birfield??

[sinfl1]

hi~
im new to the whole land cruiser thing and i have a question. my boyfriend and i are looking at a 1988 fj-62 land cruiser model gx. we are going to purchase it no matter what... but we are being told by the current owner that it has a broken birfield. ive searched your forums (btw, they are full of info we will use in the future for sure) but im trying to find out about driving with broken birfield. we need to travel about 300 miles on it and he says all we need to do is disconnect the front drive shaft and leave the hubs in 4x2 and we should be fine for the journey. is this true?? i kinda understand what it is, but im not sure how it works. he has the front drive shaft disconnected right now so he can drive it. he says it wont move if the front drive shaft is connected. can it be driven like this with no problems? any help would be great. ~heather

 

[Mace]

no, even with the DS disconnected and the hubs unlocked it is not a good idea to drive around with a broken birf.. It causes lots more issues... (the pieces grind around when you turn..)

 

[agent orange]

If the person has been driving around with a broken birf for a while the inside of the knuckle is going to be all chewed up.

 

[cruiser88]

spent the money ahead of time buy the new birfield/kit , then spend the 2 to 3 hours and change it

 

[Mace]

BTW, it is also a headache when two pieces get lodged in the knuckle and don't allow you to turn


If he has been driving with it for long. The axle housing might be hashed..

 

[cruiser88]

BTW, it is also a headache when two pieces get lodged in the knuckle and don't allow you to turn


If he has been driving with it for long. The axle housing might be hashed..

ewww yea

 

[cabron]

I would steer away from it, no pun intended unless you are getting it for a steal and are mechanically inclined, driving around may and probably has damaged other parts.

 

[Mace]

It is a pretty simple fix. And new axle housings are not hard or expensive to come by..

I would still look at the truck, but would not necessarialy make that a deal breaker.

 

[lowtideride]

Yulp had a broken birf lock my steering up...Dint hear it break on guardrail and heading back on windy dirt road making a left hand turn the steering locked and almost sent me into a bank. Which would have been better than the alternative which was zipping off of trail 1 down a 400-500 cliff/bank.

If you dont plan on offroading it too soon. or for that matter using 4wd. It might be a good bargining chip. It may need a new axle tub if he has been driving it with a broken birf.

But you dont even need an birfield/axle shaft in the front to drive around. Pull the knuckle apart, pull the birf and axle out and stuff a rag in there to stop the gear oil from coming out while parked or driving on angles.

It wont hurt a thing. Kind of a messing thing to do right off the bat, but it would make the journey home no problem.