Saturday and Sunday I successfully(?) completed my first ever birfield repack. I also replaced the wheel and knuckle bearings, as well as the knuckle wipers. AND I added an extended front axle breater tube sans evil flapper.
I pretty much followed the instructions in the ih8mud FAQs and some other links on the knuckle bearings.
I also used the parts list from Beowulf's "Section A" list. (I'll add the link later)
This includes all new bearings, gaskets, and wiper sets for the knuckles.
I'm a comlete newbie to this level of automotive mechanics, and I couldn't have done it without the generous help of people on this site.
Here are a few observations:
1. Snap ring pliers: Their paltry cost is much less than the pain of fighting with the damn little snap ring at the very beginning of the whole job.
2. Birfield: Is this a kick-ass burly peice of steel or what?
3. Removing/driving bearing races: Nerve-wracking the first time. Pain in the ass every time, but it gets easier with practice.
4. Brass hammer and drifts: Absolutely critical.
5. Speaking of bearings: Like someone told me on another thread, if you have brand-new ones, you will probably replace the old ones, regardless. It feels good to put in the new ones, and you don't have to meticuloulsy clean the old ones.
6. Don't get so envolved that you forget to take a break for lunch.
I only ran into a couple minor obstacles (other than a comical battle with a snap-ring).
1. While putting the passenger side hub (day 2) back together, I got a little punchy (due to lack of food) and put in the new hub grease seal BEFORE putting in the inner bearing! Doh. Cussing and swearing didn't help the fact that I would be exactly one grease seal short after I removed and ruined the one I just hammered in. It was SUNDAY, but luckily the local Checker was open and had an aftermarket version in stock. It is distinctly different than the Toyota OEM seal but I see no reason why it won't be sufficient.
2. Found damage on the passenger side birf and inner knuckle housing:
I bought this '93 FZJ80 from the second owner at 100K. I found evidence of rough-times in the Cruiser's past in the passenger side knuckle.
The outer rim of the birf bell housing (correct term?) was worn and scarred.
The inside upper surface of the inner knuckle was also worn and gouged to hell (but not into the bearing itself). Some surfaces on the upper knucle bearing housing (the part with 2 bolts that the bearing spins on) were a little corroded, as was the shim.
I suspect that sometime in the past something caused the outer knuckle to be forced down into the bifield. I'm sure it was serviced sometime AFTER that time, however. The knuckle bearings were OK, and there were no metal shavings in the grease. (The grease in THIS knuckle was plain-ol' MP grease, but the driver's side had moly grease, by the way)
Any hypotheses?
Everything seems to function just fine, howver.
3. Wheel bearing preload:
I teach highschool physics and chemistry, so I grabbed a spring scale from the physics closet. Ooops, it only goes to 20 Newtons (~4.5 lbs). I rigged a pully and halved the force on the spring--giving me an effective capacity of about 9 lbs.
After following the torquing proceedure (inner nut to 48lbs, spinx5 both ways, loosen, torque to ~3lbs, torque outer nut to 47lbs) the preload was far beyond the 9lb capacity of my rigged-up scale. I repeated the process--same result. On the third try I left the inner nut finger-tight, and the wheel turned at just beyond the capacity of my scale--somewhere around 10 or 11 lbs. No play. This was true for both wheels.
My methods were particulary crude, but I feel confident that the preload is at the upper end--but within the limits--of spec.
I drove my truck 15 miles on the freeway this morning, and the hubs were only slightly warm.
All-in-all, it went smoothly. The walkthroughs I found/was given on this forum were right-on.
Now, what project should I undertake next?
Hayes
P.S. I'll get some photos of the damage up soon.
Hayes
I pretty much followed the instructions in the ih8mud FAQs and some other links on the knuckle bearings.
I also used the parts list from Beowulf's "Section A" list. (I'll add the link later)
This includes all new bearings, gaskets, and wiper sets for the knuckles.
I'm a comlete newbie to this level of automotive mechanics, and I couldn't have done it without the generous help of people on this site.
Here are a few observations:
1. Snap ring pliers: Their paltry cost is much less than the pain of fighting with the damn little snap ring at the very beginning of the whole job.
2. Birfield: Is this a kick-ass burly peice of steel or what?
3. Removing/driving bearing races: Nerve-wracking the first time. Pain in the ass every time, but it gets easier with practice.
4. Brass hammer and drifts: Absolutely critical.
5. Speaking of bearings: Like someone told me on another thread, if you have brand-new ones, you will probably replace the old ones, regardless. It feels good to put in the new ones, and you don't have to meticuloulsy clean the old ones.
6. Don't get so envolved that you forget to take a break for lunch.
I only ran into a couple minor obstacles (other than a comical battle with a snap-ring).
1. While putting the passenger side hub (day 2) back together, I got a little punchy (due to lack of food) and put in the new hub grease seal BEFORE putting in the inner bearing! Doh. Cussing and swearing didn't help the fact that I would be exactly one grease seal short after I removed and ruined the one I just hammered in. It was SUNDAY, but luckily the local Checker was open and had an aftermarket version in stock. It is distinctly different than the Toyota OEM seal but I see no reason why it won't be sufficient.
2. Found damage on the passenger side birf and inner knuckle housing:
I bought this '93 FZJ80 from the second owner at 100K. I found evidence of rough-times in the Cruiser's past in the passenger side knuckle.
The outer rim of the birf bell housing (correct term?) was worn and scarred.
The inside upper surface of the inner knuckle was also worn and gouged to hell (but not into the bearing itself). Some surfaces on the upper knucle bearing housing (the part with 2 bolts that the bearing spins on) were a little corroded, as was the shim.
I suspect that sometime in the past something caused the outer knuckle to be forced down into the bifield. I'm sure it was serviced sometime AFTER that time, however. The knuckle bearings were OK, and there were no metal shavings in the grease. (The grease in THIS knuckle was plain-ol' MP grease, but the driver's side had moly grease, by the way)
Any hypotheses?
Everything seems to function just fine, howver.
3. Wheel bearing preload:
I teach highschool physics and chemistry, so I grabbed a spring scale from the physics closet. Ooops, it only goes to 20 Newtons (~4.5 lbs). I rigged a pully and halved the force on the spring--giving me an effective capacity of about 9 lbs.
After following the torquing proceedure (inner nut to 48lbs, spinx5 both ways, loosen, torque to ~3lbs, torque outer nut to 47lbs) the preload was far beyond the 9lb capacity of my rigged-up scale. I repeated the process--same result. On the third try I left the inner nut finger-tight, and the wheel turned at just beyond the capacity of my scale--somewhere around 10 or 11 lbs. No play. This was true for both wheels.
My methods were particulary crude, but I feel confident that the preload is at the upper end--but within the limits--of spec.
I drove my truck 15 miles on the freeway this morning, and the hubs were only slightly warm.
All-in-all, it went smoothly. The walkthroughs I found/was given on this forum were right-on.
Now, what project should I undertake next?
Hayes
P.S. I'll get some photos of the damage up soon.
Hayes
(in no particular order of importance)
on the repack.
