Front Birfield/bearings: How long do I have? (1 Viewer)

[chbrow10]

I've made a handshake on a 1987 FJ60. The photos show the state of the birfields. 159,xxx miles on the truck. I'm assuming these have not been rebuilt since new. I know they have to be redone. I'm hoping they can wait until Christmas, 2 months from now. How urgent is it to replace the seal, bearings, etc? During the test drive, there were no weird noises from the front end, nothing indicating there is anything wrong. Just the visual inspection tells me they need to be done.

I would like to know where to put this on the priority list. All help is appreciated.

C

 

[4Cruisers]

You might want to remove the plug at the top of the knuckle housing and take a peek to see if there's any grease in there. It's not a fill plug per se, but it might give you some indication.

 

[chbrow10]

@4Cruisers , In order to do that, I just need to remove the wheel, nothing else? If there is no grease, then its higher on the priority list than if there IS grease in there?

 

[joebattle1]

Well it got you this far... What's December??? ... There are very few things that can actually stop one of these things in their tracks. I say run it!

 

[4Cruisers]

That's right. When you rebuild the knuckle and pack the housing with grease you only fill it up 3/4 of the way. So there should be grease in there, but not near full.

 

[OSS]

That big caking grease/grime growth along the outer edge of the knuckle balls is an encouraging sign. What it is is weeping grease mixed with dirt. It looks like maybe the previous owner might have been diligent enough with maintenance to have been occasionally greasing the knuckle cavity. You can wipe it off if you want, but it's an excellent rust protector.
What I'd do if I just got your truck is grease up the knuckle cavities (might need 2 lbs of grease) and drive it. When you get to a dirt road, drive a bit in 4WD with the hubs locked and do some good turns (slow driving). If you don't hear or feel anything odd, chances are the birfield joints are fine.
Most people almost never use 4WD, so the joints usually don't wear out from overuse

 

[Spike Strip]

What OSS said, plus check the diff gear oil level and top off. Change when you do the knuckles.

 

[chbrow10]

I went into the passenger knuckle via the fill hole. Not much grease in there at all. And what was in there looked like it had water (milky). I ordered the kit. I guess I will figure that out. Maybe this weekend. Y'all pray for me.

 

[hj 60]

If it is worn out the birf will click in a 4x4 turn, mostly not in reverse (so a cheap option is to swap them) but still drivable for 10k.
When very worn it will click in 2x4 turns and in the end also straight.
If you fill the diff and it does not poor out a few months is no problem, meanwhile read many topics and look at a video and get the tools: c-clip plier, nut 54 remove, large brass drift and minimum 3 kilogram hammer to hit the hub studs, and maybe some nuts to prevent the thread to be damaged and the stud flying.
I have many pictures here but find as many topics to be prepared, I would not do it instantly in a weekend.
to much to copy paste all:

hj60-Birf-propeller-shaft-diff-yoke-flange-spider-snap

video pictures http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0712or_ ... to_14.html Video of the locking hubs aisin how to fix when they are stuck: http://forum.ih8

www.tapatalk.com

Hub studs are slammed with a heavy brass hammer. 8 (or 12' mm x 41mm x 1.25 stud/ torque newton metre= 71 ft-lbs = 96 nm
8 (or 12) mm washer, nut, lock washer:

90311-33085 SEAL DRIVESHAFT type T for birfield leak oil on brakedisk.

the order of the gaskets:

worn out clicking birf:

The easy way to separate the birf from the axle, the short axle needs about 8 slams, the long one 2/
Maybe if you add a weight on the short one it will fall off earlier.

 

[g-man]

The OP didn't complain about any clicking. In fact the OP stated the opposite. So you're not going to need new birfs. But that's good info about the birf wear. But it's a good idea to inspect and grease them while you have them out. But since you have milky color in there assume that water has got past the seals. I'd check the gear oil in the front axle housing. IE pull the fill plug on the diff pumpkin. Make sure it's at the right level and not milky as well. Outer axle seals don't come with the rebuild kit as I recall so order some of those too if you're rebuilding your knuckles. It's the last ...most inner thing you'll have to do once you get everything off. Go by the steps/torque specs/bearing preload in the 84 chassis and body FSM.

