My Birfs are phucked.

[Maleficio]

How much should I expect a shop to charge for labor to replace both?

 

[grizzlygibbs]

You would probably be better off to actually call a shop and ask them since shop rates and times vary.

 

[mechanist]

Axle service? I believe close to $1k for parts and labor. New birfs and/or axles are extra.

I did it once myself, and then paid about that when having a differential rebuilt.

 

[Maleficio]

I'm getting that rhythmic clunking sound in turns. Louder in reverse up hill, scarily loud with the center diff locked.

I bought Moly grease for the joints?

Local oil shop checked my front diff and said the oil was black and clumpy. Moly traveled through the seals and fouled the diff oil. This seems backward to me. Seems that if the seals were bad the diff oil would've traveled outward and fouled the joints. Weird.

 

[bloc]

Never lock center diff on pavement.. if that's where you are hearing the "scary loud" stuff.

Stock axle breather has a small check valve in it (for some reason) that causes a slight vacuum in the axle housing.. this can pull moly grease into the axle. Pretty common actually.

Either way yes, you'll need a rebuild and seals at least. Hopefully your axles don't have much of a wear groove from the existing seals.

 

[danthman114]

Take a weekend and do it yourself. The more you wrench on it the more you know about it, so when the time comes if you break down in BFE, you can fix it and not have to get bent out of shape trying to call a mechanic and a flat bed... Just my opinion...

 

[richardlillard1]

@Maleficio , do the knuckles have grease in them? Without sufficient grease even a good birf will make noise.

The birfs are constantly pushing the grease around in the knuckle, think of it like cookie dough in a mixing bowl, if left unattended, you'll have cookie dough in places other than the bowl. There's no real way around this.

It has nothing to do with the breather. I have a free flowing breather and still get some mixing, it's normal but not good when the seal is failed and you get birf soup in the knuckles.

 

[Malleus]

There are a couple of how to videos out there, including these:


Buy the seals, bearings, new cone washers, Moly grease, and anything else you want to replace beforehand. You don't need to buy steering tools, such as a TRE puller; you can "borrow" them from VatoZone (for a refundable deposit). You will need a ball peen hammer, punches (steel and brass), shop rags, a couple of buckets, a length of PVC pipe (for the driveline snap ring), etc (the list is in the FSM). I'd say it's a weekend job for most people, at most. The only possible delay would be finding you need new cages, then you're out while you wait for delivery.

IMO, you can do this yourself, unless this is your DD and you have no backup, and know a shop which has all the parts you could possibly need before you take it in. Then, you're out about a day, if you're lucky.

 

[Malleus]

Here's the same, in a shop:


(Note the PVC pipe and hose clamp tricks)

 

[inkpot]

I always thought that new birfs come loaded with both the balls and the cage?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

How much should I expect a shop to charge for labor to replace both?

That will be a heavy $$$ bill. Don't go there. You should do this yourself, no matter how much money you have. The reason is, no one will do it well, other than you. Get comfortable with the Toyota axle and knuckle. Then YOU can tackle any job your Land Cruiser will ever need. Buying new Birfields will be expensive. Spend your $$ on the good parts, not the labor you can do yourself.

 

[Maleficio]

That will be a heavy $$$ bill. Don't go there. You should do this yourself, no matter how much money you have. The reason is, no one will do it well, other than you. Get comfortable with the Toyota axle and knuckle. Then YOU can tackle any job your Land Cruiser will ever need. Buying new Birfields will be expensive. Spend your $$ on the good parts, not the labor you can do yourself.

I like your thinking. The thinking in the Porsche 928 world is "Why pay someone else to LEARN how to fix your car?"

 

[Smaddox]

I'm more unclear on this than I probably should be. I think I may be having symptoms my birfields are going out, can't see anything definitive. The only time I hear clicking is when the t-case is locked and I'm turning in drive. No clicking in when it's not locked, and not in reverse. I had not heard it until recently as the t-case would not lock until I removed the t-case loopback wire in the dash and threw it in 4 low and it locked. Now it locks with the loopback. Is this birfields? Clicking is not loud, almost didn't hear it at first.

 

[chap79]

Just follow the guide. It's easy enough.

 

[Maleficio]

My clicking is more like clunking. I hear it in reverse when the load is against the front end while turning.

 

[midfat]

Doing your birfs is a right of passage. It's daunting if you've never done it before. It'll probably take you four times longer than you think. It's a filthy disaster of a mess. Your doctor will ask you months after the axle service where the black moly grease deep in your ear canals came from. But - and here's the important part - after you've done it, you'll feel like you can tackle anything on your cruiser. Better yet, when you need to do it again, you'll knock it out in a couple hours including the beer breaks. You've totally got this.

 

[Maleficio]

Doing your birfs is a right of passage. It's daunting if you've never done it before. It'll probably take you four times longer than you think. It's a filthy disaster of a mess. Your doctor will ask you months after the axle service where the black moly grease deep in your ear canals came from. But - and here's the important part - after you've done it, you'll feel like you can tackle anything on your cruiser. Better yet, when you need to do it again, you'll knock it out in a couple hours including the beer breaks. You've totally got this.

I love it!

 

[RFB]

There are a couple of how to videos out there, including these:


Buy the seals, bearings, new cone washers, Moly grease, and anything else you want to replace beforehand. You don't need to buy steering tools, such as a TRE puller; you can "borrow" them from VatoZone (for a refundable deposit). You will need a ball peen hammer, punches (steel and brass), shop rags, a couple of buckets, a length of PVC pipe (for the driveline snap ring), etc (the list is in the FSM). I'd say it's a weekend job for most people, at most. The only possible delay would be finding you need new cages, then you're out while you wait for delivery.

IMO, you can do this yourself, unless this is your DD and you have no backup, and know a shop which has all the parts you could possibly need before you take it in. Then, you're out about a day, if you're lucky.

Looks like this may be my next major task. Was out at an off road park today and while in 4hi CDL turned to right driver started clicking, CDL off click gone, should I repack, rebuild or simply go all out and rebirf?

 

[nukegoat]

I paid someone to do my birfields once when I had my gears done. I rebuilt the front end myself sometime later and founs out they did fine. If you want to pay someone, go for it. There are plenty of people Id trust on this forum to service my rig.

 

[Tools R Us]

I'm more unclear on this than I probably should be. I think I may be having symptoms my birfields are going out, can't see anything definitive. The only time I hear clicking is when the t-case is locked and I'm turning in drive. No clicking in when it's not locked, and not in reverse. I had not heard it until recently as the t-case would not lock until I removed the t-case loopback wire in the dash and threw it in 4 low and it locked. Now it locks with the loopback. Is this birfields? Clicking is not loud, almost didn't hear it at first.

Is the moly grease level correct, 1/2 to 3/4 full, sounds like low/dry birf?