Hello all, I would like to document these tips as a resource to others in this situation who may need to replace their stub axle on their 4x4 first gen Super Duty... ya know... F250/F350, Excursion, Etc . There's a bunch of resources online, but who really wants to skim through 4 or 5 30 minute videos to find what they need. So here's everything that I had to search for and skim through videos to find in one convenient thread.

Obviously on paper and in theory, removing the axle is a simple process, so this isn't necessarily a "How To", more of a "Wow, am I doing this right? Should it be this difficult?" reference.

Before you start, you WILL need a new vacuum seal, 100% mandatory, no way around it! Dust shield (optional), and I 100% recommend a new U joint and needle bearing. Ventures Truck Parts sell the new stub axle with the vacuum seal pressed on, because it requires a press and a special tool to do it right. Spicer brand, all very quality parts. Obviously there's other manufacturers out there, but this is a job I only wanted to do once, so it was worth the extra money.


Why did I replace my stub/outer axle? My bearing race was completely shot and was eating through bearings, and the bearings that came on my wheel hub replacement and available at my parts store were just Chinese junk. Seriously. I drove in a new bearing, got maybe 25 miles before it was shot again, and I had to continue driving another 5 miles like that, which jacked it up even more. I went ahead and got a new hub, put that on (as well as a new bearing), shot out on me 7 or 8 miles down the road... I knew I was going to be replacing the stub axle so I limped home and GOT DANG it sounded horrendous. I've put on probably 70 miles since replacing my stub axle and a Spicer wheel bearing and all is well! Including hauling a trailer full of stuff from my move.

Obviously as you know, you'll have to pull the front axle on our 4x4's. Fortunately, the previous owner took pretty OK care of this truck, and I had already replaced the wheel hub, so everything came off super easy.

My golden tool for this job was my 32oz Snap On Ball Peen Hammer! Seriously, this job made it worth every single penny!

All that you'll need to do is
1) Remove Wheel
2) Take off brake caliper/bracket assy (I usually just undo the bracket and pull both off, with a cinder block as a support)
3) Pop the rotor off, might need to bang it a couple times to loosen it up. Really beat the **** out of it if you have to. It will pop off. I've RARELY had to bust out an air hammer.
4) Remove the ball joint on the steering knuckle, this will make it much easier to rotate the knuckle to get the hub out
Some tips for the ball joint (mine were replaced recently by previous owner), thread the castle nut on until it is ALMOST flush with the stud. Mine was a 22mm. Smack the ear a couple times with a hammer all around it to break up the rust. Then, whack the **** out of it from the bottom. MAKE SURE the castle nut is threaded well, or you will trash your threads. Keep hitting it. It will come out.

5) After that, just undo the four bolts on the back of the hub, and work it out. Might have to give the edge some smacks to loosen it up.

Now for the ACTUAL reason I'm posting this

Removal of the Axle From the Truck Tips:

The axle should pop out of the pumpkin relatively easy. You can do this by hand. Go ahead and give the axle some tugs and shimmy it around a bit. It should move maybe an inch or less out. I'm assuming that if you are doing this repair, your dust shield is probably trashed. You can replace that as well if you'd like, I didn't bother. It's just a hauling truck on paved roads.

Go ahead and pop it out of the pumpkin. Give it some wiggles and pulls and It should move slightly.

It's going to catch on the vacuum seal and knuckle.

Next, go ahead and get the biggest pry bar you can (It can be done with screwdrivers or small pry bars. Behind the U joint and before the axle tube, you will see a lip right behind the ears of the inner axle. Get your pry bar behind that lip, and use leverage to force it out. It WILL take a bit of force! It is not going to come out too easy, but it's not going to be difficult. Maybe a 3/10 in difficulty. in my case, I pried on one side, half of it popped out a little bit, then I pried on the other side and it came out. Just keep working it back and forth and it will come out. Just make sure your pry bar is not going to slip off the lip. It took me maybe 5 minutes to figure out how to get it out.

Once your axle is removed, the hard part begins.

The C clips holding the U joint in will need to be removed. Go ahead and hit it with some rust penetrant or PB blaster, whatever you have. There's plenty of videos out there with people popping it off with a screwdriver and hammer, but I messed around like that for 30 minutes fighting with it and didn't get a SINGLE one.

