Hope I'm posting in the right spot. My youngest son just bought his first ever vehicle, an '05 Explorer. He was showing it to a couple of his buddies a few days after getting it and one of them kept hearing a noise in the front passenger side wheel. So they took the little center cap off and a washer fell out. The axle nut was missing and in its place, was some type of specialized-looking nut (pic attached)

that was close to falling off the axle itself. If you try to tighten the nut, it just spins and spins; it will not tighten. But even if it had been the right nut, it wouldn't have mattered anyways, because about the last 3/4" of threads on the axle are absolutely destroyed. Whoever made this mess probably ought to take their vehicles to a shop instead of working on them themselves.
Anyhow, I have no idea how far it's been driven while in this shape. I do know they brought it a good 40-50 miles just to get it home when he bought it. But I'm wondering now what kind of shape the hub/bearings are in. We've bought a new axle and proper nut, but before doing the job, is there any way to find out if we should get a new hub as well? Without driving it down the road anywhere?
Also, I've been searching for days now for a write-up on the axle job. All I can find for the '05 is how to do the driver's side. The 2 sides are different at some point, right? I need the passenger side. I've never done an axle/cv joint before. If someone could give me a quick run down, I'd seriously appreciate it.
One final thing: are there any other nuts, bolts, etc. that should be replaced on this job? Like you can tighten it down one time only and if you take it out, you should install a new one?
I really do appreciate any help y'all can give me!

 

That would appear to be a die from a tap and die set. The washer was likely the large, thick washer that usually would reside between the bearing and the axle nut. Service manuals usually say to not reuse the axle nut so at least you have that going for you with parts you've already purchased. The cost of the hub is usually pretty low for the amount of work involved, so honestly I'd recommend you replace the hub while you're in there since you're questioning whether or not it might have been damaged. If you end up getting it all reassembled and find the bearing is bad, you'll be doing quite a bit of the work over again to replace it. Also, there's a chance that if you take the old hub out first, you MIGHT be able to replace the halfshaft without having to pull a ball joint.

Do the instructions you found say something like "Driver's side shown. Passenger's side is similar?" That's typically the case, and why they may only give details for one side.

If the ball joint nuts and outer tie rod end nuts are not castellated nuts with cotter keys, then they are probably supposed to be one time use as well. But I can say with confidence that they rarely get replaced unless the part is being replaced. Ball joints and tie rod ends do typically come with new nuts.

-Rod

 

I would concur with Rod's comment on the die, and his suggestion of remedial action, good luck..