front dana 44
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Joined: Feb 2002
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front dana 44
hello all. I just changed out all my seals and bearings in the fornt wheels of my 86 bonco (after a long weekend in some nasty muddy/sand/lots of water). my problem was when I removed the driver side I could just pull the whole axle shaft out?! I consulted my home library (chiltons) and I saw a c-clip on the passengerside but not one on the driver, whats up with that? also after further reasearching (4-wheel parts wholesalers catalog) I noticed something about a axle retention kit, anybody know whats up with the "floating" axle shaft or what the axle retention kit is?
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Joined: Jul 2001
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front dana 44
What you experienced is perfectly normal, nothing is wrong. Think long and hard about how the TTB (IFS) on your '86 works. The axle is essentially split into two halves which criss-cross one another kinda like scissors. The diff is attached to the driver's side arm, thus the distance between the diff and the driver's wheel is constant and will NEVER change, barring a head-on w/a semi 
However, the passenger arm needs to go up and down, too, but it is separate from the diff. When the suspension cycles the pass side axleshaft must become longer or shorter a little bit. As such, Ford installed a slip-joint (under the pleated rubber boot) to allow this to happen. If the pass side were not anchored in the diff w/a c-clip, the slip yoke could (and would) slide closed completly and the axle would pull right out of the diff. Clear as mud? Climb under your truck and picture how everything works, run thru some "what if" scenarios and you'll see.
I don't know what an axle retention kit is but you don't need it. The front end is already a full floater defined as such: any axle where a separate spindle supports the weight of the truck is a full floater. In a FF, the axleshaft does not support any weight, it is only responsible for turning the wheels.
However, the passenger arm needs to go up and down, too, but it is separate from the diff. When the suspension cycles the pass side axleshaft must become longer or shorter a little bit. As such, Ford installed a slip-joint (under the pleated rubber boot) to allow this to happen. If the pass side were not anchored in the diff w/a c-clip, the slip yoke could (and would) slide closed completly and the axle would pull right out of the diff. Clear as mud? Climb under your truck and picture how everything works, run thru some "what if" scenarios and you'll see.
I don't know what an axle retention kit is but you don't need it. The front end is already a full floater defined as such: any axle where a separate spindle supports the weight of the truck is a full floater. In a FF, the axleshaft does not support any weight, it is only responsible for turning the wheels.
