Birfield noise

[OLDNSLO]

O.K. I'll start with vehicle specs....1972 fj40, 75' 2f, weber, 78' 4spd trans and transfer....stock front and rear axles....4" HFS sring under lift..33x12.5x15 BFG MT....Aussie in the rear..

I did a front and rear disc conversion last summer using fj60 knuckles and birfs from Mark....rears through poser... did not have any issues doing the front disc conversion. Took the 40 on a few trail trips and never noticed any issues except I started hearing clicking while doing slow tight turns. Clicking seemed to be from the front axle. I read on the forum that is a indicator of worn birfs. I also noticed while doing the same slow turn I get "lurching" while depressing the gas pedal...don't know if that is from the same issue or not...anyway I was planning on puting longfields in the front and soon a ARB. So I took the knuckle apart and this is the condition of the birf and housing....I can't remember if the wear in the housing is normal or if that is from the birf....I have "scoring" on the birf....Is this bad, normal, what would cause this?

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! The wear is inside the Birf bell. You need to pull it apart to inspect. Try searching for Birf Maintenance/repair and you should find volumes of info, with pics. I would say the scoring on the outside of the Birf is normal. John

 

[OLDNSLO]

John what about the housing, I don't remember having the score marks there before I installed the 60 birf...is that a prelude to something bad or shut up and don't worry about it!

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! The FJ 60 series Birf a little larger than the original on your 1972. Did you grind out the inside of the knuckle housing to fit it in? Did you replace the axle seal which helps keep the Birf centered in the housing, and the one inside the spindle cone? I don't think the scoring on the outside is a problem. If the inside is worn, then replace with Longs, and keep these for trail spares? John

 

[OLDNSLO]

Thanks John for the input!