I'm in the process of replacing the front axle u-joints in my 1995 F150 4x4. I noticed when taking off the manual hubs that the passenger side had a spring below the first c-clip. However, there was no spring on the driver's side. I'm curious if this is correct, or if the driver's side should have a spring as well. In case you can't tell, it's my first time taking the hub assemblies apart. Thanks for the help.

Also, anyone have any tips for taking off the bolts that attach the spindle? I've soaked them down with WD-40, but they still won't budge. I'm so close to getting the axle shafts out I can taste it!

 

Are the hubs the factory hubs? They should both have a spring. As for the spindle nuts I would get some good penetrant. BP makes good stuff. WD is just an all purpose and not really a penetrant. Then I would take a hammer to the bolt heads. Don't trash them but give em' a good hit. That usually breaks any bond from rust and such. If that does not work heat is the next step.

 

Dont bother hitting them with a hammer youll jsut wreck the threads, then it will be more work. Take your ratchet and extend it for a mechanical advantage. This will break them. And the Hub question I think someone took them apart and never put the spring back. Ever get a non locking hub where it engages and disengages?? It should be acting up if there was no spring.

 

Thanks for the responses. The manual hubs are Warn, not sure if they are factory or not (I bought the truck used back in 1999). I've never had any problems with the four wheel drive engaging when I lock the hubs. I have had the front axle u-joints go bad before (caused some scary steering situations), and I had them repaired at a local shop...which makes me wonder if the shop didn't reinstall the spring when they put the front end back together? I'll have to look into this a little more. The steering issues are back, which is why I'm replacing the u-joints.

Still no luck with the spindle nuts. Tomorrow I'll hit them with some penetrating oil and heat. Thanks for the advice.

Are Warn manual hubs factory for a '95 F150 4x4?

 

When i did my 87 i had to use ob blaster and an impact werench, it was kinda scary but worked so its all good.

 

I didn't get a chance to work on the truck yesterday, so I don't have any progress to report. I got my hands on a propane torch, so hopefully heating the nuts will get them to break free.

I'm still curious about the spring situation. Anyone know the following:

1. Are Warn manual hubs factory for a 1995 F150 4x4, 5spd M5od (I bought the truck used)?

2. Should there be a spring on both sides in the Warn hubs (I only came across a spring on the passenger side when disassembling).

Thanks!

 

well if im not mistaken i do belive warn made the hubs for ford, but factory hubs would be branded ford, and if one side has it the other should there the same hub.

 

Mine are definately Warn hubs. Hmmm, I wonder what happened to that other spring? I don't seem to be having any problems with the truck running in 4x4 (living in WI I have ample opportunity to run 4x4 in the winter).

Anybody have any opinions regarding the missing spring and whether it could be causing my truck to eat front u-joints? I had them replaced at about 77k and am replacing them again now (126k). Could the missing spring cause the hubs to stay in 'lock' mode, even if the hub is turned to 'free'?

Thanks!

 

what kind of u-joints are you using? if there cheap non servicable, there not gonna last as long, i personaly like persicion (sp?) because of the quality and servicability. but i didnt use them in my front end and i think i may be regretting it, i put brute force in the front and there non serviceable, but i soon will find out, and yes if a hub is stuck on it will prematurely wear your front u joints,

 

If you have Warn manual hubs, you should be able to get a hub rebuild kit from Warn. If I remember correctly, the rebuild kit includes the spring.

As you guessed, the spring is necessary to disengage the hub. Without the spring, that hub could stay engaged. Since the front axle would spin, this could cause front u-joint wear.

Warn has a decent website. As you might guess it is located at http://www.warn.com.

Lou Braun

 

Argh! I wonder what happened to that spring? Guess I'll be checking into the hub rebuild kit. Thanks for the tip. The joints I'm installing are greaseable, and if I can get the hub back to the way it's supposed to be I hope I can get more than 50k out of these joints.

CPB

 

Well, I'm going to buy some new Warn manual lockout hubs tomorrow ($62 at Weaver Auto Parts for the pair). It appears that the driver's side hub (minus the spring) has caused my u-joints to go bad (again). So, now I have a few new questions:

Does the Warn hub assembly go in right after the outer locking nut? The reason I ask is that on the passenger side there were two "C" washers between the hub assembly and the locking nut (one of which was pretty chewed up) and on the driver's side there were no washers between the hub assembly and the locking nut. Maybe the installation instructions that come with the hubs will clear this up?

The Chilton manual I have (I know, I really should have a copy of the factory repair manual) doesn't show anything before the bearing adjusting nut. My axle came apart as follows:

Outer cover of Warn hub assembly (6 allen head bolts)
Snap ring
gear (with spring on pass. side, no spring on dr. side)
large C clip
hub assembly
2 C washers (pass side....no washers on dr side)
outer locking nut
washer
inner locking nut (bearing adjusting nut?)
outer wheel bearing
hub/rotor assembly
spindle (which is still where I'm currently at)

Does this look relatively normal?

Sorry for the newbie questions, but I want to have this right when I put it back together. The forum has been a big help so far....I've needed it!

Oh, I still haven't gotten the spindle off...been too busy to work on it. Tomorrow I'll heat up those nuts and see if I can get them to break. Thanks again.

CPB

-Would it be better to post this in the axle/transfer case forum?

 

Update:

I don't know if anyone's even following this thread, but I'll relay what I figured out today.

I bought the new Warn hubs today. I was surprised when I got home and realized that there weren't any springs in the box. I went out and looked at my old hubs and then realized that the driver's side hub had a spring after all....the hub assembley just didn't come apart like on the passenger side. Upon closer inspection of the passenger side hub, I discovered the chewed up washers I found were actually from the Warn hub assembly. They were broken and that's what allowed the spring to push out the guts of the hub. So, it turns out I needed new hubs anyway.

Back to the u-joint replacement, I finally was able to remove the spindle nuts today. Plenty of PB Blaster, and a little extra help from my girl for the last one (two people leaning on a breaker bar is better than one!). Now I can't get the darn spindles off.....I'm going to try more PB Blaster and hitting it with a block of wood and a hammer. Maybe some heat if that doesn't work. I sure hope that I can put this all back together quicker than it took me to take it apart. At least I was able to get a few other projects done while letting bolts soak (tranny fluid, transfer case fluid, rear differential lube).

Anyone have any tips for spindle removal?

CPB

 

use a plastic dead blow hammer and tap/hit, top bottom right left, in a pattern. or find someone witht he ford tool used on a slide hammer, and for the price of the hubs i wouldent even bother rebuilding. good luck.

 

If you use heat, use it to heat the outer case not the spindle itself as heat makes things expand, which in turn el make the spindle come loose. The pattern thing works really good.