Check out my Front Axle (1 Viewer)

[450 Cruiser]

Since I'm a noob to not only '80's but Birf Joints as well, I was hoping those with more experience could give me their opinion based on the photo's whether I need a birf job or not. PO said he had 60k maintenance but doesn't know if it included axles. I know it's not much to go on, but I'd appreciate your opinions. It's now at 80K

1 driver side
2 passenger side

View attachment 69024

View attachment 69025

 

[G-Cat]

You need front axle service.

 

[Darwood]

Mine looked like that when I got my truck at 95k miles. When I did my front axle service everything looked good inside. Naturally the grease will weap out of the seals like that. It's not runny so I don't think the seals have failed, but it's probabaly not a bad idea to do a front axle service.

 

[tim_teasly]

My front axle looks very similar, and I do not wrench to this degree what should I expect to pay for front axle service? 97 LX450 85K...
Thanks

 

[cruiserdan]

Expect to pay around 1,200 dollars for a "complete" job, properly done, by a profsessional.



The trick is the "properly done" part.

 

[Cruiserhead05]

My front axle looks very similar, and I do not wrench to this degree what should I expect to pay for front axle service? 97 LX450 85K...
Thanks

Buy the DIY dvd, get an FSM and go to town.

Its really not that hard and is really satisfying when you complete. Plus it saves you a load of cash.

 

[e9999]

well, it's a little goopier than it can/should be, but it's not dripping on the ground either (if you didn't clean the bottom part). It doesn't look like it has to be done tomorrow. Just make sure there is enough grease in the knuckle and oil in the diff and you can take your time to do it right.
JMHO.


btw, looks like the previous owner mustabeen a sailor, green on one side, red on the other (or is that the other way around...)

 

[tim_teasly]

Thanks for the info guys, time to get the DVD. Cruiserhead05 nice ROTW.

 

[ed97fzj80]

Like Darwood's, mine looked like that before the service but everything inside was in pretty good shape. It can't hurt to give it a cleaning and see how quickly it gunks back up.

I found that the birf job is not that hard but it is messy and time-consuming. If you can change your oil and read and follow directions, you can do this job.

 

[Boston Mangler]

My front axle looks very similar, and I do not wrench to this degree what should I expect to pay for front axle service? 97 LX450 85K...
Thanks

hey tim

i am local and dont mind lending a hand. it is a somewhat easy job but fairly time consuming and very messy!

i will be doing mine shortly when i do all the brakes

 

[semlin]

it looks like someone has overfilled the outer cavity with grease through the plug hole and it has migrated out the seals because it has nowhere else to go (it can't really get into the inner knuckle). there is a square headed plug on top of the knuckle housing. undo it and dip a piece of wire in there and see how deep the grease is. i doubt you have anything to worry about. wipe it all up, leave a very light layer of grease on the balls and keep an eye on it.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Informationally, the seals should ALWAYS be weeping grease, so you really never know if it's excessive until after you've owned it and maintained it for a while. The driver's side (red grease) has either been repacked or had some added as that's not factory. Either's a good sign that at least SOMEBODY's been attending to them. Many get to 150k with zero attention.

DougM

 

[Brentbba]

hey tim

i am local and dont mind lending a hand. it is a somewhat easy job but fairly time consuming and very messy!

i will be doing mine shortly when i do all the brakes

You want some slave labor? I'd love to learn.

 

[Rookie2]

PO said he had 60k maintenance but doesn't know if it included axles. I know it's not much to go on, but I'd appreciate your opinions. It's now at 80K

It's not part of Toyota's scheduled maintenance so you should proceed with the presumption that it has not been done. The PM would surely have known if it was done due to the lightness of his wallet.

The buildup there seems a bit on the high side, but it's not time to panic. Mine looked a bit worse when I did mine and I had complete birf soup in the housing. At 80k you should begin the process of collecting the information and parts necessary to do the job and just plan on doing it. As said before, clean off the area and keep an eye on how long it takes to built back up. Also pull the plug on the front diff and drain a couple of teaspoons of gear oil and see what it looks like. That should help give an idea of how quickly you need to proceed to R&R.


Rookie2

 

[ElJefe]

... The driver's side (red grease) has either been repacked or had some added as that's not factory.

