Good writeup, Encho!

On mine, I spent sooooo much time and cursing getting the snap ring out of the inside of the hub to pull the auto hub out. There were no pins, nothing on mine. Tried small screwdrivers, picks, whatnot. Finally got it out. Both sides were like that... bad!

The sensor, as you have probably figured out by now, is the ABS pickup.

I did notice that there was no mention of the most ignored bearing in the Dana 44 IFS... the little pilot bearing inside the spindle. It supports the drive axle in the spindle, and it rotates when the drive axle is engaged. Poor little bearing, it works hard in the dark, never gets any credit, never gets cleaned, inspected, or greased 'cuz everyone forgets about it

 

I too have warn hubs and they seem like they work fine, I need the balljoint and i do hear a faint squeak on one of the sides but i am not sure which. My brakes also squeal a bit when they get hot so those will need to be looked at eventually...

 

Is that the wheel bearing? On back side of rotor after you pull the seal, then it slides out?

 

No, the inner and outer Wheel Bearings run on the outside of the hollow spindle.

The Pilot Bearing is hidden inside the hollow spindle. The only way to pull it out is from the backside of the spindle, with a small internal (pilot) bearing puller after the spindle is taken off. Finding the correct seal for it, and the correct spacer was a pain. Wish I would have wrote down all the correct part #'s when I did it, as the local Ford parts counter thought I was from Mars or somewhere when I started talking about it. I got the feeling from them that I was delving into an area where no one they knew had gone before. Not the first time for that!
Didn't give me a good feeling that their garage ever did it either. At the time I searched on internet forums for it and came up with about zero. Out of sight, out of mind I guess. But I would think that somebody would realize that the axle stub shaft has to be supported by a roller-type of bearing in there. The maintenance chart mentioned it.

I wonder if some of the problems with automatic hubs may have been due to neglected pilot bearings, that then wore out and allowed the axle stub shaft to move around, breaking or prematurely wearing the auto hub guts. Don't know for sure, just thinking.

 

I did mention that bearing... it was the one locked with dirt, i did replace it, i also mentioned it was inside the spindle, you guys don't read .

 

You can't replace the front axle shaft u joints like that.....they have tapered endcaps so the can only come out ....they can't push straight through like a normal rear driveshaft u joint.

 

Weird, i just took out the u-joint in my brother's Hilux doing the exact same procedure, and it did look exactly like my front axle. But do explain, how would you take that u-joint out? i would like to understand your procedure (and modify the write-up if in-fact i'm wrong).

 

I'm sorry, Encho. You DID mention it, and I missed it...

Right above the picture of the parts boxes: and just above the greasy spindle picture: If it would have been in bright orange type, and flashing on and off, I probably wouldn't have missed it

Thanks Encho

 

got mine from bronco graveyard.easy to install as long as the rest of it works,except mine is binding on pass. side......u joint or axle shaft or front gears? not sure but its like putting on the brakes when turning.

 

What did you get and install? Are you sure its not locked in 4wd?

 

Encho,

thank you!! what a FANTASTIC write up!!!!

who needs a high dollar repair manual, when we have you
I have a '95 F150 with the auto hubs , when i go to redo my front end, i will follow your advice and replace them.





woosterken

 

You're very kind Woosterken, i'm just trying to do my part, i've taken so much from this site i figured i should make a contribution too.

 

Some of the pictures aren't showing anymore and I have no means to edit my thread anymore .

 

Awesome write up Encho...when you commin over to help me with mine

 

Hey, pay the air ticket and convince the US Embassy in Caracas that I don't actually want to stay living in the US (I DON'T) so they'll let me in and i'll help you with that .