Is this the sign of an upcoming Birf rebuild? PICS included

[Schattenjager]

Was crawling around the truck lubing the zerks and was greeted with this on the driver's side:



Passenger side looks normal.

I'm temporarily in an apt complex that forbids car work, so I called Slee and was quoted about $550 (approx - notes are in the Cruiser) for the one side. If this is indeed an inner axel seal as I suspect, I know the job is a pita and beyond the scope of finding a peaceful place to do the job myself.

Opinions?

 

[CA-RJ]

$1000 sounds about right for both sides with labor. Bite the bullet and do it, there really isn't a choice.

 

[1911]

Yes, it will need re-built eventually but you can go a long time by keeping the diff full of gear lube and pumping some grease in the top of the Birf through the hole with the square-headed plug in it. New inner axle seals and new ball wiper seals would fix you right up. Use Marlin heavy-duty inner axle seals and Longfield lifetime wiper seals and you won't have to worry about it again for a long long time.

 

[94SRUNNER]

I agree...time for a rebuild. If you do not have a history on the birf maintenance then if able, I would be of the mind to do the entire front axle. If you are close to Slee...he is one of the very best out there.

 

[RMP&O]

$500 sounds like a lot of cash to me to rebuild an outeraxle/knuckle. It is actually very simple to do and can be done in a few hours if you know what you are doing. If you don't know what you are doing it can be done in say 6hrs.

All you need to buy to do it (assuming you have basic hand tools) is a scale to measure pre-loads on the bearings. I use a fish weighing scale which cost me about $10. The rebuild kit is under $200. You don't even need a manual to do it since everything you need to know is on the Marlin Crawler website.

And by your pictures there is no way to tell if it needs a rebuild. Do you have wheel bearing slop or noise? Are your CVs clicking at full lock? I don't see any "soup" leaking out just dirty grease. Form your picture it looks like the grease packed in there is a bit dirty but I see no sign of oil. It also looks like the knuckle wiper is starting to go. If you dig into it and find soup in the knuckle, your axle seal is leaking gear oil into the outer axle. If that is the case you would see oil along with grease on the knuckle, I don't see that.

FYI, I have read a lot of posts on Mud about how the Marlin axle seal doesn't work so well on 80-series. There are some good threads over there talking about and also showing why this seal may not be as good as OEM for the 80-series. You may want to read up on this before buying the Marlin seal.

I suggest you do it yourself; #1 to save some money, #2 to learn how to do it and #3 because it is easy. You can do one side easy in an afternoon in your driveway. I know you can't work on it at your apartment complex but got a friend with a house and driveway?

my 2 cents

 

[CA-RJ]

He's in an apartment, so no working on it himself.

Think about the expense this way- if you do it now, it's good for another 200k miles.

 

[hks3sgte]

looks like it's overdue

 

[Schattenjager]

It just started leaking about a week ago

 

[carlpb]

Check the mud write up on this.

If you are in there you may as well do trunion bearings, wheel bearing if old, birf flip, etc. It took me 13 hours to do both sides with new brakes, and rotors being methodical and cleaning everything. I am also not a fast worker. In Socal, $1000 for both would be a great deal especially if it includes parts which I remember being several hundred dollars if doing the works.

If doing yourself air tools are a plus. You will also need a 54 mm socket, BFH for cone washers, brass drift for removing the truinion bearing, also a seal puller for the inner axel seal, a good torque wrench, plenty of rags or paper towels, tubs of grease, brake cleaner, a bearing packer if desired or by hand if necessary. A parts cleaner would be nice as well as would power washing the ends prior to beginning.

Check this out and see the attached file on thread #42 for a how to I assembled into one documnet from another thread on mud. I would attach here but the file is too big for my membership here.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/ca-socal-80s/275385-tools-birff-job-3.html

 

[MoGas]

Come to Flagstaff. I charge $350 for the labor to do the whole birf job. You get the parts from where ever you like. Are you coming down for the expo show?

 

[RMP&O]

Come to Flagstaff. I charge $350 for the labor to do the whole birf job. You get the parts from where ever you like. Are you coming down for the expo show?

$350 is a much better deal if that is for both sides. With the rebuild kit, that is about half of Slee's price.

 

[Schattenjager]

Dave is awesome and generous, but the drive down etc would cost more in the long run. I do appreciate it, however. That is mighty benevolent!

 

[MoGas]

If you will be down for the outdoor show, I can do it then. You will be fine for a while. It was probably just the long drive that churned up all the grease really well.

Yes, that is my labor for both sides.

I usually recommend that people get their parts from Kurt or Dan or Beno. The client also provides their own greases and gear lube. If I recall, the last guy that I did one for had all Toyota parts and high dollar synthetics and he had less than 300 in parts with all bearings. If you are coming down, you can get a few parts here and there so you don't get a big hit all at once.

By the way, that offer is for anyone on the board here. I have my own shop here in Flag.

 

[CA-RJ]

That is an excellent price for rebuilding the front axle!

 

[Schattenjager]

The ball is smooth as glass and there is no clicking at full lock. Runs smooth. I filled it up with Mobil 1 grease and a tiny bit of water was pushed passed the felt. I certainly do not want to spend unnecessary dollars, however, it seems like a potential problem down the road if it runs low. I am certain this is diff fluid in the pictures as it is too thin to be grease. I did replace the fluid about 10K miles ago and am a little surprised at the grey appearance. Am I missing something?