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I'm trying to replace ball joints on an 1993 F150 4WD 4.9. Passenger side went fine, but I can't get the drivers side axle out at all. The videos and manuals all say that it slides right out, but I can only pull it out about an inch. It moves freely in and out about an inch. I've tried jacking at different points hoping to change the tension enough, vibration/air hammer on the side of the axle shaft while pulling on it, and several minutes with a cobbled together 10lb slide hammer. It's not hanging up on the knuckle, even though it looks that way in the picture. It got a bit further with the slide hammer than anything else, but gets to a point where it doesn't move any further and no longer slides freely in and out. I can whack it back in with a single tap from a rubber mallet after which it slides freely again for about an inch.
It is the same as the other side just about. You should be able to do it
Get back behind the knuckle with a big pry bar / screwdriver and pry on the axle by the u joint.
Stick the big pry bar between the axle and the axle tube. It should come out with a little force
You already have the dirt shield off the stub shaft, so the steering wheel does not need to be exactly straight, but that helps too.
I'll have to go hunting for a better pry bar today. I gave it a try with a crowbar, but couldn't get any movement. First time trying anything with suspension / drive components. The stuff I thought was going to be hard was hard, and the stuff I thought would be easy was also hard. Guess that's the nature of some of these old rusty beasts. Thanks for the advice.
I picked up a couple of 16" pry bars and set them on opposite sides with 4 feet of 1 inch pipe as cheater extensions. I still can't get any movement at all other than some bending of the pry bars. I was putting a lot of force on cheaters, felt pretty sketchy. This truck is a marketplace mystery build I don't have much history on. Transmission doesn't match the vin, the body panels and interior are clearly from a donor truck and the vin check shows 12 owners since 2000. Are there any aftermarket things that could have been installed that could have some kind of retaining clip not on the stock setup?
The passenger side axle stub shaft has a C clip inside the housing
The drivers side has no C clip and just comes out
Looks like you have it partially out
The knuckle will not let the u joint through the hole in the knuckle easily, without being in the straight ahead position
Try moving that knuckle back and forth some and twist the axle around some to get the u joint into a different position
With 12 PO's it's possible to find just about anything on a vehicle like this... including bush fixes like welded parts inside a diff. I think you need to unbolt and drop the pumpkin to see what is going on because as mentioned that axle should just slide right out of there.
I was thinking the same thing Paul. I can't say for sure if the third member can come out of there with the driver side axle still in place though. Not sure an assembled u joint axle fits through the beam is what I mean.
I think you guys are on the right track. I'm going to do some measuring and see if it looks like there is room to pull it out attached and see what the hang up is. Even if it only comes out far enough to get the knuckle removed and ball joints replaced I'd be happy for now. Just need to pass a safety inspection and run the truck a few hundred miles to see if its worth investing more time and repairs into it. I wouldn't need the 4wd for that.
You have to remove the pass side outside axle section first, then when the pumpkin is unbolted from the TTB everything attached to it will come with it.
It's been a while, but updating this post with a conclusion in case it helps someone else. I finally gave up and took it to a shop. They replaced the arm / diff with a salvage yard ($pain$). What's pictured is the original carrier, and the cause of the problem. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it looks like the bearing broke or slipped and completely chewed up the carrier causing it to deform. There wasn't enough clearance to pull the axle out. Surprisingly the splines and gears all looked decent. It was a bear to get the axle out (grinders, cutoffs etc) even with the arm removed. I think the shops approach to replace the whole arm was the best choice, it would have been impossible on the truck.
