1st offroad action and broken :(

the BuTch3R · Post by **the BuTch3R** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 1:58 pm

Did I push too much....or is my new SFA just a softie

On saturday I was reversing up a loose sandy hill and started to lose traction. With the wheels still digging in, I tried to steer left and right to regain traction and i heard a loud clunk

, seemed to come from the front left wheel. Drove down again and inspected everything. Found no obvious external damage. Jacked up the wheel, tried to turn it to check whether a side shaft had maybe snapped, but found all to be in tact. No play on the wheel either. Drove it slowly in 4wd, everything fine in a straight line, but as soon as I turn sharp (moreso on a less forgiving surface) I hear a knock and feel a jolt as the front axle winds up a bit, almost like it's "jumping a tooth" for lack of a better explanation.

4x2 driving is unaffected. No noticeable issues whatsover, steering is perfect.

What could this possibly be?

What would be the symptoms of a stripped CV/Birfield?

Need some input/advice here......and possibly some good 2nd hand spares :|

Post by **CasKru** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:00 pm

Sound like it could be the Birfield...

Piesang · Post by **Piesang** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:26 pm

Agnee "OuRoy" wat is dit met die Toy's????? :sobbing: :sobbing:

As ek so luister na die probleme op, muwe 2de handse Toy's dan dink ek ek moet liewers nooit my Toy verkoop nie. Immers weet ek wat ek nou het, maar kan ook nie waarbrog dat niks sal fout gaan met hom nie.

Danman · Post by **Danman** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:27 pm

Heng, wat de dinges is 'n Birfield.
klink soos 'n plek waar koues geoes kan word?

No seriously...educate the uneducated pleeeez

Post by **CasKru** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:34 pm

Danman wrote:Heng, wat de dinges is 'n Birfield.
klink soos 'n plek waar koues geoes kan word?

No seriously...educate the uneducated pleeeez

Dit is jou SFA se "CV Joint"

PS:the pic above is that of a FJ cruisers Birfield

Danman · Post by **Danman** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:48 pm

Thanx Cas,
My pa het altyd gesê dom mense wat nie vrae vra nie bly dom.

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:52 pm

Shaun... shaun... shaun...

Saturday I took on a serious obstacle at Boegoeberg... end result is I got through the obstacle... but broke the left hand side Birfield CV joint...

I'll post pics soon... so don't feel alone... we can do a joint repair on Saturday!

Mr B

the BuTch3R · Post by **the BuTch3R** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:58 pm

Sounds like a plan.

How many liters of coolant does the Birfield require?

Post by **CasKru** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:08 pm

Danman wrote:Thanx Cas,
My pa het altyd gesê dom mense wat nie vrae vra nie bly dom.

Dis nes hy gesê het.

Generally speaking birfields very seldom brake if you have standard tyres fitted. As soon as you go the 32" and higher route, they take a lot more hammering and tend to give way.

ChrisF · Post by **ChrisF** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:11 pm

Seems Saturday was a day of "firsts" ....

- my first trail with 29mhz comms. :)

- my first time to get stuck ..... SLIPPERY mud, ditch and stock tires dont belong together .... but without pics it never happened .... :)

- Debeaded the right front tire on sand .....

the BuTch3R · Post by **the BuTch3R** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:41 pm

Absolutely nothing wrong with that Chris. Sounds like a Saturday well spent

Piesang · Post by **Piesang** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:45 pm

the BuTch3R wrote:Absolutely nothing wrong with that Chris. Sounds like a Saturday well spent

Ja, dink net daaraan ander ouens se karre breek op die teerpad, hoe verveelig kan dit nou wees?

TOYOTA 4YEFI · Post by **TOYOTA 4YEFI** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 4:12 pm

Does the same thing happen when you are in 4x2 but with the freewheel hub disengaged? if nothing happens then your problem might be somewhere else

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 4:16 pm

Juan, this is typical of the Birfield CV, when the hub is engaged, in 4x4 the power transferred through the CV results in the cluck cluck... disengage the hub, no power transfer and the cluck cluck is gone... common on the solid axle Toy's... especially with larger tyres...

Hi-Hilux · Post by **Hi-Hilux** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:30 am

So die cluck cluck gelyd wat ek het in 4x4 kan die Birfield CV wees en nie die propshaft nie?...maar dan sou die ou wat my brieke en bearings gedoen het dit seker gesien het...wat moet ek alles strip om dit te kan sien?

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:36 am

Trevor I'll let u know after the weekend, we will be doing it twice it seems... with Haynes manual close by to assist!

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 12:37 pm

B doen nou n goeie report met al die byskrifte en pictures.

ThysdJ · Post by **ThysdJ** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 1:07 pm

Spartan wrote:B doen nou n goeie report met al die byskrifte en pictures.

Ja en moenie die keer die ding reg "drink" nie, dan hou hy dalk langer.....

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 1:57 pm

For a fairly decent DIY article have a look in the members article section for the write up on "overhauling the front axle" by Simon Morris

http://www.hilux4x4.co.za/simon/overhau ... /index.php

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 2:12 pm

Scooter wrote:For a fairly decent DIY article have a look in the members article section for the write up on "overhauling the front axle" by Simon Morris

Mind you ek het vergeet van daai een, dit is n baie nice writ-up met al die pic's

Post by **Mud Dog** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:06 pm

Spartan wrote:
Scooter wrote:For a fairly decent DIY article have a look in the members article section for the write up on "overhauling the front axle" by Simon Morris
Mind you ek het vergeet van daai een, dit is n baie nice writ-up met al die pic's

As ek my nie misgis (hoop dis die korekte woord), het Andrew aka "SifuLux" ook so 'n op-skrif gemaak met pics.

