Supplier: Warn Industries, Inc.
Price: Approximately $895.95

Is the Warn Birfield Eliminator Kit (Kit) the greatest thing since sliced bread? No...but close.

I've been involved with the Kit since mid-August 1998 when I became a beta tester of the Kit for Warn. Due to my testing and the testing of others, Warn has made several improvements to the Kit that makes it even better.

What the Kit does is replace the oem Birfields with a one-ton capacity internal front axle assembly. The Warn Birfield Eliminator uses 1/2 to 3/4 ton axles with one ton hublocks and bearings. As anyone who has wheeled hard recalls, Birfields are particularly prone to failure when coupled with a locker and a turning/backing maneuver.

I have wheeled my rig particularly hard these past couple of months since I'm always a little skeptical when a manufacturer tells you how great a product is. I wanted to discover for myself if the Warn Kit made sense.

How did it perform? The Kit has definitely received a thumbs up from me. I took it through several 4+ rock trails here in South Dakota where I had broken Birfields in the past. I purposely put my rig into situations where I had to back uphill and turn at the same time. There is a particular spot on one of my favorite rock runs where you are forced to pull in then back uphill to square your rig for a waterfall. I have broken two Birfields in that very spot.

What happened with the Kit at that waterfall spot? Nothing...the rig backed up smoothly with a fully deflected steering wheel. There was no pop, hop or skip. It was so nice to not hear a Birfield explode. I'm sold...I've broken too many Birfields to not appreciate a solid piece of engineering when I see and drive it.

Laboratory destructive testing showed that an oem Birfield fails at 35,000 inch pounds of torque while the Spicer u-joint in the Kit fails between 50,000 to 55,000 inch pounds of torque...a significant increase in strength. Warn is planning a series of comparative tests on u-joints to see if there are any stronger ones available.

The Kit comes complete with wheel studs, bearings, seals, locking hubs, spindles, wheel hubs, spindle nuts, inner and outer axle shafts, and u-joints. The axle shafts get their strength from heat treated 4340 aircraft alloy steel. The shafts are also greater in diameter than oem. The u-joints are Spicer 5-297X, some of the toughest in the industry for applications like this. Plus, the u-joints use retaining rings instead of c-clips to anchor the u-joint bearing caps. The wheel hubs and spindles are absolutely massive and use Warn premium one ton internal locking hubs.

The Kit installation was very straightforward with a 10-page installation guide complete with diagrams and excellent written instructions.

In addition to the Kit, you retain the stock rotors, calipers, and backing plate/dust shields. You do have to have a machine shop open up the center of the rotors slightly to accommodate the massive wheel hubs. Then it's only a half-day project to just bolt everything together.

Another thing I appreciate is the Warn lifetime warranty for the Kit with the exception of bearings and seals.

To sum it all up, the $895 purchase price for the Warn Toyota Birfield Eliminator Kit was money well spent for me.

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