wear on birf abs tone ring? (1 Viewer)

[lasoundguy]

Picked up a spare birf from the Classifieds here, and seller was quick to mention they weren't sure of condition when pulled.

I noticed there are some chips in the tone ring. Any reason to be concerned (this is just for a trail spare.)

Also I'm assuming if I disassemble and lube up I shouldn't be worried about the surface rust in the birdcage?

The drive ends seem a bit worn down but the fit up to the spare drive flange I got OK so I think it's alright...

Advice from those who live and breath these axles is surely welcome. Appreciate it.

 

[Box Rocket]

In reality the damage on the tone ring would only cause the ABS to not fully engage or to not engage at all, and that's worst case. You'll still have brakes. Quite a few people remove the ABS altogether. So if this birf is a trail spare I wouldn't be too concerned. You could also pull the tone ring off the trail spare. If you were to brake a birf, you could remove the tone ring from the broken one and press it onto the spare. That's all doable as a trail fix.

The surface rust on the birf wouldn't worry me either. You could spray a little CLR on it and a little steel wool and clean it up if you want, then follow it up with a light coat of oil/grease.

 

[BILT4ME]

I would probably file off the sharp edges, the dents, and the areas that may end up contacting the ABS sensor. Looks like that tone ring (reluctor ring) lived on an axle with loose wheel bearings and got hooked a bit, then hammered as it was R/R.

The reluctor ring provides a "pulse" against a magnet on the end of the ABS sensor. All it needs are clean edges to define the fact that it can measure the rotation. That;'s why you need to file off the flared parts where it was impacted with something. Don;t file the top of the teeth unless there's something sticking UP from one of the marks. The sensor counts the teeth as they go by to determine if the wheels are traveling the same speed or not.

 

[lasoundguy]

Thanks both, very helpful advice. Great to learn how the ABS sensor works, that makes sense.

 

[Grandlooser]

I wouldn't touch it. The sensor should read those cogs just fine. Filing will just pull them farther away from the sensor for no good other than aesthetics.

 

[BILT4ME]

I wouldn't touch it. The sensor should read those cogs just fine. Filing will just pull them farther away from the sensor for no good other than aesthetics.

I'm saying file BETWEEN the teeth to clean up the edges because the edges are what it "sees".

 

[Grandlooser]

I'm saying file BETWEEN the teeth to clean up the edges because the edges are what it "sees".

Ah, fair enough. I still don't think the resolution of it's reading is nearly as high as you are thinking. It's like more of a "there" vs "not there" kind of thing.

 

[BILT4ME]

Ah, fair enough. I still don't think the resolution of it's reading is nearly as high as you are thinking. It's like more of a "there" vs "not there" kind of thing.

Nope. It counts the teeth and revolutions to monitor wheel speed to apply the antilock brake function.

That's how they work. The transducers need to monitor the differences.

 

[Grandlooser]

I think we agree. I'm confused.

And I'm not totally in the woods on this despite not knowing the exact specifics of the system. Having made a few custom tone wheels for hall effect sensors on crank/cam wheels on standalone projects. You can honestly get away with some pretty crude s*** that works great. I'm talking like parts you can make with a hammer and tin snips.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

If this is a trail spare, it's already perfect. And if you'd wanted a new birf, you would have bought one from RCV. I vote moly grease it, seal it up and tuck it away in your truck for that really bad day. I like to vacuum seal parts like that which sounds crazy until you pull it out 5 years from now and it's perfect and already lubed up.

That's normal wear on the splines.