Tools for birff job (1 Viewer)

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Detailed Instructions and Air tools

I would also suggest air tools if you do not have them. If you don't have air tools it will take a lot longer.

You may also need a press to remove the rotors from the hubs, mine were stuck really good. You will also need an impact gun to remove the bolts holding the hub and rotor together.

I created a file with all the Birf facts and cleaned it up in a word document using pictures and information I accumulated. It was useful to have in addition to the FSM since it has actual pictures and can get messed up with greasy hands. Since I could not attach the word doc I created a .pdf file, Hope it is useful. If you would like a word file I can email it.
 

Attachments

  • Front Axle Rebuild.pdf
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I only did the front brakes and rotors, the rear is next. I was considering slotted but opted for the oem and 100 series pads from Dan. Works great and braking improved dramatically, of course I had badly warped rotors and little pad remaining. Like others I could not fit the shims or whatever they are called but put some anti squeel brake lube between the pads and brake pistons. I did not rebuild the birf either, they seemed fine visually and mainly ran out of time in one day to break them apart. Being slow, :banana: and 1/2 and torquing everthing took me from 8 AM to 9 pm. Most seem to do it faster but not including the rotors and pads.

One other thing that was nice was using a air gun and tephlon/ plastic pad to remove the gaskets on the hubs and knuckle. Can easily be done with a gasket scrapper but fast work with better tools.
 
These are OEM rotors but John has a machinist slot the. He has tested them on his Cruiser for almost a year with good results. I will probably just stick with the 80 pads and I should probably consider flushing the system although I should just look-up the last time that was done because I don't think it was that long ago.

Unfortunately no air tools and now is not the time for me to invest in those so I plan to work 2 days solid on this project and I can ride my bike to work if I don't finish.
 
hntashdjian said:
I used the Valvoline Palladium for the birfs:
Synthetic Grease

My local Napa had plenty in stock. I think the Palladium has a more moly then the rest/

For the bearings I used Mobile 1 Synthetic grease, worked out pretty good.

The other valvoline ones also have moly and the last two below are rated for bearings as well so you can use only 1 type of grease:
Synthetic Grease
Moly-Fortified Multi-Purpose Grease/Ford
Synthetic Blend Grease
Click to expand...

I am still completely lost on the grease options and quantity. There is Molly Grease to pack in the knuckle
Then the tubes for the birffs how many tubes I don't know?
And then gear oil, where does that come in?
 
Bluetribal said:
And then gear oil, where does that come in?
Click to expand...

If just doing the front you'll need 3 quarts of gear oil. The gear oil is to refill the differential since you'll be draining it to do the rebuild. The inner axle seal leaking causes the gear oil and grease to combine creating the "soup" that spills out of the knuckles over time. While you're at it I would do a drain/refill on your front/rear differential and transfer case.

Personally I just use the normal Valvoline 80W-90 (gallon jugs) at Kragen and replace it often. You'll need a pump or one of those hoses that attach to the bottle to make life easier when refilling the diff, they're like $5.
 
Bluetribal said:
I am still completely lost on the grease options and quantity. There is Molly Grease to pack in the knuckle
Then the tubes for the birffs how many tubes I don't know?
And then gear oil, where does that come in?
Click to expand...

You'll need 5-6 tubes of the Moly grease, I used Valvoline Palladium.

3-4 tubes of the bearing grease if you get more you can use it on your U-Joints as PM.

I would not put Synthetic in your diff after the inittial build but use a regular Dyno since you will want to do a flush after a few thousand miles to get any moly out that may have gotten in there during the axle insertion. After the flush you can use a more expensive synth. Like Teejnut said just use some normal Valvoline 80W-90.
 
Any grease with Moly is good for birf/knuckle. I used 6 tubes.

Bearing grease for bearings(duh). Some Molys can doulbe up as bearing grease(see my posts above). 2 tubes should be enough for front.

