Jbird
Well-known member
How to take apart and put together a Barfield Joint.
Yes I said Barfield. Suzuki calls them Barfields and Toyota calls them Birfields. They both work the same way and I?m sure come apart the same way.
This project started because I bought a used set of Trail Tough ?double tough? front axle shafts. These are the older design; I believe they were made with Subaru birfields. They had been sitting on a shelf unused for over a year. So I decided to thoroughly clean them.
Start by removing the inner axle from the birfield joint. This is done by placing the axle shaft down into a pipe that is longer than the axle.
Make sure pipe is secure against inner birfield race. Hold birfield and pipe together, then slam down onto hard surface. A 2x4 on the garage floor worked well for me.
After several hits, the inner axle should pop out.
Now you have to remove the 6 ball bearings. To do this, rotate the inner race all the way one direction to expose one of the bearings.
Remove the ball bearing. If it?s stuck in the grease, use a screwdriver to pop it out.
Now push the inner race to the opposite side and expose the opposite ball bearing. Remove it. Then repeat until all of the ball bearings are out.
Now turn the inner race and cage side ways and remove.
Here?s a picture of all of the parts cleaned and ready for reassembly. Make sure to take extra care and clean the inner race splines. Especially were the ?c? clip engages.
Time for reassembly. Start by placing inner race into cage.
If you line up one of the points of the race into the hole in the cage, it goes together easier.
Turn race and align.
Place race and cage into joint.
Turn race and cage and align.
Tilt race and insert ball bearing
Tilt race to opposite side and insert apposing bearing
Should look like this?
Repeat ?.
Repeat?
You will most likely need new ?c? clips. I got mine from a local CV driveshaft shop.
Place clip onto inner axle shaft
Place joint into vice to hold it in place. Test fit shaft.
I went ahead and packed joint with grease. Place axle into inner race. I used a flat screwdriver to help seat ?c? clip while pressing down on shaft. I placed a block of wood on end of shaft and used a hammer to drive shaft into inner race.
Both shafts repacked with fresh grease and 26 spline rear sidegears waiting to be installed
I hope this will help a few people out. Other than the "c" clip this was realy easy. It's the best way to repack the birfield joint.
J
Yes I said Barfield. Suzuki calls them Barfields and Toyota calls them Birfields. They both work the same way and I?m sure come apart the same way.
This project started because I bought a used set of Trail Tough ?double tough? front axle shafts. These are the older design; I believe they were made with Subaru birfields. They had been sitting on a shelf unused for over a year. So I decided to thoroughly clean them.
Start by removing the inner axle from the birfield joint. This is done by placing the axle shaft down into a pipe that is longer than the axle.
Make sure pipe is secure against inner birfield race. Hold birfield and pipe together, then slam down onto hard surface. A 2x4 on the garage floor worked well for me.
After several hits, the inner axle should pop out.
Now you have to remove the 6 ball bearings. To do this, rotate the inner race all the way one direction to expose one of the bearings.
Remove the ball bearing. If it?s stuck in the grease, use a screwdriver to pop it out.
Now push the inner race to the opposite side and expose the opposite ball bearing. Remove it. Then repeat until all of the ball bearings are out.
Now turn the inner race and cage side ways and remove.
Here?s a picture of all of the parts cleaned and ready for reassembly. Make sure to take extra care and clean the inner race splines. Especially were the ?c? clip engages.
Time for reassembly. Start by placing inner race into cage.
If you line up one of the points of the race into the hole in the cage, it goes together easier.
Turn race and align.
Place race and cage into joint.
Turn race and cage and align.
Tilt race and insert ball bearing
Tilt race to opposite side and insert apposing bearing
Should look like this?
Repeat ?.
Repeat?
You will most likely need new ?c? clips. I got mine from a local CV driveshaft shop.
Place clip onto inner axle shaft
Place joint into vice to hold it in place. Test fit shaft.
I went ahead and packed joint with grease. Place axle into inner race. I used a flat screwdriver to help seat ?c? clip while pressing down on shaft. I placed a block of wood on end of shaft and used a hammer to drive shaft into inner race.
Both shafts repacked with fresh grease and 26 spline rear sidegears waiting to be installed
I hope this will help a few people out. Other than the "c" clip this was realy easy. It's the best way to repack the birfield joint.
J
AVOID SCRATCHING BALL BEARINGS OR RACEWAYS WITH SCREWDRIVER. KNICKS AND SCRATCHES BAD FOR BALLS :-X :-[.