Greetings from Martinsburg!

I have an 1989 F-350 SD that was in storage for several years, up until about a year ago. When I bought it, I had no problem with the 4x4 except that the 4x4 indicator light wouldn't go out in 2wd. Just this past weekend, I tried switching into 4x4, but it wouldn't go. I could see the front drive shaft spinning, but the front wheels wouldn't engage.

Anyone ever taken apart manual locking hubs? I have the Haynes manual, but it doesn't show much.

What about the light? Could it be a simple adjustment? I can't find any reference to that anywhere.

Thanks.

 

I had a chance to dig into the hubs last night. The guy at Auto Zone was more than helpful when I explained what was going on. He agreed that the Haynes manual for the F-Series trucks were really bad, but pulled a Haynes manual for a similar year Jeep Cherokee. Evidently Warn made hubs for both Ford and Jeep that year.

Anyway, it was a piece of cake (in theory). I pulled the driver's side and it was clean and the grease looked fresh. I pulled apart the other side and it was a little rusty and had old grease caked into the splines. I cleaned it up, re-greased it and BINGO! The only thing that surprised me was that the driver's side wouldn't engage until I cleaned up the passenger side. Hmmm...

I still need to check into the indicator light...

 

Brian, by any chance does this truck have a body lift?

When you have the front hubs unlocked can you crawl under the truck and spin the front driveshaft?

If not the transfer case is in 4 x 4.

 

Nope, it's just a stock F350, no mods. When I have the lever in 2wd with the hubs unlocked, the driveshaft does spin.

 

Briansrapier,
First let me say that I totally agree about the Haynes manual, that book reminds of a "refresher" manual for people who already have an idea how to do it. Very very vague.....To put it nicely

Second, I was going to change my front wheel bearings on my '85 F150 and, well lets just say "If your skeerd say your skeered" and I wussed out and put it all back together when I got to the snap ring underneath the cap.

How many specialized tools did you need to get the job done?
Are there any parts in there that will "fall apart" if you don't take yor time during disassembly?

I would appreciate any tips or help you could provide on the difficulty of this job. I really do not want to spend the money for a garage when I could do it for a fraction of the price. I love my Truck, but I don't want to pay for a mechanic unless absolutley necassary.

Thanks for any help you can provide

 

It really wasn't that difficult once I knew what all was there. Essentially, from memory I recall that there was a small snap ring around the axle shaft, a larger snap ring on the hub to prevent the 4x4 spline thingy (that's the technical term, really) from sliding all the way out, the spline thingy, and a big spring. Oh, and a screw to keep the spline from sliding out too far.

As far as bearings go, while I didn't replace mine, I did adjust them while I had it apart. You will have to remove the outer lock ring and a keyed washer that sits under it. There is a second lock ring that is also the outer bearing race. After removing that, assuming that you have already taken off the brake caliper, the brake rotor/hub assembly should slide right off. From there, you can knock out the old races and install the new ones. I have heard of people using a large socket that is the same size of the race to pound in the new ones. Personally, I've never attempted it, so you might want to ask around, or pay someone with a press to do it for you (probably a whole lot cheaper than buying a socket that size).

In any event, you'll need a set of snap ring pliers and the special tool for loosening the two lock rings. I fore went the special tools and wound up bending one of the snap rings. I was able to bend it (mostly) back into shape, but I'll likely replace it if/when I open it back up.

In a pinch you can use a flat bladed screwdriver and a mallet to back off the lock rings, but I wouldn't trust torquing the outer lock ring to that method. Here in WV, the local Auto Zone loans out the special tools you'll need for free. However, an inexpensive set of snap ring pliers is always handy to have around.

In my opinion, it was much harder to change the spark plugs than take apart the 4x4 hub.

Brian

 

Thanks for the help Brian, I live down the road from you in Inwood. I haven't taken the Bearings/seals back to Autozone yet so mebbe I'll try again this coming weekend.
I think my main holdup is that I do not have someone as a "go-to" person if I get stuck. I always get a little nervous doing things like this for the first time, not knowing what to expect and all. I am always thinking about that one part that is spring loaded and full of little things that explode and fly all over creation if you aren't careful. But if you say it's easier to do that than change the plugs I should be able to do it with little to no problems...famous last words...
My wife will be rolling her eyeballs at me when I tell her I am going to try again and just hand over the checkbook for my next donation to the Autozone fund.....
How well does the Chilton Manual cover this procedure?

Thanks, Chadd

 

Chilton's? Not at all... Well, not really, but close to nothing. In my Chilton's it says basically to remove outer screws, clip, and everything slides apart. More detailed steps would be (assuming the tire/wheel and brake caliper have already been removed):

1. Remove outer locking hub plate (6 torx-head bolds)

2. Remove c-clip on end of axle shaft

3. Remove large spring clip
(This one requires basically using a small screw driver to pry it out. Just start on one of the ends (opening is like this: \ \ ). Once you get it started, you should be able to just slide the screw driver under it and it'll pop out. You can pretty much put it back by hand, though)

4. Remove spline retaining screw.
(At this point, the spline may be pushed out by the spring, you just need to make sure that it doesn't fall out and get damaged. If it doesn't slide right out, there are 3-4 threaded holes that are large enough to slide a couple of small philips head screwdrivers into and then squeeze the handles together for leverage/grip and pull it out. In my case, the locking mechanism was rusted, but if your 4x4 is working correctly, it should slide apart easily.)

5. Remove large spring.
(As far as I could tell, the spring can go back in either direction. I haven't seen any information to the contrary.)

6. Remove the outer lockring.
(For mine, I just used a LONG, flat-bladed screwdriver and tapped the handle with a mallet to drive it counter-clockwise).

7. Remove the keyed washer

8. Remove the inner race
(Same method that you used to remove the outer lockring)

9. Slide hub assembly off.

10. Using a brass drift or a long punch, drive out the races on the hub.

11. (Not sure about the race on the axle, might want to refer to the book)

12. Using a socket large enough to press in the race without touching the face, but small enough to fit inside the hub, drive the races back in.
(There will probably be a lip that they press back against.)

From there, everything is just reverse of the removal part, aside from an ample supply of bearing grease and using the special tool for the lockrings to get the proper torque on the outer lockring.

If you are going back up to Auto Zone, the one in Martinsburg near K-Mart, ask for Woody (40-ish, glasses, hearing aid). He's a former mechanic and was EXTREMELY helpful when I was looking for help on my hubs. There's also a Jeep Cherokee Chilton's that has a better view of the exploded hub (Warn manufactured 4x4 hubs for a variety of trucks and SUVs). It covered the early to mid-90's models, I think.

 

Of course, I neglected to mention that the caliper removal procedure isn't covered very well by Chilton's either. Once the wheel is off, look for the spring clips at the top and bottom of the caliper. They look like a piece of steel tubing that has been split lengthwise with a piece of rubber sandwiched between them. Just squeeze the two halves together and drive them out.

I actually used my drift and tapped inward and downward (or upward) on each piece until it was past the lip, then finished driving them out.

If your pads/rotors need taking care of, might as well do it while you have it apart, since you're already 1/2 way there. Pads are cheap ($13 a set) and rotors should be $7-10 a piece to get them turned.

 

Thanks Brian, I'll give it a go and see what happens!

 

Hey guys been following this saga, and was/am in the same boat,now have enough confidence to get the job done(wife is still not convinced)

Jacobite