Birfs - how bad is "too bad"?

[robbie]

I think the biggest thing is to take the birf's apart and clean real well and repack them. Get a pipe that is around 1 1/4 in inside diameter. It will make the birf to axle removal easy. Yes moly refers to Molidium disufide (spelling wrong). We use the grease from amsoil both for the birf and the wheel bearing(man say it is designed for wheel bearings also. later robbie

 

[e9999]

I think the biggest thing is to take the birf's apart and clean real well and repack them. Get a pipe that is around 1 1/4 in inside diameter. It will make the birf to axle removal easy. Yes moly refers to Molidium disufide (spelling wrong). We use the grease from amsoil both for the birf and the wheel bearing(man say it is designed for wheel bearings also. later robbie

what's the pipe for, Robbie?

 

[CharlieS]

Just a guess, but to slide over the axle shaft to make contact with where it connects with the birf. Give it a whack, and off comes the birf. ???

Charlie

 

[robbie]

Correct, it is the easiest way to get a birf to seperate from the axle. Once the axle is inside the pipe you smack it against a piece of wood on the ground or some cement that you care not about. after about 2-3 wacks the axle slides right out. Cut the pipe about 6 inches longer then the long side axle. I would cut the pipe after you get the axle out. Using a hammer is ok but much harder and can cut the snap ring if not careful. later robbie

 

[landtank]

landtank,

I am about 4 hours from Boston give or take. Charlie

So where would that be? Near River Junction?

 

[CharlieS]

Rick,

Nope. Bristol. Way past White River Junction.

Bristol is between Burlington and Rutland on the Lake Champlain side of the state. about 45 minutes South of Burlington or an hour or so North of Rutland.

Generally from Boston it is I-93 (?) to I-89. Up until you get off I-89 you can make good time. The real problem (slow part of the drive) is there is not a "good way" to get here once you hop off I89.

It is either a long slow drive on secondary roads from the South Royalton exit, or it is drive to the Williston exit and backtrack half an hour or so south-east on rt. 2A then rt.116. To get a ballpark, pretty much figure going to Williston (almost to Burlington), plus a half hour to 45 minutes of secondary roads.

Now you see why nobody wants to visit?

Maps.msn.com will give you a decent rough idea, although they often try to send you on wacky secondary roads though.

Not sure it is worth 6-8 hours on the road... I am pretty sure I can get it all sorted out myself, but if you want to swing up that is cool too. You might want to call Friday night to see if I am done though, before driving that far. I bet you'd be P.O. ed if you came all this way and I did it all on Friday!!!

PM me for my phone #. and address if you want to run it through mapping software..

Charlie

 

[landtank]

That's a little long of a drive for what might be a none issue. I'll PM you my phone# so if you have any questions you can call me. It's on 24/7 and don't be bashful if you have a question.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Great posts by everyone! This may be the most educational thread yet (for the newbie, of course). My birfs only click at full lock in 4lo or 4hi with the CDL engaged. In addition, it does not happen on loose dirt or rock, only on surfaces with better traction, like concrete. Yes, I had the CDL engaged this winter while driving in snow and while turning, hit several patches of concrete. The first time I heard the click, I thought I broke my axle!

So the moral of this story is that I should rebuild the knuckles and inspect the birfs and depending on how deep of a bearing groove I have, switch the birfs from left to right and vice versa? Would any of you Birf experts agree that this is a sound plan?

 

[CharlieS]

Well, so far so good.

I spent about 7 hours on the rig today. Could've easily finished the front end service if I hadn't gotten sidetracked.

Instead I installed my OME (50mm med) suspension first. That went swimmingly.

Well, except the first three bolts I tried to remove (sway bar bolts) sheared off. (even though I used massive quantities of PB Blaster) . Looks like I get to spend some quality time with a drill and tap one of these days.

For now, I decided to remove the rear swaybar until I get a chance to take care of it. I'll take it easy as I imagine I've introduced some extra oversteer by removing it. Good news is I get extra articulation

Overall, the suspension install went pretty well. The fronts are real buggers, eh? The nut splitter was pretty useless. I ended up using the smoke wrench on the lower mounts. The driver side upper was a PITA but I managed to clamp a c-clamp on the shaft (destructive!) to get it off. It was actually pretty easy once I got a decent grip on it (not a job for the quick grip clamps I discovered - too much torque). I probably could've avoided the torch, but hey, it is always fun to melt metal.

