I need to do my ball joints because I've determined that's what is causing my steering issue. I had a shop look at it and they said when they pulled the tie rod out of the knuckle they couldn't turn the knuckle at all. He said if I didn't have power steering that I would not have been able to turn it they were so frozen. He also said to do the axle u-joints while the thing is torn apart for the ball joints. And new brakes and rotors (mine are shot). The problem is they said it would be $900-1000 to do all this. Which may or may not be a good price. It doesn't really matter because I don't have that kind of cash laying around anyways. I'm going to attempt to do it myself even if it takes me a month. I can't find any info on older ones like mine. I did find a YouTube video on a '95 F150 or Bronco. The only thing I found on an '89 F250 was that there are 2 u-joints on the passenger side. I can only see the one. Where is the other one and does the other one necessarily need changed too? How difficult is it to pull the axle shaft out of these trucks to change the u-joints? I've read a couple threads on here for changing those and ball joints but not many pictures. If anyone has any links to walk thru's or videos or exploded views of front axle I'd be very grateful. I've been told my axle is a Dana 44. 4WD. Manual locking hubs (Mile Marker).

 

There's the U-joint at the steering knuckle (probably the one you found) and another in the middle of the truck where the right and left swingarms cross.

If I recall correctly you need to pull a C-clip off the axle inside the diff housing to get that shaft out. That's not that big a deal if you're already pulling the axles out, but it does add to the job.

Does it need to be changed too? Check it once you have the other out. See if there's any slop or binding in it. If not, it might not need to be replaced. But you'll never have an easier time to replace it than when you have the entire rest of the front axle taken apart, so keep that in mind too.

 

Ok I'll check that one too. This might be a dumb question but do I have to open the diff in order to get that c-clip off? So all the fluid would pour out and I'll need to change that too?

 

Again, if I recall correctly, yes you need to open the case to pull the C-clip. The TTB diff doesn't have a "cover" so you need to pull the drivers side axle out, drop the front driveshaft, unbolt the diff case from the swingarm and pull it back to open the case up. That's what I meant by it being more of a pain. But you have to do all of that except the driveshaft and diff case to do the two knuckle U-joints which is why this is the easiest time to do it.

 

So if I only plan to do the ball joints and axle u-joints at the steering knuckles I would not need to open the case to pop that c-clip? I'm not sure my axle u-joints at the knuckle are even bad but figured if I'm doing the ball joints I might has well at least do those too. The problem I see is going to be removing the passenger axle u-joint at the knuckle with the shaft still connected in the diff. Meaning I have to press the u-joint in/out while still connected to the truck.

 

There's a slip joint between the two U-joints on the passenger side axle shaft. Remove one or both of the clamps holding the rubber boot over it and it'll slide apart (I'd recommend noting how the U-joints are aligned with each other and maybe marking the shafts to get it back the same way it came apart). Then you can get everything out of the truck to replace the knuckle U-joint on the bench. You'll also be able to move the center U-joint to see if you think it's bad.

 

Ok great. I was planning on marking those shafts so I had the yolks lined up the same way they were. I saw a YouTube video saying that's a good idea in order to keep it balanced the way it was before disassembly. I found a nice exploded view of the Dana 44 TTB. I see that boot you're referring to and remember seeing it under my truck when I was looking at things. On the exploded view they refer to a clamp on either side of the boot as "keystone clamps". Do you know what those clamps hold together? From the looks of the picture they just hold the boot on. I recall my boot just having 2 hose clamps holding it in place. And as far as the slip joint, if I pull the shaft at the steering knuckle will that just pull that slip joint apart leaving the remaining shaft back toward the u-joint at the diff in place? That's kind of what it sounds like. And I don't see anything else in the exploded view holding that slip joint together. I think this might be my best option as long as I don't find that u-joint at the diff with any play.

 

Yep, you got it. The clamps just clamp the boot in place. It's hard (if not impossible) to reuse the original clamps so they often get replaced with hose clamps.

And the clamps and boot are the onlt things that hold the slip joint togeher (well, that and that neither side can pull it apart unless the spindle is taken off). So it'll just slide apart.

 

That's good to know. I'm about ready to start ordering parts. I think I'm going with all greasable Moog parts. When I go to order the axle u-joints it asks if I have the HD axle or the standard axle. The HD axle has an axle u-joint with outside lock rings (like I have on my truck now). The standard axle u-joint has them with inside lock rings. If I had to guess I'd say it's the HD one since the axle u-joints I have in there currently have outside lock rings. There's only a difference of about $0.40. But the standard axle u-joints are not greasable. The part numbers on rockauto are Moog/precision part #232 (for HD) and Moog/precision part #371 (for standard). If it's a Dana 44 shouldn't it just be one or the other?? Is there a HD vs standard axle on a Dana 44?? I have my ball joints in my cart now but want to order everything together. Including pads and rotors. Any idea on the axle type, HD vs standard??
UPDATE: I did some research and found this link below explaining some differences between the two. It sounds like mine should be the HD Dana 44 since it does have the 8 lug hubs and leaf springs. The one sentence states that in 1987 the F250 Dana 44 TTB was replaced by a Dana 50 TTB. Now I'm wondering if I actually have a Dana 50 TTB!?! They say the lockout hubs are a lot bigger in the 50 compared to the 44 (the 50 shares the same hub size as the 60). The 44 and 44HD share the same hub size which is the same as in the half tons. I don't have a half ton to compare my hub sizes though. I read somewhere else that 44 or 50 will be stamped on the diff housing. I crawled under there and looked for 15 minutes and could not find a stamping. It's pretty rusty.
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Dana44TTB.shtml

 

I identified mine by locating this tag on the front of the axle. Then cross referenced the Bill of Material number 610312-2 in the Spicer catalog. This is a DANA 50 axle. The Bill of Material number can be in one of three locations; 1. A vertically positioned tag near the center of the right hand side support arm, 2. Stamped into the left hand side support arm (opposite end of the caster adjuster), or 3. stamped into the "nose end" of the carrier.

 

I've got my passenger side completely torn down to just the knuckle left on the truck. When I pulled my axle shaft from the slip joint out I realized it wasn't my ball joints that were bad. It was my axle shaft u-joint on that side. It was completely frozen and locked up. I got the old u-joint out and put in a Moog greasable one. Now that it's altogether in the 2 yokes I'm not sure how much resistance I should be feeling. It's not completely limp when I let it go. I still have to use a little muscle to move the joint. Is a little resistance normal? I greased the cups before I installed them. I hate to put this axle shaft back in and end up doing the whole project over again in a couple thousand miles. Should there be some resistance as I maneuver the axle shaft joint by hand? And the grease fitting they send is some kind of flush mount. Can I use a standard grease coupler to grease it? You have to install it with a flat head screwdriver. Maybe you just back it out a little when you're ready to grease and then screw it back in???

 

Ha! Never mind. I figured maybe I just hammered the caps in too hard so I set the opposing yoke over the vise as if I was going to remove them and gave it a light tap. It must have moved the cups apart enough because it's smooth like butter now! But still not sure how to grease those flush mount grease fittings

 

Google grease gun adapter.
Click images.
The one you want is shaped like a sharpened pencil. Napa sells them