It's a 1997 F250 4x4 with a Dana 50 IFS up front, AUTO hubs.

I have been searching and searching and after two failed trips to napa for sockets, I cannot for the life of me find anything set in stone on which socket I need. It is a rounded hex, I read that it was a 2 3/4" and bought a socket from Napa. It wasn't rounded but was thin walled and resembled one. Got it home and it would not even fit inside the hub. Put it back together, went back, they were closed. Today I got the same socket but a 2 1/2". Fits inside the hub but not around the nut. I'm also confused as to what this nut is really called.

Axle nut? Spindle nut? Are the two names interchangeable?

I have ALSO read it's a 2 9/16 rounded hex.....I'm freaking confused and I need to get this tool ordered and the truck back up asap. Here is a pic.




Also, how do I get whatever retainers are infront of the nut off? I was able to back the nut off by hand but once it hit whatever those things are called, it isn't moving, I have removed the C-clip, but whatever those are called, aren't budging. I know I'm missing something.

 

Google "Dana 50 spindle nut socket". Then walk into Napa and ask for a "Dana 50 spindle nut socket", let them look in the computer and confirm your vehicle and let them go get it off the shelf for you.

My buddy has one that has two in one, but idk if we needed both, i think we did.

But ask the Napa guy. Hopefully you get an older gentleman.

 

They are not usually in the normal "socket" area, and if you dont look for one on Google, you wont really know what you are looking for. Those are torqued, so maybe borrow a torque wrench from Napa too, incase you dont have one. They can tell you the torque.

 

I have tried that. This is what I get.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Dana...w&ved=0CC4Qsxg

In napa the other day, I mentioned it to them and they really had no clue as to what I would need. Everywhere I go that has a spindle nut socket is either a 4 or 6 prong. At Autozone, I looked at the axle nut socket SET, and NON of them were rounded hex's.

I have utilized search functions on Google, FTE, and Powerstroke Nation.

I believe I have narrowed it down to a 2 1/2" rounded hex, or a 2 9/16" rounded hex.

I do have a 1/2" drive torque wrench, and thought it odd that I was able to unscrew it part way (until it was stopped by whatever it is called infront of it) by hand.

 

Im not the smartest one here, but maybe im not seeing the pic correctly....

Google," dana 50 spindle nut"

Is that what u can get off? To me, it looks like it...

 

Yeah, when I googled "Dana 50 spindle nut" I get ALL kinds of interesting results.

I was able to back the spindle nut off about 5 turns, but then it stops up against whatever is in front of it. While doing more research, I believe it is called a "splined spacer".

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=dana+...ed=0CAgQ_AUoAA

 

And the front one, im sure we used the other socket.

Sorry, im hopin someone else that knows, will put down their hot chocolate and chime in, lolol

 

That actually does help quite a bit, and seems like what I need. I have read over so many pages, so I can't remember where I read it was a 2 1/2", but I read it in more than one. Then I would pull up something like what you linked to, and that 1/16" makes a big difference. So I was very hesitant.

Then reading things like this from one of the image pages of a 2 9/16" at Amazon doesn't make me feel confident....


and this from sears

Sears.com

I'm sure you may be correct, as you said you have done it with a friends truck, which is more than I could say for myself on these Dana's. I just don't have the time or money to order the wrong socket, ship it back, and then order the correct socket.

 

You have Auto Zone there?

 

Here is what I have diagram wise.

ESOF


Locking hub

 

Thank god...

Ok, imma go to sleep, lol. Good luck

 

This is just odd to me now. I bought a 2 3/4" thin walled hex from napa. It wasn't a rounded hex but was a grey 1/2" drive thin walled hex. It wouldn't even fit inside the hub, it hit the splines.

Unless it being rounded allows it to slide just inside the inner diameter of the hub where the corners of a regular hex would hit?

 

Wait, so you have or haven't gotten the C-clip off in front of the locknut?

When I switched from auto to manual hubs on my Dana 44 I borrowed AdvanceAuto's Locknut set through their loaner tool program and had zero issues, there's four or five different ones in the set and it's free if you return the tool

 

I have gotten the c clip off, and these are auto hubs on a Dana 50. The lock nut kits available for rent do not have a rounded hex in any of them that I saw. The issue I'm having is finding what size rounded hex that I need. There seems to be too much conflicting information.

I bought a thin walled 2 3/4" (NOT rounded hex), and it would not even fit into the hub. So the only way it could be a 2 3/4" ROUNDED hex is if somehow, where it's rounded, allows it to just barely slide into the hub.

Then I've read that it's either a 2 1/2" rounded hex, or a 2 9/16" rounded hex. What's the deal? I looked at a breakdown of parts in PDF that someone posted in another thread and in the "tools" section, does not specify either.