stock birf beefup

[boggerunner]

im gonna ring a set of stock birfs for my 90 4runner, ive already got a set of longs in my crawler and cant justify another set for my daily driver.  its got a 22re/w56/duals. 4.88 v6 with a limited slip in the rear and lock rite in the front. and its sitting on 36" tsl's.
here is the runner

the birf and a v6 3rd bearing race

sitting on top

and i need to grind it down a bunch, any one know how thick i can keep it?

[kiyul4130]

ya, an like your DD isnt a crawler already. haha. im pretty sure that ring should be snug around the outside of the bell. thats to small.

[boggerunner]

there is room for the bead, if i get it too wide, it wouldnt fit into the housing, and i just fount this crap laying around the garage while cleaning.  all the stock birfs i blew had a crack start on the outter edge and work its way to the bell

[kiyul4130]

it looks like grinding it down that much though will defeat the purpose of strengthening it. you dont think it will turn in there if you found another race like that but just big enough to slide over and weld? if anything, instead of getting a whole set of longfields, just buy the stubs.

[Birfailed]

I got a 60 race layin around, what's the OD you need?

[boggerunner]

at $205 apiece? nahh, ive got 3 sets of stock birfs to play with, and this rig only sees dirt and snow

[boggerunner]

that 60 race has got to be way too big! these races fit perfectly in between the 2 flats on the bell.

[88_Pathy]

Why not send them in for cryo treating, I think that someone already has a thread on this.

[boggerunner]

cause this is gonna cost me nothing but time, and im poor. 

[Birfailed]

lol that's awesome

[79coyotefrg]

at $205 apiece? nahh, ive got 3 sets of stock birfs to play with, and this rig only sees dirt and snow

then why worry

[boggerunner]

cause its gettin a lockrite up front, and im kinda hard on it

[Yeagley]

Cryo is WAY stronger than what your doing. It is so cheap to cryo anything. Bobby longfield has already gone over this topic

[BLACKDOG]

Cryo is WAY stronger than what your doing. It is so cheap to cryo anything. Bobby longfield has already gone over this topic

I'm reading this as he's wanting to try it, more of an experiment and taking a cheap approach rather than getting it cryo-d. 

  I don't have birfs, so I've never dealt with them really, but where on the outside edge do they start cracking?  I'm just wondering if you could cut that race and fit it around the section more prone to breaking.  Either that, or get two races, and section them out so you can get a full circle, then welding it?    just throwing it out there. 

[boggerunner]

they start cracking on the side the race is sitting on, there isnt room in the knuckle for it on the outter side of the bell, why does everyone not want me to try this, just doing a test and i will see how strong they are for what i put them through, and stop trying to get me to cryo them, id run stock before id waste money on cryoing them. if im gonna dump money into it, its gonna get longs!

[IronClad]

why does everyone not want me to try this, just doing a test and i will see how strong they are for what i put them through, and stop trying to get me to cryo them

You have to remember that the majority of this site is either A: Typical wheeler that has a allpro/marlin/trailgear/sky  easy peasy lift kit B: web wheeler  C: both   and are way to afraid to step out of the norm and try somthing different.  God forbid someone homebrews somthing and it works really well. Kinda funny that if noone ever did that we wouldnt have longfields  or dual case adapters  or anything of the sort.   I say go for it and beat on it, if it breaks so what.

[joey0712]

X2 dude do it... I love doing stuff that doesnt cost ya anything. I think its a good idea could u tig weld them on? It might be easyer without all the slag? Keep us posted! Great idea with the race by the way

[BLACKDOG]

they start cracking on the side the race is sitting on, there isnt room in the knuckle for it on the outter side of the bell, why does everyone not want me to try this, just doing a test and i will see how strong they are for what i put them through, and stop trying to get me to cryo them, id run stock before id waste money on cryoing them. if im gonna dump money into it, its gonna get longs!

Gotcha.  So you want it to go inside the bell?  Sorry, I know next to nothing about birfields.  Ask me about CVs though  

[boggerunner]

from what i rad on pirate, all the old ringer birfs used a mig weld. i dont know anyone with a tig.

[TIMS89CRAWLER]

I think its a sweet idea and I am curious to see how it holds might just do it to mine too  I like the creative thinking too man

[tech201]

when i made my driveshaft jig i had to weld a bearing race to support the flange anyway it was real brittle after that and split in half fairly easy.

[lilbuddy]

i say just do what the guy on pirate said and just do a ncie bead on top WITHOUT the race. then you dont have to worry about the grinding of the race.

also since the bead would be bigger (more surface area on the top of the bell without the race being ther) id think that itd be stronger.

Seeing as also the same guy that did just the weld has ran 35s for 3 years an not break and youre running 36s, i think itd be pretty close.

just my two cents.

[boggerunner]

thanks for the suggestion, i might just try that, sounds more practical with more surface penatration.

[lilbuddy]

thanks for the suggestion, i might just try that, sounds more practical with more surface penatration.

Yah thats what i was thinkin when i saw his post.

If you have extras its not like its a big deal really if you break. theyre cheap enough.

[toy4x4ota]

i say just do what the guy on pirate said and just do a ncie bead on top WITHOUT the race. then you dont have to worry about the grinding of the race.

also since the bead would be bigger (more surface area on the top of the bell without the race being ther) id think that itd be stronger.

Seeing as also the same guy that did just the weld has ran 35s for 3 years an not break and youre running 36s, i think itd be pretty close.

just my two cents.

this is exactly what i was thinking. just one big weld bead

[Steve_925]

I'm reading this as he's wanting to try it, more of an experiment and taking a cheap approach rather than getting it cryo-d. 

  I don't have birfs, so I've never dealt with them really, but where on the outside edge do they start cracking?  I'm just wondering if you could cut that race and fit it around the section more prone to breaking.  Either that, or get two races, and section them out so you can get a full circle, then welding it?    just throwing it out there. 

i think the thing that is confusing is that the ring IS big enough for the outside of the race to be flush with the flat parts of the birf. the flat parts sqeez between the top and bottom of the opening of the housing. so if it was the same size as the round part of the birf then he would have to grind flat spots in the race. does that make sence.

i would slice the race about 2-3 times as thick as the thickness of the race. and weld the out of it. so maybe like 3/8" long

[BLACKDOG]

i think the thing that is confusing is that the ring IS big enough for the outside of the race to be flush with the flat parts of the birf. the flat parts sqeez between the top and bottom of the opening of the housing. so if it was the same size as the round part of the birf then he would have to grind flat spots in the race. does that make sence.

got it.  I've just never looked at the Solid axles real closely before.

[CTENG in KS]

If you go ahead and try this, don't forget to cool it nice and slow.

[boggerunner]

yep, ive already got a bucket full of sand.  im gonna get this done by next weekend and get a new front axle under the 4runner so i can finally do some snow wheeling!

[boggerunner]

so here is the new front axle, custom truss, marlin knuckle gussets and high clearence diff plug.
and the 3 birfs that will get the treatment!