Help me Help me Please (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jul 15, 2005
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Location
High Desert, SoCal
Hi all
Been working on the axle rebuild 73 fj40 with course spline. Have had a terrible time getting the birfield back into the knuckle. I martacked the inner shafts and it appears to be where its supposed to be. The area for the seal on inner axle is almost dead center with the seal. I have been at it for at least 2 hrs trying to get the birfield on to the inner shaft. I did remove the snap ring from the inner. :) I removed the inner shaft and tried putting both in together. No go
Tried inner shaft first, no go. Tried turning birfield everywhich way and still no go. Did I mess up by putting the knuckle together first? The knuckle bearings are in, the caps torqued and the wipers bands are on. This birfield came out easy enough and is the one on the long axle side. Any one have any tricks or suggestions? I think the birfield is hitting the top of the axle ball.
Thanks
Brad
 
You could try loosening the steering arm a tad and see if it slips in. You should be able to clean some of the grease out of the way and see if the birf is hitting the inner part of the housing. Does the birfield fit on the axle out of the truck? If so either the housing is stopping you or the side gears in the diff are.
 
You do know that the flat sides of the birfield bell have to be at the top & bottom to slip into the "ball" on the end of the housing, right?

You may need to hold it in position with some pressure while you turn the pinion flange or other wheel or whatever you need to do to rotate the inner shaft.
 
I was thinking of loosening the arm also. The birf fits on the axle fine outside the truck. I thought that was the problem first and removed the inner and put them together and tried installing that way. It didn't work either I think the birf is hitting the housing
 
Also, I know you said coarse spline, but just making sure: This isn't a later, larger birfield is it?
 
e rock . I got the info about the flats. The birf goes in and clears the outer part of the knuckle. It lacks about an inch or so of going in all the way. The inner axle is all the way in. The seal surface lines up with the seal and the axle turns the pinion. I think the birf is hitting the top of the axle housing ball.
 
Could your inner be the problem? In order to seat fully, it has to mesh into the side gears on the differential case. If the inner doesn't go all the way in, neither will the birfield.
 
I had this same problem, you need to push down on the stub axle to raise the inner axle to line up with the side gear. It wants to droop. Think of it like an over/under shotgun the stock is the stub axle(birf), helps to have someone turn the pinion at the same time. Short side is easier than the long side. No need to loosen the knuckles.

GL


Ed
 
Thanks everyone. I will try again. I don't believe there is any problems with the axle housing or the bearings. I checked the bearings with the ol fish scale and are at 3lbs without the wipers installed.They are new. The cap bolts are torqued to 71 lbs. Knuckle moves very smoothly. Oh and I ordered the front wheel bearings from Kurt. Very easy to deal with.
 

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