Clicking noise.

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Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Threads
7
Messages
57
Location
Bozeman, MT
Good morning 406, this is Rob Blakeman. I wanted to get opinions/confirmation on a sound I have been having for some time on my '94 80 series. When making tight turns, there is a clicking sound which is more pronounced on pavement than dirt. Reading on the forums it seems this is related to my birfields and a front-end service is required before I do any more damage. I checked and added gear oil in the front dif last year, and I don't drive it too often due to this known issue (thus my lack of presence on trail rides).

I have done some minor wrenching (2 banana maybe) on my rigs, and I would like to do this job myself. I hear it is not that difficult but really messy. That said, does anyone know of any garage/shop space I can use/rent to get this done? Our house does not have a garage, and it seems this is not a repair I should be doing in my driveway.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, guys.
 
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Sounds like birfs to me. I'm sure you've read all of the same threads that I have, and it really is not a difficult job. Messy? Yes. Time consuming? Yeah, that too. But very straight forward. I've done part of mine, and would be happy to help out. It would be better in a garage, but not out of the question to do it in the driveway. Paul at Bozeman Napa just finished building his well equipped garage with a lift. I believe he is willing to rent it out for something just like this.
 
Thanks for the quick reply TC. Is Paul the owner of Flawless Coatings?
 
No, that is Derek, who no longer works at Napa. Paul is the bearded guy who will speak of his love for the Toyota... Nice guy.
 
That's right. Okay, thanks for the info TC!
 
Definitely the birfs. Not too bad of a job. A front end service will lube it back up but may not fix the clicking. Mine click pretty bad But I am still comfortable getting out on the trail rides. there was an ad on craigslist for rentable shop space. Shop Rental if that link doesn't work its in the auto services section.
 
Thanks for the reply Sam. So I am not sure I understand why the service does not take away the clicking from a technical standpoint. If that is the case, is it possible to just keep limping along and adding diff oil? I need an education, apparently. Any thoughts would be great.
 
The front axle service is usualy done to fix the leaking inner seal. It seperates thee diff oil from the moly grease that lubes the axle and birfs. When the seal goes diff oil mixes with and washes out the grease in the birfs. The axle shafts and birfs wear with age and may need replaced to end all the clicking. You can swap them side to side to get more wear out of them.​
 
Ahhhhhh, I do remember seeing that in one of the diff service write-ups. So the thick sludge I have near my PS knuckle is b/c of my wiper seal, then. Thanks a lot guys for the help and the info.
 
No. The tthick slug is not from the wiper seal. The wiper seals are ment to seal enough to keep thick grease in the end where the birfield is. When the inner Axel seal wears out the the thin diff OIL mixes with that grease and makes it thin enough the wash out past the wiper seal. The wiper seal will be replaced during the rebuild but is not really the problem.

It is a fine job to do in a driveway. Just try to have about three days of nice weather in case things run slow. Lay down tarps and stuff to keep the driveway keep and dirt out of things. I had a 2x4 foot of scrap plywood that was nice to lay the axels down on. Just keeps grease of the driveway and keeps dirt out of my Axel.
 
Thanks for further explaining....so my inner axle seal is what started this mess, and the poor wiper seals can no longer do their jobs well.

Anybody still say CDan at American Toyota is the place to get the "kit" or should I source at Ressler?
 
I got my kit from cruiser outfitters. High quality, and mud approved! They'll walk you through it and make sure you have your bases covered. I'd suggest a couple of extra axle seals. They were easy for me to bugger up!! Someone more experienced will have better success.
 
Anybody still say CDan at American Toyota is the place to get the "kit" or should I source at Ressler?

CDan is retired from American Toyota, he is now at the museum in SLC.

Not sure Toyota sells a "kit". your best bet is to get it from Kurt or from georg, either one will treat you right.
 
We would love to help you out with some knuckle rebuild parts, some thoughts to consider: Cruiser Outfitters

Kurt (currently headed to Bozeman)
 
I pulled out yesterday. I was there for a night earlier in the month before heading out on trip and rolled through again Yestersay. I saw a couple of nicely built 4Runners, a semi stock 100 and a built 100 just on the drive from Belgrade to Bug Sky
 

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