Birf question (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jan 29, 2004
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When doing the Birf job are there any reasons that you can't disassemble both sides at the sames time. It seems to me that one could get all the mess over with at one time and have a nice clean work space for re-assembly.

Any thoughts ?

Zach
 
Although I have not done a birf job yet, when doing brakes or anything else on an axle, I have always resisted the temptation to tear both apart at once so that I have one side as a reference to get the other back together. No matter how much I think that I know, it never fails that something will come up and I will get interrupted or just plain forget and have no idea which way some little clip or something has to go in. Maybe when I have a minidisc conversion/birf job on the 40 and a couple of birfs on the LX under my belt I will feel differently though. Just my experience.

Tony
 
It does make sense to work on both sides but in my case, the limiting factor was space that's why I can do mine one at a time and thankfully so. But here's a pic of Beno and Rookie2's rigs with the rear taken down:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15862&stc=1

I've repacked both front axles and the process is pretty straightforward. It really is energy sapping so that could be a factor also. But one thing I would be very wary of is the possibility of missing out a few little things. I remember that I was about to put back my tires in when I saw the other nut for the brake caliper. I mounted the caliper with one nut to insert the brake pads and then proceeded with the rest of the axle. That would have been a very costly mistake not to mention life-threatening.

My .02, unless we've done this countless times and we've a mate to help in the repack, I'd do it one at a time. As a newb, I'd live by that.

Regards,
Arnie
 
zklebe said:
When doing the Birf job are there any reasons that you can't disassemble both sides at the sames time. It seems to me that one could get all the mess over with at one time and have a nice clean work space for re-assembly.Any thoughts ?Zach

My thoughts are that as long as there is just you, doing both sides at once just compounds the mess. If you had a helper, maybe, but I personally like to compartmentalize my work and having two of everything just doubles the mess and confusion.
 
Not to hijack the thread but when working with brakes you should always do one side at a time, never remove the calipers and pads from two sides. If you have more than one side open, the pistons from one side will probably pop out as you push back on the pistons from the other side. Besides the mess, somebody once told me that "this will ruin your Saturday" and I agree.
 
If you are not planning on changing out your diff fluid at the same time for some reason, then jacking up one side at a time will let you keep the gear oil in the axle as opposed to all over you/the garage/the dog/the driveway/the :princess:'s stuff/etc....
 
You might increase the danger of mixing up stuff from one side to the other, especially if you are re-using your bearings. That could be really bad....
 
I do both sides at once whether it's the 40 or the 80. Your right it makes it much easier fo rcleanup and everything.

Comes down to personal preference I guess.

Welcome newb!
 
Tooth Fairy said:
Comes down to personal preference I guess.

Agreed.

I took down both sides at the same time and let them soak over night, then reassembled the following day. But I can see the pros in doing one side at a time. If you decide to break the birfs apart and swap sides... then obvoiusly you'll need to take them both down at the same time.

:beer:
Rookie2
 

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