If you removed the balls and cages there is a strong chance they got reassembled backwards.
Rebuilt Axle - Now Won't Steer (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter fuzzywuzzy
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If you removed the balls and cages there is a strong chance they got reassembled backwards.
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- #62
DS - one of the holes for the brake caliper was stripped, one of the rear 10 mm bolts to hold on metal final piece of rear wipers sheared (over torqued from prior fix), and at the time one of the cone washers in lower trunion was locked in place. Finally used a lot of PB Blaster over 34 days and it disintegrated, rubber?, so wrong cone washer.
PS - I stripped one of the upper trunion bolt holes during re-assembly...over-torqued it.
All fully removed and cleaned, any way to tell inside from outside visually? I don't remember seeing any markings.
correct. and i would be ok with that. in his situation since the arm nuts are not properly torqued and the shim thickness is up for consideration because of new housings, its probably the smallest amount of time to spend to get a better idea if the sides are fighting each other or even his steering box is a full turn or two out of center. but your idea of birf cages would be number 2 on my list, but that involves a lot more nuts and bolts and time.
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- #64
@cruiserdan - here's a short post about my birf rebuild: How much CV wear is acceptable?
Here is a freshly opened OEM birfield. The outward-facing cage and star should look like this.
I still would start with removing the tie rod and checking if the wheels turn lock to lock by hand.
You should be able to track it down to one side.
Did you turn you knuckles lock to lock after you reinstalled the trunion bearing caps? Before installing your birfs? You should have to make sure they seated and everything was smooth.
You should be able to track it down to one side.
Did you turn you knuckles lock to lock after you reinstalled the trunion bearing caps? Before installing your birfs? You should have to make sure they seated and everything was smooth.
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- #67
Agreed - turns out I'm on daddy duty tonight so things are going to have to wait until tomorrow.
Equal parts hindsight and learning curve.
Agree with @customcruiser. pulling tie rods is a 15minute job. At very least, you can pin point where the issue is.
My money is on a trunion shell not seated properly.
My money is on a trunion shell not seated properly.
When my dad was on daddy duty, i had to hold the light
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- #70
Working on that with my son now, problem is that I have three and they bounce around like ping-pong balls and I can't think straight. If I go to garage to work on truck they follow when they should be in bed.
20/20 hindsight! It's a wonderful thing. 
Meh, give them a tub of old birf soup and tell them you accidentally dropped a dime in there, it's theirs if they find it
Meh, give them a tub of old birf soup and tell them you accidentally dropped a dime in there, it's theirs if they find it
This sounds like the correct answer, since nothing else is causing the lack of travel, so what @cruiserdan is say you got your balls in a wringer, now figure out which one, is the incorrect one. Oh and the kid's Bennadryl is a great baby sitter
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- #73
Thanks for the pic @cruiserdan - also found a couple diagrams in the FSM that lay out which side is up vs. down
For those interested this is my interpretation of what I'm seeing in the FSM, and note that I'm referring to inside and outside as the opening of the birf and that the opening of the birf actually faces the inside of vehicle, towards the differential: First looking at the cage in the position it should sit when installed in the birfield - measured from the center of where the bearing sits, one side should be somewhat thinner than the other. The thinner side sits to the inside, closer to the bottom or inner part of the cup of the birf and the thicker side goes towards the outside.
On the star there should be a flat side and a site that some areas protrude outward from the center. The flat side sits closer to the cup of the birf and the protruding end faces the open/outside end of the birf.
For those interested this is my interpretation of what I'm seeing in the FSM, and note that I'm referring to inside and outside as the opening of the birf and that the opening of the birf actually faces the inside of vehicle, towards the differential: First looking at the cage in the position it should sit when installed in the birfield - measured from the center of where the bearing sits, one side should be somewhat thinner than the other. The thinner side sits to the inside, closer to the bottom or inner part of the cup of the birf and the thicker side goes towards the outside.
On the star there should be a flat side and a site that some areas protrude outward from the center. The flat side sits closer to the cup of the birf and the protruding end faces the open/outside end of the birf.
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- #74
...and duct tape..
Enough bennadryl and you don't need duct tape
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- #77
Not your first rodeo, huh?
Like I said, I have three...
Funny but the 94 FSM kind of implies that the recess in the inner race should face outward of the bell of the birfield.
I do recall putting one together this way it it would bind up which may be your issue.
The recess is the cut-away portion of the splines to make a forcing-cone of sorts for the snap-ring. Review the photo in post #65 and you will see the splines partially machined away.
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- #80
OK - great info. I didn't remember seeing any protruding end when I re-built mine but looking at the link I put in post #64 the spline cutout's are there. I did have some issues re-installing the driver's side axle into the birf and now wondering if that was the issue.
