Over the course of two evenings and one full day I tackled the front birf service on my 1996 LC w/ 133,000 miles. This site and the Birf DVD enabled me to complete the job without any problems what so ever !!! I'm sure this was the first Birf service the truck has received, when I drained the Diff fluid it was greenish and gloppy - the birf's though still had plenty of grease in them.
Some thoughts about how I did mine for those getting ready to tackle the job.
I had both wheels off the ground - but only broke down one side at a time.
This helped me to fit my torq. wrench on some fasteners because I was able to turn the wheels to the right or left as needed. I did however have to block the opposite wheel while tightening some of the bolts to keep everything from just spinning - I would do it the same way next time.
Cleaning everything will take you 3/4 of the time you spend doing this service - I didn't try to clean the outside of the knuckles prior to taking them apart. I read on hear some suggestions about degreasers and a trip to the carwash prior to starting - I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS - I would have saved some time.
I bought a 1.5 inch grease needle for the end of the flexible hose on the grease gun, it worked GREAT !!! The needle made filling the knuckle/birf cavity a piece of cake. It also made packing the Birf's very simple. ( this is not the sharp needle but the one the that is slightly larger in dia.)
I'm very particular about cleaning stuff - I went thru 11 cans of brake parts cleaner and one gallon of degreaser. I went thru 11 rolls of paper towelsand a bunch of rubber gloves.
As with another very recent Birf poster, I used 3 tubes of Moly (Valvoline) and I tube of Moblie 1 syn. WB grease.
The condition of the truck was excellent, the spindles, axles, birf's all looked great. I replaced the trunion bearings, which did show some slight wear. I reused the wheel bearings that looked good even though one of the outer ones was pretty gunked up (but cleaned up well).
I had purchased a Lysle (sp. ?) bearing/seal driver set - it is a MUST HAVE , in my opinion . Made seal and race installation effortless.
I only have one remaining question - how long/ or how many miles should I drive the LC before draining and refilling the Diff. again???
thanks for all the great info and posts on this board.
Zach
Some thoughts about how I did mine for those getting ready to tackle the job.
I had both wheels off the ground - but only broke down one side at a time.
This helped me to fit my torq. wrench on some fasteners because I was able to turn the wheels to the right or left as needed. I did however have to block the opposite wheel while tightening some of the bolts to keep everything from just spinning - I would do it the same way next time.
Cleaning everything will take you 3/4 of the time you spend doing this service - I didn't try to clean the outside of the knuckles prior to taking them apart. I read on hear some suggestions about degreasers and a trip to the carwash prior to starting - I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS - I would have saved some time.
I bought a 1.5 inch grease needle for the end of the flexible hose on the grease gun, it worked GREAT !!! The needle made filling the knuckle/birf cavity a piece of cake. It also made packing the Birf's very simple. ( this is not the sharp needle but the one the that is slightly larger in dia.)
I'm very particular about cleaning stuff - I went thru 11 cans of brake parts cleaner and one gallon of degreaser. I went thru 11 rolls of paper towelsand a bunch of rubber gloves.
As with another very recent Birf poster, I used 3 tubes of Moly (Valvoline) and I tube of Moblie 1 syn. WB grease.
The condition of the truck was excellent, the spindles, axles, birf's all looked great. I replaced the trunion bearings, which did show some slight wear. I reused the wheel bearings that looked good even though one of the outer ones was pretty gunked up (but cleaned up well).
I had purchased a Lysle (sp. ?) bearing/seal driver set - it is a MUST HAVE , in my opinion . Made seal and race installation effortless.
I only have one remaining question - how long/ or how many miles should I drive the LC before draining and refilling the Diff. again???
thanks for all the great info and posts on this board.
Zach