Axles and Birfields, Again....Seriously? (1 Viewer)

[sdb999]

96' Cruiser Front Axle rebuild (on the bench). I've got a lot of time invested so I'd like to source decent internals. Search ih8mud provided thoughts from 2018 and prior. At that time: Nitro, Terrain Tamers, RCV/Slee, and Longfield/Trail Gear all got decent reviews but things change so looking for more current reports.

Daily driver, 15-20k annually, no off road. Bone stock in all respects. Looking for aftermarket non-Chromoly Birfields in a stock spline configuration. Axles have a very deep seal groove so might need them too so would consider a complete axle set if cost effective.

Of course brands/dealers too avoid are as valuable as those well recommended.
Thanks, S.

 

[NewbyColorado]

I bought everything from Kurt at CruiserOutfitters.com I was very happy with all the advice and materials. They really know what they are doing. He recommended sticking with basics for me. I don't wheel on anything hard, just dirt roads mainly.

 

[nukegoat]

I think @richardlillard1 knows some people running the Febest birfs

 

[dcguillory]

+1 for Cruiseroutfitters. A nice little bonus is the packaging. After having bought rebuild kits from a lot of different vendors it was really nice to have it all in the box so neatly, lol.

 

[BILT4ME]

I bought the RCV stock replacement axles/birfs from Slee, bearings and seals kit from Cruiser Outfitters in 2014. I have 75+K miles on them for a DD as well. (293K on truck)

I did Koyo bearings with Toyota seals.

Valvoline Palladium in birfs, Lucas Red N Tacky 2 for wheel bearings. Wheel bearings torqued to 35 LB-FT.

Very happy with results.

Don't forget to clean your axle vent or convert to long hose and fuel filter by the booster.

 

[richardlillard1]

We just took a nitro stock replacement birf out of a truck which gets wheeled in rocks fairly often, it had no signs of wear but the owner wanted chromoly birfs since it’s a trail rig which sees intermediate rock crawling (probably the upper end of the spectrum for an 80 before body damage land) And he saw it as a reasonable upgrade.

I believe @-Spike- is running cozza ones from some Australian company. They had an entire rebuild kit with those, koyo bearings, and seals for a decent price but he might have some better input on the seals, which I think he didn’t like for one reason or another. At any rate, the exchange rate between AUS and USD is such that just the birfields would be a decent price from them.

I can think of anyone running specifically febest but I also can’t imagine many companies going through the trouble of making these and febest is one of those companies which tends to buy from another manufacture and then slap their name on it.

 

[-Spike-]

I got the Cozza birfs from OnlineAutoParts | Car & 4x4 Parts Guaranteed to Fit as part of a complete axle kit. I've beaten the birfs pretty hard for a couple of months without issue, for what that's worth. The inner axle seals were garbage, had to replace them fairly quickly. No complaints with anything else I got there, including new spindles and a bunch of various hardware. Fast shipping, believe it or not, and the price was ridiculously low. However, looking at the site today, I don't see Cozza birfs by themselves or in the rebuild kit anymore, although they do have a set of left and right axle shafts and birfs for stupid cheap, under $160 iirc. They have another brand that I don't recall now, but as @richardlillard1 said, I doubt there are many manufacturers making these. Possibly only one.

 

[landtank]

I've done a lot of axle rebuilds and the only time I've replaced the original birfs is when the splines wore out on the earlier short shafts and when I went PT and wanted to use Aisin hubs which required a second groove.

I just clean them thoroughly with a dry towel and no solvent and repack with Valvoline Syth Power extreme pressure grease.

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never any complaints with lots of mileage and wheeling.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

+1 for Cruiseroutfitters. A nice little bonus is the packaging. After having bought rebuild kits from a lot of different vendors it was really nice to have it all in the box so neatly, lol.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...They have another brand that I don't recall now, but as @richardlillard1 said, I doubt there are many manufacturers making these. Possibly only one.

There are definitely a dozen or so companies still making birfs. They are available out of China from several manufactures, India, Japan (NTN, HDK), some of the Aus stuff looks different from those and then of course the US companies, RCV, Nitro and Longfield. We've had 5-6 options on the bench at any one given time and they are definitely different manufactures too. Fwiw.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

We would love to help @ Cruiser Outfitters. We stock 100% of the parts needed for a standard knuckle overhaul (all Japanese kits versus the Japanese bearings and India/China seals/gaskets many are offering) as well as all of the popular birf replacement options including Japanese stock variants starting @ $150/each. We also stock the HD kits from RCV, Nitro and Longfield. As it's a DD and primarily road use, I'd skip the HD options and go with a Japanese replacement or inspect your stock birfs. If you inner axles have seal surface wear outside of usable shape, we have both OE and aftermarket stock duty shafts in stock. $65/each when you order them at the same time as birfs.

 

[-Spike-]

There are definitely a dozen or so companies still making birfs. They are available out of China from several manufactures, India, Japan (NTN, HDK), some of the Aus stuff looks different from those and then of course the US companies, RCV, Nitro and Longfield. We've had 5-6 options on the bench at any one given time and they are definitely different manufactures too. Fwiw.

Thanks for the info, I've always been curious about that as it would seem like there aren't enough 80's in the world to make it worthwhile for several companies to continue making birfs for them. Maybe I'm underestimating that number.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Thanks for the info, I've always been curious about that as it would seem like there aren't enough 80's in the world to make it worthwhile for several companies to continue making birfs for them. Maybe I'm underestimating that number.

I think there are far more in use globally than we imagine at first thought. I've been in cities in South America where there are 80's on ever block.

 

[EvanD]

I kinda want to buy from Cruiseroutfitters now.

Not because we were just provided great info, mind you.

But rather because I just realized the avatar is Rufus the Stunt Bum... Cheers!

 

[-Spike-]

I kinda want to buy from Cruiseroutfitters now.

Not because we were just provided great info, mind you.

But rather because I just realized the avatar is Rufus the Stunt Bum... Cheers!

Aside from his excellent taste in forum avatars, he's good people and knows his s***. And sells quality stuff.

 

[EvanD]

Heh, yea I get that. Was trying to make a joke. Maybe it fell flat. That avatar takes me back to highschool!

 

[sdb999]

Thanks all, Cozza shaft assemblies are still available from OnlineAutoparts, and for a pair of complete axles/bierfields it's $162 AU. At current exchange that's $114 USD, with shipping $225 USD. Even with shipping being half the total, that's value. I'll probably stay domestic but great input on current state.

 

[slow95z]

just did a reseal on an axle over the weekend. as always i used a kit from Bryce @cruiseroutfitters. i never get Kurt on the phone so i always make sure to mention Bryce

it was an unknown axle so i replaced everything in there. ran into some stupid work from a previous reseal. make sure you get the 54MM socket. pics are on my IG if you search #wefixthe6

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I kinda want to buy from Cruiseroutfitters now.

Not because we were just provided great info, mind you.

But rather because I just realized the avatar is Rufus the Stunt Bum... Cheers!

Not too many recognize Rufus. Hell I’ve had folks stop by the shop and say “man, I’ve got to say you look nothing like your avatar”

 

[Funner]

If you’re just driving around on blacktop, just buy the cheapest set you can get?