I went to ORiely and AutoZone for Ball Joint kits and AutoZone had WAY more rental kits. I picked up 2 different ones and was able press out and press in the new Ball Joints today. I'm pretty proud of myself for getting this done without a vice. I used a 1/2" impact driver and 22mm socket on the press. I also got the Axle Seal on. How does it look so far?

Got the driver side back together up to the rotor, and started working on getting the passenger side back on today. Got the axle in and the hub knuckle on. Was cleaning the wheel hub today and my needle bearing fell apart. Glad it happened no than later. Kind of scares me about the other side I've already mounted, but im going to let it be for now. Advance has them in stock so I'll get one and try to drive it in tomorrow. Problem is when the old one come apart I tried to drive it out but the only flange I could get on crumbled off. I had to drive a steel pick behind the bearing the get it to brake so I could remove it with pliers. Hopefully the hub is not damaged. Front end is already much tighter with the new axle seals and ball joints. New brake rotors look sweet. Cant wait to get the calipers on. I also ordered some tie rods, the bushing kit for the front, shocks, and the stabilizer. After I get it all back together i'm going to the tire shop for a balance and alignment.

Hats off to you for all the work you are doing, and all the progress you've made. You've come a long way since your original post, and that garners some respect.

I appreciate it. This has been the largest automotive project ive ever taken on. I've had to do a lot of research and buy a lot of tools to get this right. Some tools I've returned because they were bad designed or poor quality. Overall I'd say the project has gone smooth. A few bumps in the road, but a ton of learning experience.

Here are a few pictures of the progress (pics are not all from the same side). I have the rotors mounted at this point on both sides.

Here is a picture of the hub after I drove the new bearing in. I used a small flat peice of wood to lay across the bearing flat, and then tapped with a rubber hammer until the bearing began to sit. Then I took a 1 3/16" impact socket and put on the bearing to drive in with a metal hammer. Worked great. I wish I would have replaced the bearing on the other side but it will have to wait until next time.

I had one more obstacle today after getting the hub mounted. I put the manual locking hub on it would not engage the wheel lock. If you remember back a few posts when I was taking apart the passenger side I mentioned the hub had come apart. I think this caused the splines on the inside of my hub to rub against the gear that the spring pushes out when you are in 2wd. I priced a Warn hub on ebay for just 1 at $140. I thought 2 of these could be no more than $90, but Warn is very proud of these. Anyway, when you take the manual hub out of the wheel hub there is a black retaining clip thing that holds the manual hub inside the wheel hub. There is also one of these on the back of the manual hub that can used to take it apart once out. Even further, there is another one of these retaining clip things that holds the spline to the back of the hub. Once you have that off the hub is completely disassembled. The splines on the middle part were frayed from what I'm guessing was rubbing while the hub was apart. It was preventing my gear from being pressed down when you locked the hubs. After taking it apart I was able to clean the splines up with a file, wash the guts again, and regrease. Took about 20-30 minutes and saved me $140. Here is a picture of the back of the manual hub and the splines taken apart.

REPS SENT BUDDY... For a great attitude, for what had to be a frustrating experience at times, given that you say it is your first time. In fact, reps for all of your posts with your pictures and describing what worked and didn't work for you. Your posts position this project through the fresh eyes of discovery, rather than through the tired of eyes of experience. And that makes your pictures and posts quite useful to the uninitiated who may be lucky enough to stumble on your chronicle in the future.

Got the rotors on both sides, will start mounting the calipers tomorrow. I have a question for you. It's in regards to the slide pins. Guzzle's guide for rotor replacement says, "The slide pin with the notch needs to be installed in the bore that will be at the top of the caliper (farthest from the ground) when the caliper is installed." I bought the same kit you have that we spoke about previously and I noticed one of the slide pins has a rubber gromet on the tip, and the other doesn't. Is this the "notched" pin guzzle is referring to and should it go on the top?

Not quite.

The "notch" that Guzzle is referring to is in the head of the pin, not the body of the pin. You are not the first person to interpret the "notch" to be the relief turned into the pin body to fit the grommet, and Guzzle probably should supplement his comments with an annotated photo to avert this common misinterpretation. He does however, have a non annotated photo that shows the two pins.

The notched head goes in the top ( upper ) position, the round head with the rubber grommet goes in the bottom ( lower ) position.


(Redundant words in parentheses is to help others using a keyword search. This question comes up often over the years)


http://www.guzzle7pt3.com/pics/cu01b.jpg

That's good to know. The after market I have does not have the notched head.

Neither do many of the Ford ones. Some Ford/Motorcraft pin kits don't even have the rubber bushing on the body of the pin. Ford went through a couple of design and supplier reversals.. but some of the flip flopping was to address so called "warped rotors", or disc thickness variation growing out of spec.

The bushing was intended to quiet the calipers, but the bushing ended up causing the pin not to slide anymore, which applied uneven pressure on the brake pads, which led to pulsing and DTV. One of the things that can cause the slide pin with the bushing to stick is using the wrong lubricant when the caliper is reassembled.

Whatever you do, don't use a lubricant that contains any petroleum distillates. Oil will cause the rubber to swell, which could cause the pin to get "pinned" by the expanded diameter of the bushing. Slide pins should be lubricated with Silicon Brake Caliper Grease... Motorcraft XG-3-A or Motorcraft WA-10.

I was going to clean the pins that came with the kit and the holes of the lubricant that was on them when they arrived and lubricate them with the purple lube that was discussed earlier in the thread.

Got all the stuff back together from the first round of parts. Tie rods, bushings, shocks and stabilizer should start arriving tomorrow.

Nice rotors, wish we could get those up here. No such thing as slotted or dimpled up here. I asked why at lordco and they told me they had too many complaints they sound like a helicopter landing, so they discontinued them. What a crock. I want some!!