im finishing up the front axle rebulid and my axle shafts dont want to go in..the birfield goes in like 1x2 way and wont spin cause its hititng the inner knuckle part still..if i stick the long side shaft in the short side, it goes in and fits in the splines, but i cant get the long shaft in the long side all the way...whats the trick??

Patiance Peter;-)

You just have to wiggle and turn a little. (the shaft)
Your splines are just not linein' up.
Once you get the feel for this it gets pretty easy.

Good luck.

Cory

Are you by any chance using mini-truck birfields? They won't fit in earlier (pre-'79 I think) axle housings. I just ground metal off the top and bottom lips of the part of the housing that goes inside the knuckle, so I could fit mini-truck birfields in it.

FJ6X birfields are the same as mini-truck birfields, I believe.

Morgan

P.S. Is it "mini-truck" or "minitruck?"

Peter
Even if you ground out your housing before you assembled it, if you tighten down the kingpin bolts (steering arm) to spec, then the housing will compress just enough to keep the Birfield from going in.

If you have packed it with grease, then just loosen the top steering arm bolts and the bottom bolts and the Birfield should slide in.

Assuming you're not encountering the large birfield/small knuckle problem Morgan mentioned, you just have to rotate the pinion/driveshaft while you push the axle in. The splines will eventually line up and it will slip right in. Be patient and turn slowly.

Are you using your inner axles or the ones that came with the front disc parts? I had a mini truck long shaft and thought I had a LC long shaft. Just would not fit - DOH!! <IMG SRC="smilies/emb.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/eek.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/emb.gif" border="0">

Just something else to check.

its a stock '76 front axle that i rebulit before putting in..i'll losen the kingpin bolts and turn the pinion when i slide it in..thanks guy for responding so fast..

why not sweet talk her a little and then apply some lube?!
<IMG SRC="smilies/bounce2.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/bounce2.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/bounce2.gif" border="0">

believe me i've tried, she sees right through me to my real intentions of...

wheeling and abusing her

The problem with the long side is that gravity is fighting you. You have to lift the inner end of the axle shaft up off of the carrier bore so that it can fit into the side gear spline. You can use the oil seal (carefully) as a fulcrum to lift the inner end up by pushing down on the outer, birfield end as you slide the shaft in and rotate.

i finally got it in...although it was TIGHT fit..plenty of lubrication was used to insure a smooth entry through the seal..a little pushing and wiggling and it went in! i ran out of daylight adn i knocked my night lamps over a couple too many times so they aer needing new bulbs..ill do the pass side tommorow..thanks guys!

ya mine was a tight fit too. when i did the truck rebuild..i ground plenty, just had to werk it in. also, i tweeked the birf(like as if you were turning full lok) and it helped on one side. just gotta werk it...peace