Birfields: wet or dry?

[Schattenjager]

A buddy just bought a 94 LC after years of being a Land Rover guy. His birfields are dry as a bone On the outside with dust on them. He remembers his Rovers always being a little damp. Is this a problem or just a different design?
Thanks!!!

 

[Metcalf]

Seals are bad. They should be in grease if I remember right on the fzj80.

 

[ntsqd]

Are the swivel balls dry on the outside, or are the Birf's dry on the inside?
The first is desirable.
The second is very definitely not.

 

[Hltoppr]

Dry is not good....with bad seals, and nothing inside the birfs, it will appear dry. Good seals, and good grease inside will still look a tad wet, but clean on the outside.

There is an access port on the top of each knuckle. I'd suggest unscrewing that, and at the very least giving it a few squirts of grease just to make sure.

Birfield kits run about $200 for OEM Toyota parts from Toyota afficionado favorable vendors. Folks tend to like the Marlin seals, which our friend Kurt at CruiserOutfitters here on expo can supply.

It's an easy, but messy job to do the birfs yourself.

-H-

 

[Schattenjager]

The metal sphere housing the birfield is dry on the outside. Haven't looked inside the assembly - yet.

 

[7wt]

The balls on the outside are dry. Haven't looked deeper yet.

Is that prison talk?

 

[Hltoppr]

Nope...just 'Cruisers....

Likely the rig has never had a birf job done, so it's time to learn. Generally, the nice thing is that birfs, once done, will be well enough left alone for 60K or so....

-H-

 

[MoGas]

My opinion:

This is my birf on the 80 with about 40 thousand miles since the last service. It has a very, very thin coating of grease that you can feel but not really see on the shiny section of the ball. There is a little grease buildup on the edge of the felt.
There is also a slight grease buildup at the point where the ball is welded to the axle tube.

You should remove this plug on each knuckle assembly and stick a screwdriver into the hole as if it is a dipstick. You will be able to see, smell and feel the grease on the screwdriver and tell what is going on in there. If it is Moly-B, That's good. If it is not, it needs to have the right grease put in it. (birf job time), but you will have a little time. If it has none, put some in. If it is thin and oily and smells like gear oil, it is again birf job time.

Find a big lot so you can do slow, full lock circles. It is best to have a listener inside the circle to listen for clicking. That could mean a bad birf or just a dry one.

If there is no clicking and no grease, he is very lucky. I'd probably tear it down to really get a good look at what is in there anyhow if the condition is unknown.


If you have good looking grease and no clicking, Drive on.



Dave

 

[adventureduo]

7wt... LMFAO!

Dave (Mogas), nice post dude. You wrapped it up nicely. Informative and straight to the point with pics. :26_7_2:

We can probably just lock the thread now and stick it

 

[Schattenjager]

MoGas - dude - you rock! That is quality information.

 

[ntsqd]

Excellent post, except that if you looked in Birf cavities on my Mini-Truck you'd see the pink of the Redline CV-2 grease and erroneously conclude that the recently finished Birf job hadn't happened. :Wow1:

Any grease is better than no grease, but there is a good argument to be made for knowing what the type of grease in the Birf cavities is because you put it there.
Besides, it is considered a Cruiser Right of Passage to have done that job. :sombrero:

 

[MoGas]

Thanks, guys.

This is one of the birfs on our 62. Fergie and I did his 80's birfs and these back in September so this has probably 2,000 miles on since then.

Where are you located? I might pack up my 54mm socket and come show you how to do them....


On another note, If you do decide to go with the Marlin seals, get them from Kurt, not Marlin direct. I ordered mine on 9/12 from Marlin, and I had to call them after 10 days to see if they got lost between California and Arizona, and they were back ordered. They were already on back order the 22nd and they didn't bother to let me know. I still haven't seen them and I called yesterday to find out they should be in stock in January!! Fortunately, Kurt had a bunch in stock and got me a set......That reminds me.....

Dave

 

[brittan]

I ordered mine on 9/12 from Marlin, and I had to call them after 10 days to see if they got lost between California and Arizona, and they were back ordered. They were already on back order the 22nd and they didn't bother to let me know. I still haven't seen them and I called yesterday to find out they should be in stock in January!! Fortunately, Kurt had a bunch in stock and got me a set......That reminds me.....

Seems to be a common problem...

Good call MoGas...I read the first three posts and was going to post something similar. I did my DS birf rebuild two weeks ago. I did the job last summer and didn't get a year on the stock seal. When I pulled it there was a tear in it...don't know how it got there but...I replaced it with the Marlin seal. I have another birf job to do on a friends cruiser over the Christmas break. Birf party anyone?