looks like chromoly 80 birfs on the way

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i saw a thread on pirate and it looks like longfield is going to make some chromoly 80 series birfields. :cool:

what do you guy think about this? excited?
 
I'm excited. I will need to probably replace 4 in the next year and a half. 4 times OEM price and I could buy another half an 80.
 
great idea. I didn't know longfield made birfs from scratch. I thought he cryo'd other people's birfs. I wish him luck but he will have his work cut out to make something as good as the factory birf. cv unlimited have already tried it without success...
 
I'm no metallurgist but I do work with steel daily. I expect the OEM birfield is an alloy steel, maybe simular to 4140/4142 which is a chrome moly steel. If it isn't a high carbon steel then it would be difficult to heat treat more than just a surface hardening. I would be interested in what the OEM is mfgr'd from, and their hardness ratings. IF...the factory OEM part is only surface heat treated, then the core is softer to let it flex, while the surface is harder preventing wear. Anyone know what type of steel the OEM part uses, and type of harness it has? I expect it will be very hard to top the OEM part for most people's use.
 
It needs to be redesigned….larger dia. bell, deeper bell, and bigger balls with OEM rated steel. The most improvement needs to be in the strength of the birf when the wheels are turned. If they can build one from scratch why not build a bigger one?
 
Phil,

Interesting point. Frankly if I owned the company and wanted to sell birfs, I'd drop a couple thousand bucks in having an independent test of the breaking strength of mine vs an OEM birf and post it on my website. I'm always amazed at these fabricators that design an alternative to a heavy part and make claims but don't provide subjective data. Wouldn't you think if they were competent enough to design and build one from scratch they'd be able to do CAD analysis of the design to fix whatever's weakest about the OEM part, then prove it in a test? We in the community always seem to look at these and say "I'll wait a couple years and see how they hold up for others". Ludicrous that they don't provide actual strength comparisons. Who knows, maybe this one will be different and we'll see actual data. But this is always a sore spot with me - why would I risk some big $$$ on their birf when the Toyota one is just fine when properly maintained?

DougM
 
LandCruiserPhil said:
It needs to be redesigned….larger dia. bell, deeper bell, and bigger balls with OEM rated steel. The most improvement needs to be in the strength of the birf when the wheels are turned. If they can build one from scratch why not build a bigger one?

There is no room for a larger joint... I tried. The Toyota 100 series joint is BIG, also has 30 splines on the outer shaft in place of the 27.

Look here

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=12430
 
Given Bobby Longs proven history with birf work for the minitruck and 40-55-60-62 series Cruiser crowd, I'll bet these are nice units. He has axles and birfields surviving at a competition level, which makes even the stupid wheelin I do look like a sand box.

I believe these will be impressive...I've done many things with my rig that should have busted my Longfields, and other things have broken instead. (rear pinions, t-case shafts, lockouts, etc....not sure that's a good thing...lol)
 
I'll be a guinnea pig this summer. I've got to replace my front end on my 94. The difference for me isn't only strength it is price. I'm hoping that Bobby's come in much lower priced than OEM. Nothing wrong with the OEM for my applications other than price.
 
IdahoDoug said:
Phil,

Interesting point. Frankly if I owned the company and wanted to sell birfs, I'd drop a couple thousand bucks in having an independent test of the breaking strength of mine vs an OEM birf and post it on my website. I'm always amazed at these fabricators that design an alternative to a heavy part and make claims but don't provide subjective data. Wouldn't you think if they were competent enough to design and build one from scratch they'd be able to do CAD analysis of the design to fix whatever's weakest about the OEM part, then prove it in a test? We in the community always seem to look at these and say "I'll wait a couple years and see how they hold up for others". Ludicrous that they don't provide actual strength comparisons. Who knows, maybe this one will be different and we'll see actual data. But this is always a sore spot with me - why would I risk some big $$$ on their birf when the Toyota one is just fine when properly maintained?

DougM

Yes, that has allready been done...

torquetestgraph.jpg
 
he isnt making tha actual birf bigger its the inner cage that is redesigned.. bobby knows his stuff.. i would buy from him anytime..... its a great addition to the 80 society....
 
Excellent. So this graph is for an 80 OEM birf and Bobby's pending replacement 80 birf? I'm just trying to figger out what is labeled a "Longfield short bar" failure and "joint w/ 300M race OK".

DougM
 
I forgot to post that as far as i know these birfs will not be great replacetments for DD... mainly trail rigs or rigs that see fewer miles
 
actually, I'll bet that graph is for the current birfs...non-80 size. I'll wager the 80-size unit is stronger yet....
 
yea, what's that about? I thought knowledgeable folks had asserted here that the 80 axles are stronger than Dana 60s...
(if we can trust a "commercial" if that's what that graph is, of course...)
E
 
e9999 said:
yea, what's that about? I thought knowledgeable folks had asserted here that the 80 axles are stronger than Dana 60s...
(if we can trust a "commercial" if that's what that graph is, of course...)
E


Axles - yes

wheel joints - no
 

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