I managed to get everything torn apart except I haven't driven out the races for the trunnion bearings. That'll happen first thing in the morning (I am garageless and working in the driveway).

One thing I did learn is that PB Blaster is not for your eyes. It burns like a basatage'. I got an involuntary 15 minute break while I flushed out my eye. Good news was that gave me the opportunity to start on the #6.

Overall, I'd say the birf job is way easy - at laest the removal part. I was expecting it to be a lot harder/worse. It is a one job if you ask me.

The sway bar removal was a lot more of a pain in the derriere. I must admit though, the advice here and prepping by reading the faqs and searching, was incredibly helpful (and the FSM rocks! ).

Oh, by the way, my dealer is full of poo. The grease in the birfs looked great. I could've probably gone another 20K on it. Axle oil seals were in great shape. No gear oil intrusion what-so-ever. Dumb arses. Mental note, never trust the dealer for service. They're only out to make a buck, as far as I can tell. They wanted to sell me two new axles... WTF.

The birf are soaking in solvent and we'll start back up in the morning...

I'm going to have a few #6's and call it a night.

Thanks for all the advice!!!

Charlie

 

[gregc]

Yeah, I was talking with a dealer tech (experienced, not the shop noob) in Keene who told me pretty much the same line: once your birfs are clicking, they "need" to be replaced.

I figure it's because they end up back at the dealer 'cuz they're still clicking; the customer thinks that the repack etc. didn't help the situation because it's still clicking.

These guys have a different agenda than we do, we need to take this into account when we're discussing with them

G

 

[IdahoDoug]

I like reading about these jobs as they go along - nice job, Charley. It's not quite as fun as darkening the doorway of a buddy working on his rig. You get to come in with a couple fresh coffees and pick the most comfy seat. Then you get to hear what's been tough (always a fastener rusted in place) and ask how some particular part is going to come out, then listen to the reply. A bit of ribbing about using a screwdriver to pound something, or some other such gaffe. Then you mention you're heading over to meet the guys for an epic bike ride or something just to make sure it hurts that you're leaving.

These vicarious internet work sessions aren't as satisfying, but they're fun to read about. Like the PB in the eye. OF all the chemicals I use to work on various cars over the years, my wife cannot stand the smell of that stuff in particular. Unfortunately it works well, so I keep it around.

DougM

 

[CharlieS]

Well, got it all done and buttoned up.

The 100 series pads are a TIGHT fit on the inboard sides. Interference fit actually. I am not 100% happy, since I think that is way too much friction to be having all the time. Afraid it might make too much heat and cook my new rotors. Hopefully they'll wear down some asap.

Wow, holy grease batman. I went through about 3 tubs of moly and nearly a tub of wheel bearing grease. I still have one can of unopened moly for later.

The hand pump for gear oil sucks. Not much more I can say about that. I need to rig up one of those drill pumps I read about in here.

It all went together fine. I took extra time to clean everything well before reassembly and so I probably took a lot more time than I needed to.

Nothing ws difficult, only time consuming. I spent probably 8 hours - a lot more thatn I expected. Of that nearly two hours was probably cleaning grease out and then parts washing parts.

I can't imagine going through 6 rolls of paper towels like someone here posted. I finshed one roll of blue shop paper towels, and just started a second. I had a huge mega-box of them waiting in reserve, that never got opened (plus a big bag of shap rags).

I generally don't like them, but gloves are a must have for this job. Great for scooping old grease out. I used nitrile gloves.

Thanks for whoever mentioned that trick of using a race with a slot cut in it to drive the wheel bearing races in. Worked like a charm. Glad I had a pile of cutoff wheels for the dremel though, it took about 6 of them to cut two races (1 inner, 1 outer). The hacksaw I started with didn't last long since it didn't work at all.

Who on earth can do this job without a brass drift or two? That must be the most handy tool on the project, coupled with BFH. How anyone does this without, I'll never understand (how do you drive races?).

Bearings and races all looked OK. Glad I did the trunnion bearings though - I had one trunnion bearing that had a roller that was exploded. I'm super glad I "went all the way" and did the whole job.

