birf repack question (1 Viewer)

[lx450landcruiser]

dealer says they can repack the front birf for $220 that includes parts and labor? is this a jack off price quote? they guy also said that the rears dont need to be repacked it has greese that lubricates it. he said you wound do the rear as it only needs to be done if it fails. Why does this seem too good to be true? i guess this is assuming thebearings dont need to be replaced but still why does this seem too cheap?

thanks any help would be greatly apreciated
mike

 

[Romer]

Both birfs usually caost about $1200. Sounds to good to be true.

I repacked my rear bearings after Robbie told me they were loose. The grease looked original and they needed. Based on the design and wear and tear, I would think the rears don't need it as often as the front.

An Oem kit from CDAN for both front Birfs (whole front axle is about $200. I bet they are not doing the runion bearings. There is another post here showing trunion wear and I would make sure those get replaced.

 

[wb1948]

Maybe you could turn the tables and somehow screw the dealership?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

They are not quoteing a knuckle job, just a birf repack. My guess is they wouldn't even repack the front wheel bearings or replace the inner axle seal at that price. What services do you need or want? If there is more than 60k on the truck, and 30k since the last wheel bearing repack, you need the full knuckle rebuild. I doubt you can pay any dealership enough to do it right, including all the little steps that make it a better job. Go to someone who really knows cruisers. Better yet, do the job yourself. In a full weekend you could do the whole thing-replace the knuckle and wheel bearings, all seals, new lubricants and you will do it with more care than anyone at the dealer. Including NEW wheel bearings, you would have $350 in parts alone, $200 if you reuse the wheelbearings. You really do not want someone else to do this, unless it is one of the established Cruiser specific shops.

 

[IdahoDoug]

For that price, all they're doing is pulling it apart, wiping off the birfield joint, smearing more on the birfield joint and slapping it together. No:

Inner axle seal ( this will soon start leaking)
Outer triple knuckle seals (these protect the birf from water/grit intrusion)
Wheel bearing seal (protects from water/grit intrusion)
Trunion bearing repack (entire weight of vehicle rests on these)
blah, blah.

That's a slap and dash job, and that they are clueless about the rear bearings indicates they have no idea what's inside an 80. They think it's like a 4Runner, probably. Either that, or they're gonna call you about mid day with "Mr. Smith, you need new brake pads ($130), you need your rotors turned ($50), you need a new ABS sensor ($170 because they didn't know to remove it before pulling the birfield and cracked it), blah blah.

Run, don't walk.

DougM

 

[elmariachi]

dealer says they can repack the front birf for $220 that includes parts and labor? he said you wound do the rear as it only needs to be done if it fails. mike

Ask that dealer why the hell you would wait for the rear axle to fail as opposed to using preventative maintenance to keep it from failing. Offer him this......they tear into the rear end and the bearings are fine and no oil is leaking past the seals...YOU pay. They tear into it and the seals have been leaking, THEY pay.

By "birfield repack" they may mean just adding moly through the plug then draining and refilling the axle. Their responses tell me somebody is clueless, either the service writer or the tech who told him that or both. Either way, move on or do it yourself.

 

[Bryan E.]

Order the "Steering Knuckle Rebuild" DVD that Jim Reiss and another guy made. It's a great tutorial to go along with a good service manual, and will show how easy this job can be. I highly recommend the DVD and doing it yourself. You'll learn a lot, save lot of money, and have one more thing maintanence thing you can do yoiurself and spend the rest of what a reputable dealer would charge to do it right, on fixing up your Cruiser.

 

[elmariachi]

Their responses tell me somebody is clueless, either the service writer or the tech who told him that or both. Either way, move on or do it yourself.

Just for the record, I am not against dealership service, especially if you cannot do this work yourself. After all, I work for one of the largest dealership groups in Texas. My recommendation is if you need to rely on a dealerhsip to do any of this type of work, go in and ask them if they have a tech who has been around 5+ years that has worked on Land Cruisers. Visit with him and feel him out about his experience and then decide if you want him to estimate the job. If a guy has torn into either the front or back axle of an 80 a time or two, he'll know what the real deal is.

 

[lx450landcruiser]

you guys arnt telling me anything i dont already know and it make me feel better about it. i was calling them just to see as i was supposed to leave mon for CO and wound have much for tools up there ect.. however when they quoted me this i was almost laughing at the guy but just wanted to check since he was convinced he was quoting me for a birf repac.

thanks all you guys i plane to do this myself

mike

 

[rgsiii]

I have had much better luck with my local dealership than a well known "Cruiser" specialty shop. The cost of repairing their errors of a Knuckle/brake job has reached the better part of $1,000.

IdahoDoug, the cost of the speed sensor from Cdan is $273.85. It was damaged in of the knuckle job.

 

[IdahoDoug]

RGSIII,

Thanks. I was just guessing to make the point that a bozo opening up your birfs is kinda like a bull in a china shop - something's gonna get broken or messed up. Love that advice on the rear wheel bearings (just repacked mine for $37 in parts and a $5 tub of Mobil 1 synthetic grease). I guess they've really go your interests in mind, as when the bearings seize and tear up the rear spindle that's when you're gonna get the phone call "Mr. Smith, you haven't been repacking your rear wheel bearings and I guess you're gonna be bummed since the rear spindles are not bolt ons like the front. So, ah for taking our advice that means you now need an entire rear axle housing. Lessee, $850 for the part, $400 to rebuild the differential, uh, $760 in labor - uh that'll be something like $2010 unless we find something else. Snicker - don'cha wish you'd spent $37 and repacked them yourself a couple years back?"

What a bunch..

DougM