Broken birf questions (1 Viewer)

[OhmStyles]

I had a knuckle/axel rebuild done on my front end at 338k. Where they replaced just about everthing including new birfs on each side. I'm not at 380k on a 97 fzj80 triple locked on 33 or 35s. The front was feeling sloppy and I thought I heard some clicking once in awhile. Got all the parts ans drove 3.5 hours away to do the rebuild in a friend's 2 car garage since I don't have one. Everthing was going according to fsm, videos and faq here when I wne to pull out the driver birf and it came out without the axel shaft attached. The birf pulled clean out with out a snap ring one. My friend and I couldn't belive it that the nsap ring was missing. I put the birf in diesel fuel to see if the ring was in there somehere. After a day in the fuel I looked around and couldn't find the ring anywhere. I went around in the fuel with a magnet and found not it or pieces of it. So at this point we are sure it was never put in by said shop. This is a very reputable company on here and in the lc community. After cleaning up the birfs for a reinstall and having got a rebukld kit from cruiser Outfitters it was time to put it all back together. Upon cleaning the driver birf (one with no snap ring installed) I noticed it was cracked where one of the balls sits. Couldn't belive it was broken in under 50k when some people have these last for 200k. I called said company and they basically told me it was my driving that broke the birf and there is nooooo way they would have not put that ring in. These birfs don't last that long he stated. I'm wondering if it you forgot to place a snap ring between the birf and the axel shaft if this kind of damage would happen? I have dropped upwards of 40k at this shop over the years and this is the second time I have had issues with thier work and their ability to not stand behind work. I don't want to sling mud but want to know if this is possibly broken from missing snap ring or my driving the vechile. Love to know your thoughts.

 

[BILT4ME]

What brand and model birfs / axles are they?

 

[OhmStyles]

Nitro birfs and oem axle shafts.

 

[BILT4ME]

What is the typical use of this truck?
DD
Mall crawler
Occasional wheeling
Weekend toy with mostly wheeling
Heavy Wheeling
Serious rock crawling

 

[OhmStyles]

Weekend to Heavy wheeling

 

[BILT4ME]

Nitro would be an appropriate selection for that application.
42K of heavy wheeling can be hard on things.
Are you sure the snap ring isn't in the grease that came out first or that it migrated into the housing? Or was it shattered into tiny pieces? A crack like that in the cage can be from a hard hit while in a hard turn on the rocks. Nitros are much harder than stock.
Were the axle shafts installed the correct direction? There seems to be a few recently about them being installed backwards, with no snap rings. Not related to your shop.

 

[Rifleman]

but want to know if this is possibly broken from missing snap ring or my driving the vechile

Since the crack started in the valley of the internal splines i'd say no to the cause being you're driving or lack of snap ring. More then likley that crack came from a case of poor heat treating, or a stress riser starting in the internal splines of that part.

 

[OhmStyles]

They were installed the correct direction. When I pulled out snd off the birf I could see where the ring should have been. There was no sign of the ring anywhere. The moly wasn't simmering and we went around with a magnet and couldnt find any of it anywhere. Maybe I should reach to nitro then?

 

[OhmStyles]

Only 2 year warranty on those Nitro birfs

 

[OhmStyles]

I'll prob just get a rebuild kit and keep it as a spare. New ones arrive tomorrow from cruiser Outfitters.