Gear Oil for diffs. Like Dan said, use a non synthetic for first 1-2 times to clean the inside of the axle housing, then switch to synthetic if you want.

I bought two grease guns so i dont have to worry about switching. With the flexible hose, i removed the end and it helped for filling the knuckle in all the open little spaces. Point and shoot.

It seems intimidating, but it really isnt.
 
hntashdjian said:
Any grease with Moly is good for birf/knuckle. I used 6 tubes.

Bearing grease for bearings(duh). Some Molys can doulbe up as bearing grease(see my posts above). 2 tubes should be enough for front.

Gear Oil for diffs. Like Dan said, use a non synthetic for first 1-2 times to clean the inside of the axle housing, then switch to synthetic if you want.

I bought two grease guns so i dont have to worry about switching. With the flexible hose, i removed the end and it helped for filling the knuckle in all the open little spaces. Point and shoot.

It seems intimidating, but it really isnt.
Click to expand...

I originally though about a second grease gun but went with the quart tubs of moly and went through 3 packing the birfs, should have used more though. I used a bearing packer with red mobile one and only went through 2 tubes on them. The packer was nice since I did not have to clean out all the old, just pump until clean. Borrowed that from fellow cruisers. I would also second the diff oil pump in the gallon, I started trying to use the individual bottles with no luck and borrowed the pump from my fellow cruisers again to get it done.
 
You can also use a $.97 funnel from Wally World and add a short section of flexible tubing to fill your axle housing. I use a zig zag shaped funnel which is perfect but maybe a little hard to find.

The secret is to boil a big pot of water with the gear oil jug in it (or some version of that, based on what the :princess: will let you get away with). That way the oil flows effortlessly through the funnel instead of trying to constantly overflow it. You can empty the jug in a couple of minutes that way.

Lastly, you should only use the moly grease for the birfs and housings, not for the bearings. If you want to get something local, I'd use Mobil 1. 1 tub should be just about perfect for front bearings only (but you might want to pick up 2 just in case:D).
 
These are all really good tips & tricks guys. And please keep anything you can remember coming or post up any of your pics that may show something a little better.
I talked to John (SD Trux) today and he is going to have my brake rotors sometime next week so it will be down to work next Friday when I get home from work and pressure washing the front axle down. I will remove the wheels give things one last shot of PB Blaster, drain the front diff, and bleed the brake fluid. I guess prior to even that stuff I will layout all my tools, parts, liquids, pans & baggies on the table.
 
Bluetribal said:
Should I bother getting this tool.
Is it really that easy to screw-up if I take my time? Can it be used on the upper and lower knuckle seals or just the inside one that is straight on?
Click to expand...

That's a cool tool! I would get it just to make life easier. You can just fab something up yourself (PVC, wood, etc) to use. I would probably get that and the HD inner axle seal from Marlin next time I do a rebuild.

Which upper and lower knuckle seals are you talking about? Are you talking about the bearings and races for the steering knuckles?
 
I would get it. I fabbed my own up out of wood and it was a little trial and error getting them in. This was probably the most nerve racking part of the job for me since I really didn't want to screw up the seals only to find out the hard way after it was all put together.
 
teejnut said:
Which upper and lower knuckle seals are you talking about? Are you talking about the bearings and races for the steering knuckles?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was talking about the races & bearings. I guess those are easier to insert and not as finicky.
 
Bluetribal said:
Yeah, I was talking about the races & bearings. I guess those are easier to insert and not as finicky.
Click to expand...

Those are actually harder to do then the seal. The races are a pain to bang in and out. This is where you'll be using the brass drifts and a hammer to slowly bang them in and out.

However, when I rebuilt my rear axle I borrowed some tools from Autozone that made life easier. I borrowed a slide hammer with a 3-jaw attachment to remove them. And then borrowed a bearing installer that sort of looks like the Marline inner seal installer but comes with multiple size discs. This made my rear axle job A LOT easier and I would think the front as well. I didn't know about these tools back when I did my front.
 
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