Longfields no fit

[65swb45]

Having installed a few of these in Minis and Land Cruisers, I still fail to see how there could be a parts problem....

So you're saying you have not seen this inner clip problem come up before Steve? I don't know squat about aftermarket birfs anyways [retrogrouch ], but I try to keep up to date on the chatter, and I hadn't heard about this problem before.

 

[theo]

Not trying to be pessemistic here, but if what you're saying is correct, it sounds like you HAVE to buy the Long inners or run w/o inner clips risking running the inners too far into the birfs. Considering that the star is never the part that fails, I can't see why they wouldn't all be ground down to work with either stock or Long inners.

Not pessimistic at all! That was my conclusion too, but Bobby knows people who have replaced the inner clip on the stock axle with a Martack to do the same job. He suggested it and maybe I should have done this. Seems straightforward.

I think Bobby's efforts to solve this problem revolved around getting me on the road as quickly as possible. Rather than put me off another day to look into it he suggested a set of his axles and I took the plunge. It may be that more grinding will resolve this for good.

 

[theo]

Having installed a few of these in Minis and Land Cruisers, I still fail to see how there could be a parts problem....

Longfields were redesigned just recently and my 27s are the first pair sold. The cages and stars are made from new material (300M) and may have taken on new dimensions to increase strength. To the best of my knowledge this is a manufacturing hiccup that was unforeseen. If it turns out I was doing something stupid all along I'll be the first to admit it (and probably the last one to know).

I was extremely reluctant to publicize my experiences because I didn't want to bring undeserved criticism down on Bobby. He is a class act, as you know, and the last thing I want is to make people think otherwise. I believe he is still thinking about this.

 

[short bus]

I had this same problem a couple of weeks ago with a new set of 30 splines. These pictures look to be the same as what I found. The spindle would bind up with about an 1/8" of air between it and the knuckle. When I talked to Bobby, he mentioned that I might need to grind off a little off the inner side of the inner axle. I took about a 1/4" of grinding to make them(both sides) fit. The seem to fit without problems now. I just hate having to break out the chop saw on a new set of $600+ axles.

 

[Poser]

So you're saying you have not seen this inner clip problem come up before Steve?

That is correct.

I have installed a set in a Mini-buggy, a set in a 4runner a set in a 40 and helped with another set in a 40. All were 30 spline chromo kits, all went together without issue, and have worked great. All had the inner snap ring on the birf, and went together just fine. There were not any grinding issues, no fittment issues, no cutting of the inner axle....nothing.

 

[theo]

The new Longfields aren't the same as the old Longfields; the design changed.

Just got off the phone with Bobby. This should allay any fears anyone might have about buying Longfields in the future. Here's what he said:

Rockwell recently manufactured new stars and cages to provide even higher strength tolerances. The stars and cages they produced are not dimensioned correctly for re-using stock axles on an FJ40.

Rockwell has seen this post (and the pictures) and agrees. Last week they made NEW stars and cages and sent them to Bobby, so there is no worry; the new Longfields will - once again - work with stock axles.

oh happy day!