Hey Guys, this is the install of Warn 38826 Heavy Duty hubs on my 2000 6.8L X 4x4... To give you guys the background, I was out in a field in 2wd and the rear started slipping, so I put it into 4wd in the cab, but nothing happened at the hubs. I finally cracked off my hub covers and manually engaged them and got out fine, but it was a PITA. Instead of diagnosing the problem with the old hubs, (I wanted a new project anyway) I decided to order some warn Hubs. Here's the install:


This is where I had to crack off my hub covers - with an axe actually

Pull off the stock hubs by removing the steel ring as shown, then they just pull off. The driver's side hub was really stiff, and I had to beat it gently with a rubber mallet, and really wiggle it, but it came off eventually.
[img]http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/226/27/607195429/n607195429_2332156_8912.jpg[img]

If you are curious, this is what it looks like inside wit the hubs removed- there's almost no grease in there by the way


I found this metal shaving in the hub space along with a bunch of other smaller ones


Here is a comparison of the 2 hubs:









Basically you just pop the inner part inside. I had to spin the outer splnes a bit to get the inner and outer ones to line up so the hub goes in


The hubs come with this little extra instruction to help you remove the retaining ring if you want to in the future...
Before:

AFTER



Then you feed the ring around


And it looks like this. Make sure its seated all the way around


Then put the o-ring on the hub and spin it around the inner part until it seats - make sure its UNLOCKED

Now torque the bolt they are 9/64 hex to i think its like 4.5 ft/lbs (I did 5 b/c it was the lowest my torque wrench would go)

To tie off the vacuum lines, I used vacuum caps




Here's the hose I No longer needed...


For the record, this is what you need to do inside the cab so the vacuum system doesn't drain when you activate 4wd

That pic's not mine, its from http://www.eurekaboy.com/f250/esof.htm . I recommend you read that link for more info too.


Here was the culprit as to why the hubs wouldn't work - the vacuum line had sheared off at the fitting so I didn't get any pressure >_<




Here are just some other things I noticed that you guys should check:

The front vent hose got broken by the driver's side bumpstop


My driver's side axleshaft seal slipped out (I have a feeling thats gonna be a big repair, what you think? Should I fix this NOW or is it ok to do it in a little while?




FINAL THOUGHTS:
The new warn hubs seem beefier, although the stockers actually freewheel better. It seems they have ball bearings and the Warn's only have bushings. The Warn's look way cooler though, but I dunno about the toughness factor between the two. Knowing what I know now, I might have just fixed the vacuum thing and saved $170 bucks (BTW, amazon is the cheapest place to get these things). Either way, they engage immediately, but in order to disengage, you have to go into reverse for a second to take the torque off the splines so the spring will push out the center part and they'll disengage. You can check for proper engagement/disengagement by spinning the CV joint in the knuckle of each side.

Hope that helps!

I'll answer any questions I can.

Thanks,

 

I would fix that seal now. Mine as well do the job comepletely.

 

I think I may take it in for that fix. I think it'll involve pulling the stub shaft and the whole knuckle right - maybe the whole axle shaft, if the seal needs replacing right? I think its more than I want to mess with.

 

Nice job have you tried them out yet

 

Nah, I haven't had the chance yet unfortunately... I don't get the chance to often living in dallas haha

 

mine is the same way and im just riding with it i really cant see tearing the whole axle down to do that seal... plus you gotta have 2 or 3 specialty tools i think

 

hey , you can't use goodwrench jackstands on a ford,that's just wrong!!!! bseg barry

 

That seal is just a dust seal. They all come apart like that. Mine have been like that for 4 years. The real axle grease seal in further into the tube. If that was bad you would see axle fluid leaking.

 

Great writeup. I just installed them and the directions were perfect. Thanks. Later...

- Wayne

 

Btw. I lost 4 wheel drive and that was the reason to replace it. The vacuum hose had come off on the driver's side.

Later...

- Wayne

 

+1 on that I wouldn't waste my time on it until you fix something else in there . Mine just popped out last week too.

 

I wouldn't cover those hubs up like that, a couple days ago I backed off a steep bank to turn around on a dirt road and backed up to a big rock but when I put it in 4WD with the switch it didn't go anywhere so I was out in the woods on a steep incline. The wheels need to turn a little bit for it to work but I knew the manual dials on my ESOF worked so I was out of there in a few minutes.

 

oooh... bad deal on having to bust in like that to turn your hub.

Good job on that write up though! Reps sent

One more vote to not worry about that dust seal for now. Its a long ways in there just to replace the dust seal. I would wait until you need to do ball joints or front axle u-joints to do that seal. Plus, there's another big seal (around $35 worth) that you'll likely trash along the way getting to that dust seal. And you will need to either make a seal driver or buy one (around $60) to get the new big seal on.

You can see some pics of this in my ball joint write up....
http://www.frontiernet.net/~jmray/F250BallJoints.htm

 

Right. That dust seal that pops out sometimes doesn't do much. I would stay out of deep water though..........not good.

Not to worry; Mr. Goodwrench.

 

Great post, very informative, pics helped me plug vac line I forgot to do when I did mine, reps sent!