Doing front hub/bearing thingies...

Got the hub/bearing thingy off, and this plastic washer that's hanging out behind it is broken.

To see which washer I'm talking about, CLICK HERE and go down to the step that says:

"The bearing race on the hub axle will be damaged if the needle bearing were to run dry and would require replacement of the outer shaft.
99% of the Ford dealers will tell you that only the complete axle shaft and u-joint is available and will run about $500 per side. There is actually a Ford replacement outer shaft (4C3Z-3B387-AA} and it will run around $120 plus the cost of new needle bearing, inner and outer grease and dust seals for about $250 per side. "

This shows the washer that I'm talking about. Mine was broken in one place, all the way through. After going nearly part by part through the nearly incomprehensible Ford blow up diagram at the dealership, Ford calls it a "gear thrust washer". At least, I hope they do, as it was the only part in the right place in the diagram.

What does this do, and why did it break?

 

67 views... Apparently, nobody else has broken one, which kind of makes me wonder how I managed to break it.

If it really IS a thrust washer, it's not built for much thrust, as it's made out of rather chincy plastic.

I only hope I ordered the right part, as I can't have the truck sitting for another day up on jack stands... Especially since I want to road test the 5" exhaust it got last night...

The more pieces break in this front end, the more I want to pony up the 1600 bucks for the Dynatrac kit. Or, find an 05 or 06 that was rolled and swap the front axle and hardware for the coil setup. Shouldn't be impossible, all these trucks are built on (nearly) the same frame, after all...

 

Even looking through the pictures, i am not really identifying your thrust washer.

 

YUP...it's a thrust washer with four slots on one side that are supposed to face the inside main axle seal.

Nut

 

I didn't even know there was a washer there! It's silver plastic, and in the pic from Guzzle's page, it just looks like the end of the outer axleshaft. About gave me a heart attack when I pulled the hub/bearing off and thought I'd cracked the axle. I just went out and took this:



That should help you tell what it is. You can also see the crack through mine.

EDIT: Yeah, the 4 slots are on the inner side of it. I really just wanna make sure something isn't set-up right in there and it's gonna happen again. I REALLY don't want little plastic washer chunks floating around the inside of my knuckles...

 

Here's another post on replacing ball joints with more good info on parts in the front axles. LINKNut

 

That particular write up is for a 97-03 F-150... I don't think the front ends are even close... Might you have actually been referring to THIS writeup?

EDIT: THIS step shows the washer... If only it had a no-bull part # so I could make sure the right one is coming in today....

 

Oppss!..Sorry...that's the one i meant.