Birf damaged? Loud when turning, pics during rebuild

[peripatew]

Ahoy!

Since I picked up my HZJ105 (I know I'm in the 80 section) I've had some loud clicking/clunking noises when turning offroad. Only happens when in 4wd. So I ordered a front axle rebuild kit and just got the work done last week. It seems much better, but yesterday as I was testing the front flex out, I noticed a lot of noise again. Everything looked pretty good when doing the rebuild. Except I noticed these chips in the Birf joint. These are different pictures, each birf has 4-5 of these.

The only other noticable wear was on the outside of the axle flanges. I failed to get a picture of them though. There had some circular grooves in them.

SO, do I need to replace the birfs? I'm assuming this isn't normal, but would this alone be causing the problems? AND if so, how crucial is it to replace? I'm living in Asia where it's a little difficult to get new parts. I can get generic birfs here for $40, but I'm hesitant that they will hold up. I can have good birfs brought over, but it takes 2 months to find a willing person. Shipping is waaaay to expensive.

Here's a video I took when I first got the LC. At the 20 second mark you can hear the noise I'm talking about. It's not as loud now, but definitely still present. I even went out of the way to hunt down the proper moly/lithium grease for the birfs. One place in the WHOLE country had it! Sorry for the bad auto... and grind gears!



Thoughts?

 

[inkpot]

First time I have seen that type of damage. I would be concerned that those chips are the noise you hear. Did you open the birfs up? Cusrious what the bells look like on the inside. John

 

[ppc]

Just a dumb question but were the birfields packed in grease?

 

[peripatew]

Just a dumb question but were the birfields packed in grease?

Yes. Where I'm at the usually use wheel bearing grease. But I sourced some Moly/lithium and used a LOT of grease. Several tubes per side.

 

[peripatew]

First time I have seen that type of damage. I would be concerned that those chips are the noise you hear. Did you open the birfs up? Cusrious what the bells look like on the inside. John

Everything else looked great on the inside. We thoroughly cleaned everything with diesel to inspect it all. I may try to just go ahead and replace them with what I can find locally. I'm worried that these will chip further and have problems.