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:10 pm

Mud Dog wrote:As ek my nie misgis (hoop dis die korekte woord)

100% oom

Mud Dog wrote:"SifuLux" ook so 'n op-skrif gemaak met pics.

Het oom dalk n link vir die topic

Post by **Mud Dog** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:53 pm

Sal soek ....

Daar's hy!

viewtopic.php?f=92&t=9011&p=99618" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:37 am

Mud Dog wrote:Sal soek ....

Daar's hy!

Kyk as jy goed is is jy goed

Dankie oom

the BuTch3R · Post by **the BuTch3R** » Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:11 am

And once again this forum proves to be absolutely usefull... and not just a spot to talk poeffies and share boerewors recipes

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:08 am

BTW... have you tried the boerewor from Joey's in B-Fell... excellent... maybe we should make some bories while replacing the Birflields?

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » Thu Aug 12, 2010 7:23 pm

the BuTch3R wrote:And once again this forum proves to be absolutely usefull... and not just a spot to talk poeffies and share boerewors recipes

Wel kom ek stel dit so, as jy nie deel is van die clan nie is ons jammer om van jou probleme tehoor want hier praat ons oor alles van bollie tot goeie waardevolle Hilux info

the BuTch3R · Post by **the BuTch3R** » Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:30 pm

And it all works well for me Jaco. This forum is after all what motivated me to purchase my 1st hilux. :D

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:00 am

the BuTch3R wrote:And it all works well for me Jaco. This forum is after all what motivated me to purchase my 1st hilux. :D

Ek dink dit werk vir ons almal :veryhappy:

the BuTch3R · Post by **the BuTch3R** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:06 pm

Thanks for all the info thus far. Those links to the repair write-ups came in handy during our work on Mr B's truck. But that's a different story, worthy of it's own thread.... MY issue is still not resolved, sadly.

I've since eliminated the birfield as a possible suspect. The symptoms point to something else.

A recap of the problem and further observations:
I heard a loud crack or clunk while trying to regain traction, reversing up a sand heap.
Since then, there is a knocking noise only in 4wd, moreso when i suddenly change direction.
I've noticed that the gearbox seems to twist more than it used to when applying power.
I can also feel the gbox knocking up against the underside of the cab on steep downhill s against compression.

I'm starting to think i broke a engine or gearbox mounting, but not sure what's the easiest way to confirm this.

sabiankahn · Post by **sabiankahn** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:33 pm

Hey Shaun, sorry to hear about your problems! It seems such is the life of a 4x4 owner, even a Hilux owner! I was thinking the other day that I'll need to look at buying a home with a garage soon to accommodate repairs :-)

Good luck with fixing the problem!

the BuTch3R · Post by **the BuTch3R** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:04 pm

The only difference with a Hilux of course, is that every repair and mod is actually an opportunity to learn, and get to know your vehicle, so much better, with some really good support from forums like this.

You must realise that you're not just driving any old 4x4. You own a piece of histroy. You own a LEGEND.

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:23 pm

Shaun jy kort bietjie jam om daai mond

cyborg · Post by **cyborg** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:54 pm

Hey Shaun, unfortunately don't have anything of value to add, but I look forward to finding out how you find the problem. But I agree that it sounds like a mounting. What about propshaft? could it not have taken a knock and now doesn't spin straight, if you know what I'm saying??

Piesang · Post by **Piesang** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 8:01 am

Shaun kan jy onthou met ons eerste 2 Oceans kidiz trip was daart 'n blou Lux wat ook so geraas gemaak het en dit was toe 'n mounting wat af was...

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 2:20 pm

Well on my Bolt's CV issue, turned out not to be the CV, but rather a bent axle housing... ouch... the long side is about 2mm bent upwards...

Now to find a replacement axle housing...

Mr B

Post by **Mud Dog** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 2:27 pm

Where did it bend? :wth: .... Most unusual ... those banjo housings are re-inforced. You must have 'klapped' it pretty damn hard!

Are you sure it's bent, and how did you measure it up to check?

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 2:54 pm

Andy, all indications are I bought it like that... just after purchase(before any 4x4 action) I sent her to Allan for a front axle hub service... during which Allan told me they had problems removing the left CV and shaft... and that the left axle inner seal is shot... and also told me there is a small possibility the axle may be bent... I didn't worry to much... as they got the job done and I didn't have bucks to fix it at the time...

From day one I had issues with Bolt's wandering steering, recently when Allan fitted the diffloc he told me the inner seal is shot and replaced it, then when Shaun and I opened the left axle hub 2 weeks later, the new seal was again... shot! Now with the diffloc fitted, the inner teeth of the locker are being forced apart be the misaligned axle shafts... putting to much strain on the diffloc, hence the cluck cluck when under strain...

So bottom line, I need a new front axle housing... you got one for me Andy?

Mr B

Post by **Mud Dog** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:09 pm

Yeah, if it's regularly running seals and / or bearings on one side then it's very likely to be bent .... not an easy thing to achieve ..... another indicator would be toe in / toe out on turns (more likely toe in since most of the time the impacts are from the front whence the housing is bent backward) ... in other words the steering geometry will be out of whack.

Wish I could help you find another one .... I'm still looking for mine ... (hopefully with the rest of the vehicle still attached!)

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:27 pm

The steering geometry has always been an issue, but the wheel alignment guys never really seemed bothered... from my investigations, it looks like the left shaft it bent backward(little) and up(a bit more)...

Hang in there Andy!

Mr B