birfield not lining up...

[primebrad]

I'm in the middle of doing my left steering nuckle. Got to the point where I'm refitting the axle and birfield joint into the housig but as I get the inner axle spline pushed in the flats on the birfield are way too low for it to go in.
I tried sitting the bottom flat in place and levering up but this only squashed the top half of the axle seal, stuffing it...
Any advice???

[wopass]

what sort of vehicle ?

where in the country are you ?

is it a new birf or your old one going in ?

[primebrad]

Sorry, 1980 rn36 petrol hilux ute. Old birfield in christchurch

[Rotazuk]

Bent diff housing maybe ?

My slightly custom hilux front diff housing is not quite true , I would say less than a mm out and its a pain to get the drivers side cv in , the short one . Also the seal does not last as long as the one on the other side .

Chris

[primebrad]

Thought it was a bent axle to start with.. The original axle seal was in good condition. if something was bent I would have assumed that that seal would have been slogged out.

[wopass]

did it come out easily ? or was it tight coming out as well ? my cruiser birfs are allways a pain (were) to get in, used to have to give it the turn and wriggle then turn and wriggle again...then something sorts itself out and it all slips in nice.... but i have super longs in the bus now so have forgotten how to do a CV

[primebrad]

It was tight coming out, had to pry it. Real tight going back in though.
The short side came out a lot easier and goes back in easier too.
I'm gunna leave both sides out until I can figure out how to get the long one back in. Hopefully its not a bent axle housing.
Was gunna pull the diff out and have a looksee in there but I don't really want to. I don't think I'll see much anyway.
I'm having a little trouble finding a decent exploded diagram of the whole front axle/diff setup online. Anyone got one?

[rokhound]

Not sure about birfs on axles that old, but if the birfield is the same as a cruiser one, then a later model 'lux birf won't fit. The flats on a cruiser Birf are bigger than an 85 or newer 'lux axle.
As I said, I am not sure about the older 'lux axle, but there is a chance that it is similar to the cruiser deal. So it may have been shagged with before, and may not be the right birf for the job.

Failing that, hit it in with a soft faced hammer (while someone is turning the pinion) and hope for the best .

[primebrad]

thanks, I'll look into the birf flats. I'll compare the one that goes into the short side easily with the long side one.
Tried the hammer....didn't really like it too much.

[niblik]

Failing that, hit it in with a soft faced hammer (while someone is turning the pinion) .

worked the other day aye westie....? go the longs!!

[MATT4U]

sometimes ya have to give them a good wack to get them in,

[primebrad]

I got it in but its the condition of the seal i"m concerned about. the axle was forced upwards so much I'm pretty certain its bent the pressed steel part of the seal and probably in the process pinched the rubber part.
Time will tell I guess.
The short side is easy though. Straight in, no hammer or extra persuasion required.

[shortylux]

Go the mighty RN36!

I think Rok is onto it with the birf flat thing. The old lux's are quite a bit differnt.

And dont worry about that axle seal, hilux axle seals are a myth anyway.

Arron.

[Chopper01]

Failing that, hit it in with a soft faced hammer (while someone is turning the pinion) .

worked the other day aye westie....? go the longs!!

dam right thats the only way I got my longs in