Birfields??

[drohweder]

My 71 40 is running a 76 front axel. What birfields do I use? I see some "early 6 spline" birfields for sale out there, will those work as replacements?

 

[fsusteve]

Pretty sure you need the 10 spline, fine spline was in 78 I believe, somebody correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

[Mace]

If you have a 76 with disks you are fine spline. But they are the long stub shaft fine spline.

Early 6 spline (10 spline??) will not work with out swapping hubs.

Waste of time.

Get some Asin hubs and switch to mini birfs. Much easier to find and a stronger hub to boot!

 

[woody]

pull the lockout, count splines - should be more than 6...lol Fine spline started in 1976 with disc front axles. They changed slightly in 1979 to match minitruck sizes tho.

you may need minor grind work to the housing to fit mini birfs, but it IS VERY SMART to do this, since all aftermarket joints and most spares are mini sized (or, carry a power source and angle grinder in the field...your choice...lol)

 

[drohweder]

What about those ASCO hubs. My 76 FJ55 had those and I recently saw a pair for sale on ebay. Are these better than the Warns I currently have? I've heard to switch to Aisin hubs...its on the list of to-dos. Thanks

 

[woody]

Aisin/Asco lockouts are definitely stronger (same thing). The do NOT work with the 76-78 birfs tho, so be forewarned...

 

[phishtaco]

Woody....So what your are syaing is that my 76 axle with Asco hubs is already setup for mini birfs? Thats good to know.

 

[woody]

Woody....So what your are syaing is that my 76 axle with Asco hubs is already setup for mini birfs? Thats good to know.

"should" be, but it's worth pulling apart and checking...

wouldn't wanna find out on the trail, that's for sure...

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Dro-I switched my '76 to FJ60 knuckles/spindles/birfs/hubs etc. The '76 birf is not standard and only birfs from'76='78 are a direct replaacement. They are very hard to find. I agree that the smartest thing to do is to the FJ60 conversion which has a few advantages over the mini-truck conversion if you can find a donor axle. You will (and should) grind out the bell of the axle to fit the more common and more standard later birfield. all '79-90 Land Cruiser birfields are the same, and match all the mini-truck birfs. When you need a spare, and you will, you can bet the spare will be from a mini-truck. Better yet would be to upgrade your knuckles, and switch to Longfields. Your inner axles can still be used.

As a bit of trivia-Asco(same as Aisin) hubs did come on some of the '76-78 FJ55's. The body is deeper to fit the longer birfield. I have one of these longer hubs in my parts drawer. I was going to find another and run them on my 40, but then deceided to do the full conversion.

 

[drohweder]

So as I understand it, having a 76 axle the best thing to do would be to grind a bit and start using mini-birfs and find a set ASCO hub. Will that work?

 

[woody]

grind and mini birfs for sure, you CAN use mini birfs with the 76-78 lockouts tho for the time being....instead of a clip-ring behind the dial you use a bolt and fender washer (since the mini birfs are just a bit shorter, like 3/16")