The secret I found was to use a PUNCH and hammer. They all came off within 10 minutes after that. This was by far my least favorite part of this repair.

U Joint Removal Tips

Once those are removed, you will need to get the U joint caps off so we can change it.

There's several different ways to do it, some involving a ball joint press (which can bend the ears if you're not careful), some with a socket and hammer, and another one with just a hammer.

I did the hammer only method. Why? Because I had it, and didn't want to go rent any tools. Having a friend helps a lot for this.

Go ahead and set the U joint in a vice, or use blocks of wood to support it. Have the ears of the inner axle resting on the vice, and let the stub axle ears float, with nothing but air underneath it.

This is going to take some FORCE and a LOT of smacking. The videos make it look easy, and theirs were rustier than mine! Beat the ever loving crap out of the ear behind the U joint cap. As long as it's "floating", you will start to notice some slight movement. Just keep at it. Once the cap is about 1/3rd of the way out, it'll slide out much easier. Go ahead and get it most of the way out, use some slip joint piers and pop it out. Just keep hitting it. It WILL start to move. It took us several minutes of whacking before we even noticed it move, but by that point, we finally found the "sweet spot" of strength in hits and the best place to hit.

Do the exact same for the other side. It will be slightly easier. Slightly! Keep whacking. Put some back into it and just HIT that sucker. Switch off with your friend whenever you get tired. Once you start to see movement, keep on going at it.

So now you have two options:
1) You can either put the new stub axle on, then start the U joint caps by hand. Put one cap on the floor and one in the air, and just smack em in (make sure they're even once they're almost seated). I don't really recommend this, but
2) You can replace the U joint. Just pull the stub axle off, let the U joint trunions rest on the vice, and repeat the process.

I initially wasn't going to replace my U joint, but I was going to re grease them. Which I'm glad I did. The needles in one of my caps were all jacked up, and there was metal in the cap. Unfortunately, you can't just buy U joint caps, so I went ahead and purchased a MOOG U joint... for about $65. So at the very least, at least regrease them, if they're messed up, replace it.

Like I mentioned earlier, put your U joint in on the inner axle and start the caps by hand, set one cap on a flat surface, and drive them in with a hammer. Once they're in pretty much all the way, just check both sides and make sure they're even. Repeat for the other side.


Installation Tips
There really isn't much else that will be necessary to document.

Obviously ensure that your "inner axle seal" is not leaking, if so, this is the best time to replace that. Mine was not, so I left it be.

Go ahead and use a FINE sandpaper around the steering knuckle where the seal goes and clean that area up a bit. Make sure there's no seal debris in the axle carrier.

Just that when you are finally putting your axle back in, use grease around the vacuum seal all the way to make it a bit easier to slide in. It does make a noticeable difference. Use TWO Hands and guide it in slowly, and give it a nice little shove in. You should definitely feel it "slip" in. Once you've done that, just shimmy the stub axle around with one hand while pushing, and use your other hand to support it from the U joint and also try to press in with that hand. This should not be difficult. There should be almost enough space from the tip of your pinky finger to the first joint.


Other than that, just reassemble like you're doing a wheel hub, and you are all clear.

Wheel Hub tips:
If your needle bearing is trashed, or you want to replace your bearing with an OEM, you will need to drive out the old bearing. There are good videos showing how to do that, but basically, flip the hub over so that the needle bearing is facing the ground, get a large screwdriver or a pry bar, let it catch on the lip, and give it a GOOD pop with a hammer. Don't wimp out, but don't go hulk mode. It should come out very easy. Mine was almost unrecognizable due to it just being completely trashed, and it was not an issue removing.

Don't forget to add some extra grease to the needle bearing. Once it's popped out, flip the hub over, place the CURVED side of the bearing into the hole, and gently start it with a hammer. Next, take a 30mm socket (I had a couple axle sockets, those were perfect), line it up, and drive it in. The top of the needle bearing should be completely aligned with the bottom of the machined slant on the hub. You'll know what I mean.

Hope this helps someone, at some point in the future.

Thanks for reading!

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