Go here: For Sale - 40, 50, 60, and 80 series FSM for a hell of a price.

and download the 84 chassis and body FSM (service manual) and follow the steps in the front axle (FA) chapter.

 

[g-man]

Don't get your shims mixed up. The need to go back on in the same order. I'm talking about the shims on top and below the knuckle. To get them mixed up changes the center on the knuckle. Then everything wears out prematurely and you need a centering tool to measure and replace shims to get it back to center.

 

[g-man]

Here's some reading material for you ..including tools and and other things to consider:

Knuckle Rebuild Kit

Hey there all, im going to do my front axle and have come across a ton of info while searching. Can anyone recommend their favorite rebuild kit along with any pros and cons? thanks in advance.

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[brownbear]

You can easily wait a little longer.

As others said, check the diff oil. But if you run in 2wd it's not wearing anyhow. The grease is the oil coming out of the axle shaft seals, from the diff.

It's not like you are running daily in 4wd. And the birf is not turning. The wheel bearings will be replaced with a new kit anyhow.

I would not panic. I am also needing to rebuild my knuckles again, and I did it about 10 years ago.

 

[Cruzerman]

I'd drive it until I fix it in December.

 

[DirtRoads]

Run it. It's fine until december 2020 unless you run in 4x4 all day every day.

 

[chbrow10]

@g-man, thanks for the advice, very helpful. I thought I had every kind of snap ring pliers known to man, but after reading that post, I guess I need one more type.

@hj 60, good photos and diagrams, thank you.

g-man is right, there is no clicking sound, forward or reverse.

So I checked the diff oil front and back. Rear fluid was clear amber, and it took about 10 ounces of oil to get it to overfill the fill hole. Front fluid was amber, only ever so slightly cloudy, and it only took 4 ounces of oil to get it to the over fill oil. This tells me that the PO was checking that front diff and trying to keep it full. Good news for the front diff gears anyway.

I'm pretty sure that when I opened the fill hole in the knuckle and peered down, I was looking at the outside of the birf hemisphere. No grease in sight on that. I tapped it with a screwdriver to be sure. The grease that I saw was clinging to the top edge of the knuckle, so it appears that there is minimal grease in the knuckle. Knowing that, my OCD engineer brain won't let me wait until Christmas.

The boys are coming home from college for Thanksgiving, and I know they are going to want to do some wheeling. So I'm starting to assemble all the tools (borrowing some from the local cruiser community and buying some). When I have everything, I'll dig into it and get it done before Thanksgiving.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

 

[4Cruisers]

@g-man, thanks for the advice, very helpful. I thought I had every kind of snap ring pliers known to man, but after reading that post, I guess I need one more type.

@hj 60, good photos and diagrams, thank you.

g-man is right, there is no clicking sound, forward or reverse.

So I checked the diff oil front and back. Rear fluid was clear amber, and it took about 10 ounces of oil to get it to overfill the fill hole. Front fluid was amber, only ever so slightly cloudy, and it only took 4 ounces of oil to get it to the over fill oil. This tells me that the PO was checking that front diff and trying to keep it full. Good news for the front diff gears anyway.

I'm pretty sure that when I opened the fill hole in the knuckle and peered down, I was looking at the outside of the birf hemisphere. No grease in sight on that. I tapped it with a screwdriver to be sure. The grease that I saw was clinging to the top edge of the knuckle, so it appears that there is minimal grease in the knuckle. Knowing that, my OCD engineer brain won't let me wait until Christmas.

The boys are coming home from college for Thanksgiving, and I know they are going to want to do some wheeling. So I'm starting to assemble all the tools (borrowing some from the local cruiser community and buying some). When I have everything, I'll dig into it and get it done before Thanksgiving.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

It looks like you're well on the way. For those inner axle seals I'd go with the Marlin Crawler seals:

HD Inner Axle Seal | Marlin Crawler, Inc.

Application 1975-1989 Disc BrakeFJ40/45/55/60/62...

www.marlincrawler.com

 

[chbrow10]

For those who said "drive it", you were right. There was plenty of grease in both knuckles, but it was thin. And the amber oil in the diff must have been at the top, because it drained out olive drab green.

I'm deep into the job. Holy Cow, what a mess.