i have a question about the inner part of a birf

[pbgbottle]

Hey! everyone ,i am getting ready to do my knuckle upgrade .and have been cleaning up a birf ,and noticed this thing is jammed up ,very stiff. does anybody no if the balls are suppose to just fit throught the cage or not fit at all and get jammed in the cage .
doesn't make sence to me to have these things jam in the cage. are they suppose to just
slide or skid in the birf or are they suppose to be able to roll a bit in the birf.

any info would be great . here are a few pics of new and old cage showing the balls
getting stuck and one not even fitting at all,i have to beat this thing together with a hammer it is so tight ,nothing really looks worn out.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Jake, do you have the shop manual? It details how to put together the birf, worth reading as you can easily make a mistake (the cage is NOT symetrical). I cannot recall if the balls fit through the cage or not.

 

[Scalp]

That's right, get a Toyota shop manual and follow the procedure exactly. Then it will go together ok.
Make sure you use the moly-lith grease, Castrol makes a good one. I have tried other types of greases, and every mechanic will tell you his own preference, but the manual recommends moly-lith.
That old cage looks pretty rough. I have an ok birf at home, I'm going to start carrying it on the major runs.

 

[pbgbottle]

i do have the FSM ,i can force it together .but it is way too tight for my liking . the FSM doesn't mention anything about if the balls should fit through the cage or not .
i guess i will rip apart another clean birf i have and check on it (mini truck),to see how tight the balls are. that old dead cage was from a rotten old birf i first pulled apart to practice on . it had so much corrosion on the balls i couldn't tell if they where suppose to fit through the cage or not , some did and some just fit through ,but none of them jammed up tight .
this one i am playing with is a Marfield chromo , (supposable slightly used) who knows.
i did call Marlin and all they said is that they where tight . but this one binds up
really tight . also the FSM says one side is fatter on the cage than the other . and this cage is asymetrical, both sides are the same width .
who knows . it just seems way to tight . ,the birf did not have moly grease in it tho when i got them , i will be using moly when i get some any recomendationsd on where to buy it .
do you use the moly on the wheel bearings as well ?? thought i would ask

here are a few more pics of what i am playing with .

Jake

 

[pbgbottle]

i have collected a few different year FSM's ,and in one of the newer ones it shows a cage that is asymetrical ,but it has a larger chamfer on one side .i will have to check it out ,also read one for a 73 year and back then the FSM says to pack the birf with multipupose grease. , i will be using moly , i have 7 FSM's and none of them talk about ball to cage interference .

Jake

 

[FLYINGLOW]

Chamfer is to compress the stock clip that goes inside the bell when you don't have the mar-tack on your shaft. Longfields tend to be quite tight and 'click' when you are driving. I don't know how different the marlin stuff is though. Probably similar though.

I'm guessing the 'missing tab' on the inside part is to help fit the cage on or balls in because there is a little more meat on the inside of the bell.