All in all, it went very well. The lift looks great and helps visibility. My wife even likes it (at least the way it looks). The ride is firmer, but I expected that. It stops better, but I am watching the heat factor - I may swap in another set of 80 seried pads before the trip on Friday.

Thanks everyone.

Charlie

 

[IdahoDoug]

CS - be sure to bed the brakes in. Might help get you some clearance right away, too.

DougM

 

[reffug]

Give those 100 pads a chance I know they are a tight fit but I don't recall anyone here who has made the swap being disapointed. Just 02.

 

[CharlieS]

Doug,

I bedded them in, and have since watched the temps carefully. So far it seems OK. The first trip left me with hotter than normal rims, but since then all seems to be good.

I think it will be OK. I'll just watch the temps over the course of the week. The nice thing is that a pad swap is about a 15 minute job, unlike lots of other rigs where it takes more time. I think the 100 pads will be ok though.

Reffug,

The 100 pads appear to stop better. That is the up side.

I feel the loss/deterioration of self centering now, so I suspect I'll want to ither go to a heavy bumper or do the caster correction bearings soon. It is definitely subtle, but noticable.

Thanks for all the encouragement guys.

Charlie

 

[OGBeno]

Nice write-ups Charley.

You've done a better job than this here noob!! The birf job took me two days of twelve hour sessions. But I must be honest--the birf job was basically the first time I had ever worked on a car/truck ever besides changing oils in previous vehicles....

I agree about the brass drifts. I went to a hardware store, got a 1' length of brass, cut it into three or four pieces, and grinded different ends down to different sizes. Cost me a total of $5. Napa charges $58 IIRC for their brass dift set!!

BFH all the way!! I love the BFH.

The brake pads wear in real nice on the 80. I put the 100's on the rig in October 2004 and there is at least 60-70% left on the fronts on both sides. Though I am cautious about braking and generally do no brake hard. I treat the rig with TLC.

post a pic with the lift!!

Good stuff. Congrats. You're ready for the good stuff now--get in on the PHH next and the fuel filter right after that!!

Best.
-onur
Akron, OH

 

[Beowulf]

I feel the loss/deterioration of self centering now, so I suspect I'll want to ither go to a heavy bumper or do the caster correction bearings soon. It is definitely subtle, but noticable.

Throw 500# of camping gear, spares, and tools in the rear and hit some older 2 lane highways at 70MPH and you won't consider it subtle.

-B-

 

[CharlieS]

Beno,

Smart man. I have the same model of brass drift - works like a charm doesn't it? And a much better deal.

When the end gets buggered, just saw off a 1/4" and you're back in business. I got by on this project with one drift, about 3/8" or so in diameter IIRC.

The reason I made the drift commetn above was because somebody recently, in another front end service thread, said no drift was necessary.

Aha, maybe that was for just a repack, using the old bearings over and not driving anything in or out...

I'd say tha two days for a new wrencher is pretty darn good if you ask me. You should be super proud that you took it on and did it - that is a big first project. Must've been a little intimidating!

I have done a bunch of wrenching in the past, so I was a little disappointed that I took so long. Working garage-less has it's limitations. I can't wait to get my garage built. I miss my old garage, but I built a new house last year and that took most of my free time, a new garage had to wait for this year.

Beowulf,

On the caster correction, I hear you. I will definitely do it. I have a set of bushings on the shelf, so it is not a parts issue, it is just a timing issue.

I don't have a press, so I have to time it right to schedule it so I can minimize downtime.

Unfortunatley I haven't kept in good touch with my frined with a shop (and press) so I'd feel wierd about asking to use his press out of the blue. I do have a machine shop that I've used for some jobs in the past, so I'll see if I can get them to do it.

I figure if I do it right, I can get it all done with a day of downtime. Pull the arms off the night before (drive the wife's car to work), have the old bushings pressed out and the new ones in, then back in the truck that night after work. Looks like a heavy duty shop press (probably just a cheapo from Northern tool) is on my list for once I get the garage together.

I have a long trip on Friday, so getting it done before then may be tricky. We'll see...

Thanks guys. It is nice to get the feedback.

Oh, I also probably need to adjust the LSPV, but we shall see. No guages, so I'll have to follow your guys' lead and just adjust it as best I can.

Charlie