Topic: Quick question, Birfield speed limit

[toy4crawlin]

Is it nessesary to Re PACk my allready newly rebuilt / new grease birfields if you accidently drive in 4 wheel drive at 60mph ?

Does all the grease get flung out of the joint or what ?

My front end is 90% rebuilt or least it was
I was working late late last night on center console and accidently left my 4x t-case in 4 H,. this am I got on freeway and noticed a slight vibration and looked down to realize it was in 4H . Ahh Crapo 

thanks

[SolidAxle]

I'm gonna say no, ever drivin with your hubs locked not in 4wheeldrive,everything is spinning then. so you probably don't. if you had made a sharp turn that would have been bad. wich maybe you did 

[rattlecanpaint]

Yea, I wouldn't think it would hurt them.  Sometimes you drive 50-60 on snowpacked roads in 4WD.  At least I've done it on the innerstate.
 Edit:  You probably don't see much snow where you're at but It really shouldn't hurt them.

[79coyotefrg]

Is it nessesary to Re PACk my allready newly rebuilt / new grease birfields if you accidently drive in 4 wheel drive at 60mph ?

Does all the grease get flung out of the joint or what ?

My front end is 90% rebuilt or least it was
I was working late late last night on center console and accidently left my 4x t-case in 4 H,. this am I got on freeway and noticed a slight vibration and looked down to realize it was in 4H . Ahh Crapo

thanks

if they were packed with grease properly  your fine,  ive run at 70  for 20 miles with the hubs locked,    the FJ80's  have the same axle but dont have hubs so they run all the time

[toy4crawlin [OP]]

Yea they are bropably ok,  just want to be sure and see/ hear some TECH on the birfields , I have never broken  one and certainly do not want to contribute any excessive wear on my new rebuilt ones.

I though I read in the manual or the little card in the visor not to drive over 40 mph in 4H    \

[79coyotefrg]

well  most people wouldnt drive that fast  on dirt anyway  or snow,  i have run with the hubs locked on snow at 50-60 so if i slipped i could stab it in to 4h and get thru


not a big deal as long as the hubs werent locked and running on pavement with it in 4 hi    that would be bad

[SQUIRREL MONSTER]

same here, out by the mountain pass, i lock the hubs if i see sighns of snow comin down to also shift on the fly in case i slip. never had any problems driving it with them spinning at highway speeds.

[robinhood4x4]

Considering "birfields" (CVs) are standard on most passenger cars like hondas, camry's etc...I think you're fine.

[blackdiamond]

I though I read in the manual or the little card in the visor not to drive over 40 mph in 4H    \

I would expect that to be related to the front drivetrain being balanced.  My 85 front driveshaft isn't balanced and everything starts to rumble about 40 mph.  My 04 Tundra is balanced and doesn't know the difference.   

[79coyotefrg]

thats why i run a balanced shaft

[AKDuramax]

my 83' has a little plate that says that the 4 wheel drive is ment to be shifted on the fly at speeds of 50 so no worrys

[79coyotefrg]

you can do that just make sure your front and rear tires are aired to equal heights  so it dont bind

but then you aint gonna bind if your on snow

[Rocksurfer]

my 83' has a little plate that says that the 4 wheel drive is ment to be shifted on the fly at speeds of 50 so no worrys

45 is the optimum shift point, and that's from 2wd high to 4wd high only of course. There should be a warning in your OM not to shift from High to Low while moving period, that could get real ugly.


As to the intended topic, I drive in 4wd at high speed all the time, never have had an issue in doing this,  4wd was not made with offroad in mind but driving in adverse conditions onroad too. Not that I've driven at 70, but 60 sure I've done that.

[Rocksurfer]

Thinking more about it, if you keep your front diff full my front will spit some oil out the breather. So if you do it alot you may want to check the level more frequently.

[IronClad]

eh i wouldnt worry about it..  alot of trucks around here see speeds in excess of 60mph   in 4wd.. and  your birfs arent packed anymore lol..  anybody who actually uses their toyota axle in 4wd knows all about axle seals..  they are done as soon as that shaft turns.  so you already have gear oil in the knuckles and have oil soup    but eh... dont worry bout it none

[AKDuramax]

you can do that just make sure your front and rear tires are aired to equal heights so it dont bind

but then you aint gonna bind if your on snow

yeah i never do shift at speeds of more that 25 anyway but i know that the plate says i can  the plate knows all haha

45 is the optimum shift point, and that's from 2wd high to 4wd high only of course. There should be a warning in your OM not to shift from High to Low while moving period, that could get real ugly.


As to the intended topic, I drive in 4wd at high speed all the time, never have had an issue in doing this,  4wd was not made with offroad in mind but driving in adverse conditions onroad too. Not that I've driven at 70, but 60 sure I've done that.

yeah im sure everyone knows 4L is for stopped. i mean that would be insanely stupid to try to go 45mph and shift to 4L

[79coyotefrg]

eh i wouldnt worry about it.. alot of trucks around here see speeds in excess of 60mph in 4wd.. and your birfs arent packed anymore lol.. anybody who actually uses their toyota axle in 4wd knows all about axle seals.. they are done as soon as that shaft turns. so you already have gear oil in the knuckles and have oil soup but eh... dont worry bout it none

if you shim the knuckles right they last a long time

[Rocksurfer]

yeah im sure everyone knows 4L is for stopped. i mean that would be insanely stupid to try to go 45mph and shift to 4L

Yeah right, you know as well as I do that there is some brainiack reading all this and will be shooting down some fireroad, hit a bumpy section and will try and drop into low at about 15-20 mph. because we said he could shift his tcase while moving.


Personally I never do shift from 2 High to 4 High at very much more than a crawl, and usually I don't use 4 High at all. If I need 4wd it's because the going has gotten tough.

[blackdiamond]

Yeah right, you know as well as I do that there is some brainiack reading all this and will be shooting down some fireroad, hit a bumpy section and will try and drop into low at about 15-20 mph. because we said he could shift his tcase while moving.

I have personally witnessed a guy taking a run at a hill in 4wd high to get maximum speed and then slammed it into 4wd low once he got slowed down and needed more gears.  I could hear the grinding 40 feet away. 

Gotrocks might know who I'm talking about.  The guy and his brother probably rolleddestroyed at least one toyota per year between them.  One time he rolled a perfectly nice truck in a field doing doughnuts with 5 psi in the tires.  I heard he did a full 1.5 rolls.

[AKDuramax]

I have personally witnessed a guy taking a run at a hill in 4wd high to get maximum speed and then slammed it into 4wd low once he got slowed down and needed more gears. I could hear the grinding 40 feet away.

Gotrocks might know who I'm talking about. The guy and his brother probably rolleddestroyed at least one toyota per year between them. One time he rolled a perfectly nice truck in a field doing doughnuts with 5 psi in the tires. I heard he did a full 1.5 rolls.

   well there you have it there is officially an idiot for every situation

[krawlz]

You know your a REDNECK when: 
You drive all the way home in 4H and your hubs locked.

[Bob Garrett]

Here in the rust belt, back when virtually all 4wd vehicles were part-time with locking hubs, most folks would leave their hubs locked once the first snow started. The combination of slush, salt and cold made it difficult to lock or unlock hubs.

I have an FJ80 with 150k mi and the birfields have been turning the entire time with no issues. They do need to be repacked every 50-60k, tho..

[RCKSQRL]

I have driven 65+ in 4wd with limitied slip front end and hubs locked with no problem. As long as you have everything packed well with grease and have all within spec there should be no problem. I was in the habit of repacking and checking everything yearly or more so when in severe conditions.....