Still working on my 95 F150 4x4 project truck. Now, I am replacing the rear axle bearings and seals, because the seals are leaking. Everything on this truck has been 1st time experience for me. Now, the million dollar question. How do you remove these axles? With my 79 F150, I removed the 4 flange nuts, bolted a chain to 2 of the lug bolts with the lug nuts, and, with a sledge hammer in the chain, tapped the axles out. The outer end of my axle housing looks similar to my 79 9 inch, with the axle flange behind the hub, so I'm wondering if the removal is the same. This differential is different than the 79. It has a rear cover, where as, the 79, had to remove the whole chunk from the front, if you wanted to change the axle oil. Does the cover need to be removed in order to get the axles out of my 95? I guess while I'm at it, I need to go ahead and change the oil anyway. What weight oil do I put in my 95? Does it require an additive, like the 9 inch did?

 

Pull the cover, drain gear lube. Spin diff till you see a small bolt that retains the crosspin remove small bolt and crosspin. Push axles in till retaining clips drop out. Slide axles out use retaining clip groove in axle to pull seal.

 

Should my truck have the 8.8" or the 9.75" ring gear?

 

95 f150 should have the 8.8

 

X2......8.8 rear axle.

 

Okay, I just got done removing my axles. There was two different size seals and bearings. The left side had a thicker and wider race. It's rollers were smaller and more in numbers than the right. The seal on the left side was smaller and actually fit into the bearing race. The right side had a bearing of regular width. it actually fit directly into the axle tube, as did the seal, which was larger and thicker than the left side. Another thing, I can find nowhere, that there is supposed to be an inner seal. But, inside the right side axle tube, after I removed the axle, I found remnants of an old seal. And I'm not talking about the rubber part either. It was the metal frame of a seal and the spring, that had just been floating around inside the tube. There is no visual sign of damage caused by it. It must have been actually riding on the axle shaft.

 

No inner seal. Just the bearing then axle seal

 

That's what I thought. I'm surprised there isn't a lot of damage to my differential.

 

Going by the pictures I just seen on Napa's web site, it looks like the bearing on the left side of my axle is a repair bearing. What would be a reason for installing a repair bearing?

 

Repair bearing is used when the old bearing damages the axle. Check the axle where the bearing contacts.

 

New shafts are cheap these days. The repair bearing costs as much as one shaft. I had leaking seals, put new seals in, properly lubed and everything, but they started leaking shortly after. The surface of the shafts that the seal rides on was worn. New Yukon shafts from RockAuto were around $100 for both, along with Motorcraft seals and new bearings I haven't any trouble in a long while.

I run 85-140 in my 8.8 for "severe duty". I ran thinner oil previously and had trouble with pinion bearings sooner than I should have.

Edit: just checked RockAuto, no very cheap axle shafts. Luck must have been on my side when I had issues.

 

I bought my axles from Bronco Graveyard, just checked you can buy the kit with both axles, seals, bearings, and wheel studs for $175 with a 5 year warranty. Or just the axle for $85. I put these in my truck about 5 or 6 years ago. Still good.

 

Disassembly, everything came apart okay. The axles slid out very easily. Now as I am assembling the right side, the axle does not want to slide in completely. The splines at the end of the shaft does line up fine, and the axle actually does slide in a little further after the splines line up. But then it meets some resistance. I have tapped it in a little further with a hammer, but got scared and tapped it back out, for fear of causing damage. I don't think did cause any damage. Before I tapped it back out. I turned the axle a little, both ways, and it did turn the ring gear, and did not seem to be binding in the new bearing that I installed, so I think the bearing is fully seated and not out of alignment. The spider gears, how ever, had shifted around somehow. I had to move them back in order for the pin to go back in. Could the side gear somehow be tilted one way or another, binding it from allowing the shaft to slide all the way in? How do you remove the S spring, so that I can release the pressure from the side gear so that I can move it a little, so that the shaft can slide back in?

 

Okay. I just answered my own situation. I watched a video of a fella, changing bearings on an 8.8, on Youtube. He used the correct tool to remove the bearing. He also used the same tool to install the new bearing. I did everything the same way he did it. So, I just got done removing the new seal and bearing. I slid the axle into the tube and it went all the way in. Then I put the new bearing on the axle. It slid all the way to the hub. So, my first thought was that the bearing was in there crooked. But I drove it in until it bottomed out, so that didn't "seem" logical. So, this time, when I used the same method to drive the bearing back in, after I seated the bearing, I happened to notice that the large washer on the tool was not large enough to cover the outer flange on the bearing. So, I had been driving against the rollers, and I guess, obviously, the rollers were probably bent inward and caused a bind with the axle. This time, when I was removing the tool, it had bent the cage and a roller bearing fell out. So, now, here I go to buy another new bearing and seal. Valuable lesson learned. As always, from my wallet!

 

Glad you caught that before driving on it.