!

The truck is currently on stands and the damn bolts are bathing in PB blaster. Man that Caliper bolt is a biatch. I think you gunned it on too hard last time you changed my front brake pads!

sdcrzr · 04-10-09, 07:32 PM

Good seeing you today Mark. Thanks for the kudos on the rotors.
The "guns" do not exceed 80 - 90 ft.lbs. We finish the 90 ft.lb. torque spec by hand.
Put a breaker bar and your young back on it and you'll be fine.

John

Dan2722 · 04-11-09, 01:43 PM

Couple pics from this morning of the Birf job in progress....

Dan2722 · 04-11-09, 01:45 PM

Few more....

Brentbba · 04-11-09, 03:35 PM

Ugly looking soup in the birf!!! Looks like the inner seal is gone! Guess you knew that tho.

You arent' dirty enough yet! Keep the pics coming Dan. Progress will be fun to watch.

Just sitting comfortably in my lounge chair, with the laptop surfing mud and watching the Masters.

Brentbba · 04-11-09, 07:08 PM

No more pics?

Bluetribal · 04-11-09, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brentbba

Ugly looking soup in the birf!!! Looks like the inner seal is gone! Guess you knew that tho.

You arent' dirty enough yet! Keep the pics coming Dan. Progress will be fun to watch.

Just sitting comfortably in my lounge chair, with the laptop surfing mud and watching the Masters.

Yeah the passenger side was soupy but the driver side was not. We ended up having to take the lower knuckle bolts out first because we couldn't get the lower brake caliper bolts out. And when we dropped the lower bolts and the bearing the DS didn't drip at all while the passenger side did soup out a bit.

Ended up plenty dirty but I cleaned up well.

Hey I was watching the master too while doing a birff job. Benefit of working right outside the game room.

Bluetribal · 04-11-09, 09:59 PM

OK so I have some more pics but they are pretty ones with clean stuff.
Oh and Dan you need to stick to photographing landscapes because you do not know how to take flattering photos of people!!

So here is the passenger side all cleaned up

Here is a close-up of the knuckle with the old seal still in it. I will be replacing it with the Marlin inner seal tomorrow.

OK, the driver side. I have a little painting to do on the axles.

Close-up of driver side knuckle, again still the old seal in it.

Here is the spindle and spindle plates all cleaned up, should I wait till the plate is bolted up to the spindle to paint it?

Knuckle housing all cleaned up. Is it safe to assume that the housing stamped R2 is for the passenger side and the one stamped L2 is for the Driver side?

The Birffs soaking. Now these as the molly grease is less and less packed inside they are getting harder and harder to move around. Is this normal or should I bust them apart and swap sides. The larger one has me a little nervous.

And last but not least, a teaser of the SD Trux custom machined OEM rotors...

Brentbba · 04-12-09, 09:26 AM

Mike and I busted ours apart and swapped sides when we did this at Boyd's place. You can look for any wear in there, clean them out, etc.

So you're doing this over two days then?

Bluetribal · 04-12-09, 12:41 PM

Yeah, I have no idea how you guys did it in a day.... But my front axle and knuckles had about 1/4" - 1/2" of grease and grime on them.
So far today; I finished cleaning the hubs and brake dust shield, installed the Marlin inner seal, and mounted the new rotors to the hubs. But it is near impossible to torque those to 54 and keep them from spinning. I am holding the rotors on the table with both hands and pushing with my shoulder till the click. But that is really straining the back so I think I will wait until I mount them on the spindle to try and torque them the rest of the way.
I am going to hit the birffs real good now until cleaned out completely. We will see then if I am going to bust them apart or not.

BACK TO WORK! Break times over.

Bluetribal · 04-12-09, 09:31 PM

Well, I guess we can't all be successful on our birff attempts.

Well, I was struggling to hold the knuckle housing up while the top and bottom caps were seated. By the way that is a pain in the A$$ to do! Anyway while holding it in the prime position I grabbed the caliper bolts instead of the upper knuckle housing bolts. Anyway I start cranking away and they started getting tougher and tougher. By the time I realized I had the wrong bolts it was too late. I stripped the first two threads off of the caliper bolts so I will need to replace them, and it appears I have messed up the housing threads as well because I tried to put the correct bolts in with no luck.

So what are my options?

SOCALFJ · 04-12-09, 10:08 PM

That sucks man, what about using a Heli-coil to fix the first couple threads?

mkfour · 04-13-09, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluetribal

So what are my options?

You can try to re-tap the threads on both the caliper bolts and the housing. But I'd get new caliper bolts as that's an easy fix. In regards to the housing, there appears to be plenty of thread depth left and the fastening ability may not be jeopardized. The other resort would be to get a new/used housing.

Bluetribal · 04-13-09, 08:14 AM

Yeah, (4) new bolts are a given. And I only messed up the housing on the top of the knuckle. I didn't mess it up on the caliper tabs.

I guess I need to look up Heli-coil.

Dan2722 · 04-13-09, 09:07 AM

Ouch....those look worse than I was thinking when I talked to you last night. Let me know if I can help and I will try and swing by after work this week.

Don't be too hard on yourself everyone here has done something like this at least a couple times if they have ever wrenched. Think of it as a learning opportunity.

Bluetribal · 04-13-09, 09:21 AM

The

is dropping the housing off with John at SD Trux and he is going to make it all better. New bolts from Toyota won't be in until tomorrow so I am on stands until Wed it looks like.

Brentbba · 04-13-09, 09:37 AM

That's good news - your housing is in very good hands from everything I've heard here about John and SD Trux.

If it helps ease your pain, I broke the rear knock sensor replacing my PHH and the reostat switch removing my lower dash.

Both were not cheap to replace. We live and learn and in the process become better