DougM

If you suspect that unknown grease was pumped in at some point, I would make a complete service a high priority. Many of the high temp synth greases that folks around here seem to like so much are bentone(clay) based, and do not play nice with ANY other grease bases... especially standard Lithium. The metals will break down the clay bases and the oils will bleed out leaving lump of clay in your bearings. To a lesser degree, most of the synthetic EP greases use exotic bases that are imcompatible to some degree, including change of drop point, grease thinning, and most often a lowering of the reversability of the grease. Reversability is the ability to reabsorb oil reseased as the grease heats up.

FWIW... Aluminum based greases will mix happily with anything other than the clay based greases. Good to use in things like TRE's, U-joints etc where you are just adding grease to existing grease, to assure compatibility.

 

[wileetoyote]

If you never ever turn the wheels and just drive in a straight line, grease shouldn't come out so if that is the case you have a problem

Otherwise, that grease buildup is normal because of the nature of the design of those birfs and those wiper seals. As others mentioned, so long as there's no thin, runny, diff oil running out of there, your seals are good and you should be fine.

Doing a rebuild is a 1 job in my opinion so rather than accepting BM's offer to help you, you should hang out with him, bring the beer , watch or help him do his when he does his brake job. Replacing grease, wheel bearings, seals, and such is really not that difficult.

I may get flamed here for saying this but, in my opinion if the truck never gets wheeled or see's dirt roads and never see's river crossing, at around 150k, I would just remove the old grease, clean things up, inspect the bearings and seals, replace the grease, and button things back up. If you suspect damage or see dirt or water in the grease, THEN replace all the seals and bearings.

If you do the things mentioned above fairly often, then a rebuild is in order more often (~60-100k depending).

If you do the river crossings or see flooded roads often, then I'd be changing my diff oil immediatly thereafter.

Excuse me whilst I put on my asbestos underwear...

BM, if he shows up with the , you can thank me later

WET

 

[cruiserman]

It looks fine to me, but you won't know until you open it up.

 

[Montana Cruiser]

Since I'm a noob to not only '80's but Birf Joints as well, I was hoping those with more experience could give me their opinion based on the photo's whether I need a birf job or not. PO said he had 60k maintenance but doesn't know if it included axles. I know it's not much to go on, but I'd appreciate your opinions. It's now at 80K

I just got the Birf DVD and am planning on doing this myself fairly soon, if you are interested we could try and put something together. I'm in Bellingham and there is another guy up here who may jump in on this as well. PM me if you are interested

...... goes without saying, anyone else in the area that wants to get something together, let me know.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I may get flamed here for saying this but, in my opinion if the truck never gets wheeled or see's dirt roads and never see's river crossing, at around 150k, I would just remove the old grease, clean things up, inspect the bearings and seals, replace the grease, and button things back up. If you suspect damage or see dirt or water in the grease, THEN replace all the seals and bearings.

I wouldn't flame you but, if you have gone to the trouble of taking it all apart, not replacing the knuckle bearings would be foolish. I think you are offering bad advice. That isn't a flame, just an opinion. By 60k miles, they are ALL worn to one degree or another-most noticable at the straight ahead position. Many go beyond that, which you get away with, mostly. Those bearings only cost (CD correct me plz) $15 each, and are the smallest part of this messy job.

For the original poster, the grease looks like oil is mixed on the drivers side-that means your inner axle seal is on the way out. I do agree the fix is not urgent, but it needs to be done. When you do it, don't try to save $30 by not replacing the knuckle bearings. I promise you it is money well spent. It goes without saying that the other seals, and particularly the inner axle seals should be doe as well. Inspect the wheelbearings-if good, it's fine to reuse.

This service is almost too expensive to pay a pro. You really will have to do it yourself. With 3 Cruisers I've done it so often, I can do both sides in an afternoon, so it isn't that hard. Find some local Cruiserheads and have them show you the ropes. Most of us actually like doing this service, and your truck likes it too.

 

[elmariachi]

This service is almost too expensive to pay a pro. You really will have to do it yourself. Find some local Cruiserheads and have them show you the ropes. Most of us actually like doing this service, and your truck likes it too.

I think that's a good point. To save $1000 there isn't much I wouldn't attempt on my truck. And I don't ever recall anyone around here tearing into one and then proclaiming that they couldn't finish it. Just do it.