manual locking hubs help

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Jun 8, 2004 | 09:18 AM

red85f250

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Joined: May 2004

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manual locking hubs help

I have an 85 F250 and I am replacing the hubs on it.. on the drivers side I cant get the hub assmebly to go far enough in to get the axle lock ring on, but on the passenger side it goes on fine.. what will happen if there isnt an axle lock ring? or how can I fix this?

Jun 8, 2004 | 02:45 PM

TallGuy_Az

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Joined: Jan 2003

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From: Safford, Arizona

My '81 F150 should be similar to yours. There have been times that during a 4X4 trip, under extreme crawling situations, my snap ring has actually come off. What happens is that the axle backs out of the hub, allowing the axle to become disengaged. When it first happened, I thought I broke an axle or something, but luckily I figured it out.

Being a TTB front end, you can grab the axle shaft and force it outwards as hard as you can so that any slop is taken out. Then there should be just enough room to fit the ring back on.

Hopefully this works - worked for me.

Jun 8, 2004 | 04:37 PM

andym

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Joined: Mar 2002

Posts: 19,402

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From: Bonita Springs FL

Yeah, you don't want to run without that snap ring in place. I would do as recommended, but let me explain it a different way: push the axle shaft outboard by reaching around behind the knuckle and putting a screwdriver throught the u-joint. You should be able to push it out far enough to get the snap ring on. If that still doesn't work, try (lightly) tapping the hub into the housing with a hammer and a punch. A combination of the two should work.

If not, the splines either on the axle shaft or inside the hub may be damaged.