When replacing my tie rod ends on my 93 f150 I noticed my universal joints are worn out for the front axle shafts. How much of a pita is it to replace them? Should I go with greaseable or non greaseable? What kind of tool will I need to remove the nuts on the axle shafts for the hubs? Should I just save up for new u joints, bearings and seals for the differential, new ball joints and axle pivot bushings? The pinion seal does leak now.

 

Spicer u-joints only. If you're thinking about rebuilding the diff I'd find a Dana 50 to rebuild to increase strength and decrease downtime. Ttb setups can be bought dirt cheap

 

You need a special socket for the hub retaining nuts but otherwise nothing besides regular hand tools and sockets and perhaps a bench vise, if you don't have a bench vise then a U-joint/ball joint tool set would be a good idea. with the trucks I have owned I always replaced the axle u-joints with greasable units and never had to service them again.

 

I think the responses so far have been assuming you only need to replace the U-joints in the steering knuckles. I think you need to take the center section (the diff housing) off the driver's side beam to remove a C-clip to get the inner section of the passenger side axle out to replace the U-joint in the center of the axle. That's more of a pain, but that U-joint usually doesn't go bad as fast as the others. So take close look at it, maybe you don't need to do that one.

As far as greaseable or non-greaseable, I've always used greaseable, but there are advantages to the non-greaseables too. It's next to impossible to get the grease fitting completely clean, so you'll probably inject some dirt into the bearings each time you grease it. Also if you put too much grease in it will force its way out past the seals, which can compromise them.

 

The dana 50 is a direct bolt in? I think there's one f250 at the wrecker with a dana 50

 

Bench vise? You mean tailgate? Lol. When I replaced the u joints in my rear drive shaft I just used a socket, hammer and my tailgate as a bench. Thanks for the tip on the greaseable joints

 

Yeah I know about the fittings never being fully cleanable. I was taught to not care about the dirt in grease fitting, especially with heavy machinery. Well I guess if replacing the inner joint means dropping the drivers side beam I might as well put new bearings in it

 

I find the best way to grease is do it often but sparingly. For the stub shaft U joints I spray them first with PB then clean with a wire brush. A straight machinist pick works for making sure the little ball is free. I have a needle nose adapter for a grease gun that works great for those.

 

Yeah that works too, the vise saves the driveshaft yoke a little punishment. One other tip I will add is that after the joint is fully assembled to seat the caps back against the clips so that the joint flops under it's own weight. I typically accomplish this with a quick tap on the body of the U-joint with a hammer and appropriate tool. With the joints free to move like this instead of bound tight the front end will operate much smoother.

 

90% sure yes, hopefully the experts agree. The other 10% means that there may be some slight change in brackets but I doubt it Ford is pretty lazy.

 

The big difference is that F250s have leaf spring TTBs while F150s use coil springs, if you can convert the F150 to leafs (prob better) or the F250 TTB to coils (wouldnt recommend) then you've got all you need

 

Totally missed that it was a 150, my bad, no not a bolt in affair though it could be done.

 

A Dana 50 TTB differential is a direct bolt-in to a Dana 44 TTB axle. At least that was my experience when I did it to my truck about four years and 100,000+ miles ago.

dn.

 

I am in the process right now of doing my Dana50 steering knuckle u-joints on my '96 F250.

there are some good videos out there that show the process of what you need to do. Here's one of them:
It's pretty easy, just take stuff apart from the outside in. The hard part comes when you find rusty/stick parts that don't want to play nice.

For me, the first part to resist the change was the spindle. Basically, the flange that sits inside the knuckle is a 1/2" thick, tight-fitting piece that doesn't want to come out nicely. That video and others shows people prying and using a chisel to separate them, I found that using a piece of hardwood and a BFH against the spindle works better.

Once I got that part out of the way, I ran into c-clips on the outer edges of the U-joints that didn't really want to come out. A socket and a few taps to relive the pressure, as well as a bit of penetrating oil helped out; I still had to fiddle with one broken-off clip for awhile before I was able to get it out (ended up using a dental pick).

the next part was probably the biggest issue for most people to deal with; getting the cups out of the yokes. I tried the socket/BFH method at first, with slim to no luck. I don't have the c-clamp type ball joint press, but I do have a 20-ton hydraulic press, so I just used that instead. It took a LOT of pressure to even get things moving, and what ended up was one cup pushing in, but instead of pushing the other end out, it just snapped the top of the cup off right at the outer perimeter. I managed to get it out eventually, but the longest time spent on any of this was removing the old u-joints from the yokes. Just be careful that you don't bend the yokes at all.

Yesterday morning, I got the passenger side started. The inner u-joint is still fine, there is no visible play, when yanking and twisting pretty hard. The knuckle u-joint again resisted my efforts, but I knew what to expect and it was easier this time, but still way more work than any hand-operated tool could offer.

For the U-joints, I'm using MOOG 232 U-joints, that use a flush-mount zerk in the end of one of the cups, rather than the standard zerk in the crotch of the joint. It requires the use of a needle-tip for the grease gun, but there's nothing sticking out that can break off. If you get a non-greasable, the u-joint body is stronger because it's not drilled down the centerline of each axis for a grease channel, so it's solid metal.

So basically, the job's not a hard one, but it can be a time-consuming one if you have any amount of rust on your parts, or if you don't have a big enough BFH / vise / press.


How much does your pinion seal leak? If it's just weeping a bit, you might be OK for awhile. I noticed I have a slightly leaky driver-side diff seal, but I went ahead and did the u-joints anyway, because when I need to engage the front axle, I probably won't enjoy what happens with completely trashed u-joints. Pulling the axle ends out is easy enough that it's not too much of a problem, so I can work on the diff at a later time, especially since switching to a solid axle is an option.


Good luck!

 

I've always seen the grease fitting in the cap on axle U-joints. Greasable driveshaft U-joints usually have the zerk fitting in the middle of the cross, but I suspect there might not be room for it with the large range of motion that front axles turn through.

And the greasable U-joints I had for the Dana 30 in my J**p didn't have the cross drilled through, but rather had a grease fitting in all four of the caps. That's the best of both worlds with strength and greasability, but I've never seen that for a Dana 44 or bigger axle though.