Samurai F axle?

[BOBBED97TACO]

My Dad has an 86 Suzuki Samurai and since he doesnt know much about automotive stuff I work on it mainly.

The problem/question I have is this. For some reason the front right tire won't spin under power even though it has a front lockright in it. I've taken the whole axle apart twice and each time I find no evidence of something broken or worn out. We installed new hubs recently so I'm pretty sure that isnt the problem. I've reasearched a little about the lockers and I find that some front lockers come with couplers and some don't. Is the coupler the part that replaces the side gears? My Dads axle still has the side gears in it.

I drive a Tacoma with a Dana44 up front and installed a lockright in it. I've had no problems with mine but it replaced the everything in carrier.

Any suggestions would be great
Thanks Shawn

[JPinAZ]

I recently broke a birfield joint and had the same problem you are seeing. When replacing it, I couldn't find anything wrong with it (that I could see), but once I put my spare in, I had full traction again. So, even if the birfield may 'look' fine, try rotating the knockle all the way around when you have it out and see if it actually binds in any one spot. It could be your locker, but could also be the birfield and not have realized it.

[BOBBED97TACO]

i'M GONNA CHECK THE BIRFEILD THIS WEEKEND HOPEFULLY

tHANKS

[zukibrothers]

i recently just had that problem and it was indeed the birfield. i had removed the axles several times and closely inspected them before looking really close at the birfield.

[crashnzuk]

I had an inner shaft strip the splines and turn inside the inner birf ring, but it looked ok at a glance.
Travis..

[BOBBED97TACO]

Thanks guys for the replies. I don't know much of anything about birfeilds and was honestly expecting to get flamed over here.

Thanks for the responses

[YotaAtieToo]

Well not to beat the dead horse but I had the same thing happen, welded front, amd after pulling the whole axle apart to check if my weld had failed, and putting it back together only to take it appart again and see that the star had cracked and let the axle spin in it.

[72rockcruiser]

Mine did the same thing all weekend at Harlan and the locker was toast. 1st trip out. Time for Yota's!

[1madzuk]

We where out wheelin this past weekend,My friend broke both birfields. But the quickest way I found to check for a broken one is. If theres a front locker. Lock the hubs jack the tire up that you think is broken. (Just enough to spin it) Put the t-case in 4-low, Grab hold of the tire and spin it.If you hear a clicking noise the birfield is toast. Done this on the trail several times,before tearing it down.It hasn't failed me yet. Good Luck!