Ok, I have been working on this problem for the past two days. I need to change my ball joints. And in order to do that I have to take off my hubs. I pulled the hubs on the one side just fine. I took off the cap, then the big C clip that is on the outside of all of the gears. There was NO lock ring around the spindle on that side.

Here is a picture of the hub that I removed:

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...a/DSCN1941.jpg

Here is the spindle that it came off of:

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...a/DSCN1944.jpg

I can see the groove that the lock ring is supposed to snap into. I can see the groove on both sides. There is nothing in either of them

Here is a picture of the hub that I am trying to remove:

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...a/DSCN1937.jpg


Anyone have any ideas? It seems like the inner gear on the hub is set in way to far. On the other side it does not go back even close to that far.

The assembly will not even budge. It will not move at all. I can slide all the other gears around though. Am I supposed to slide that inner gear out first? If so, how do I do that? Sorry for the long post. Hope the pictures work.

 

Oh yea, it is a 95 F-150 4X4. It has the 5.0 in it. Obviously manual hubs on it. They are stock, as far as I know.

 

There are two things holding the locking hub in place on each side. One is a snap ring that fits over the end of the axle stub shaft. It has two holes in it and it's split. The other is a ring that sits just inside the edge of the hub. You can barely see it. A pocketknife and a small allen wrench is what I use to remove it.

Have you got both of these things out? If not, that's why. You might have been missing one on the other side.

The hub itself does not separate. If it does, it's broken.

 

Can you move the drive axle in and out slightly? You should be able to move it a little bit. Are you positive there is no snap ring around the drive axle? Does the hub mechanism move inside the hub body?
You could try moving the steering wheel slightly.. if the U joint is badly siezed it may be binding the hub mechanism against the body and preventing it from sliding out.

 

There is no snap ring on the end of the axle stub. I have been looking for it for the past 2 hours, and I cannot find it. So I am assuming it is not their. Is their a good picture of it, other than the one at this site: http://ford.off-road.com/ford/articl....jsp?id=198389

As you can see, my hubs are different than those in the pictures

 

The U-Joints are shot. The drive axle does move in and out a little. The hub mechanism does move, I can lock the hubs up by pushing it in. I can turn the drive axle by locking in the hubs and turning the disk break.

 

If it's not there, it should be. Your hubs should be exactly the same as the ones in the picture. That's a great guide, BTW. I've referred to it many times.

With those two rings out of the way, there shouldn't be anything stopping you from pulling the hub out. As Paul said, it may be bound up on something. Also, if the edge of the housing is bent that will obviously cause problems.

 

Does the snap ring sit down in that groove to the point where you cant see it?

 

The snap ring on the end of the axle stub shaft is plainly visible. The ring (it's not really a snap ring) that sits in the groove along the inside of the housing can be very hard to see, especially with a lot of grease in the way.

 

From the picture I'm pretty sure I can see that outer ring in place. I bet he hasn't removed it, and the previous owner or shop worker didn't install the outer ring on the other side.

 

Ok. The big ring is out. I got both of those out in a couple of minutes. I am confident that there is no snap ring. If it was plainly visible, I would have seen it by now. They must both be gone.

I guess the hub assembly is just seized up in their. Any ideas on how to get it out? I don't care about saving the hubs, I am putting Warn hubs in anyways. Since I am sure that these are broken.

 

can you copy the picture into paint and point to the ring. That would help tons.

 

Also, I know for sure that the large ring with a break in it, is gone. Its a little bit smaller that the hub assembly itself.

 

In the third photo that you linked to above, there is no snap ring. I can't tell if the outer retaining ring is there or not.

As for removing the hub, it depends on where it's getting hung up. Try turning the axleshaft 180. If it's bound up that might release enough tension on it for it to slide out.

 

Ok, it sounds like you have everything out then. It's just a matter of removing the hub.