wheel bearings and ball joints

[Nightcrawler]

yea doing that right now. is there a clip in the diff holding the drive shaft or will it just pull out? waiting your reply before we go any further.

[Fulltime]

Once you take the 4x4 locking hub off there is a snap ring inside alongwith a few thrust washers. Take the snap ring off and remove the washers. Then remove the brake caliper and then remove the 4 nuts on the inside of the spindle that hold the wheel bearing hub on along with the ABS plug. The hub will pull out with a little effort then u can remove the axle. Once the axle is removed then you can remove the nuts to the ball joints and steering tie rod. Once the 2 ball joint nuts are removed you can then proceed to remove the spindle with a little effort the spindle should come out.

Good Luck
Mike

[Nightcrawler]

do i need to take the diff cover off? is there a clip inside the diff on the end of the drive shaft?

[Fulltime]

No need to take the differential cover off. The axle will pull out. There are no C Clips on the axles.

[Nightcrawler]

Jeeez that was a bit of a mission. I could not get on the pc in time so I took the diff cover off & like you say there was no clip. I thought It was better to check than keep pulling on the drive shaft. At least it was a chance to change the diff oil.
I could only do the passanger side ball joints as I wanted MOOG & the place I get my parts only had the one side in stock. He is getting me the others & brake pads & discs in the next day or so.
Here are some pictures.


The auto lock was a bit of a nightmare to get off.






This metal ring was a little tricky to get back in.

In a couple of months I'm going to spend a few days wire brushing everything including the chassis & underseal & clean,paint or grease everything. I was supprised how the winter has made everything look so bad.

[Fulltime]

Glad you were able to get the axle out. I should have told you that you can put a pry bar next to the u joint on the axle and pry it out alot easier than trying to pull it out. I learned this the hard way after thinking it would just pull out. I then used the bar and it really did pull out fairly easy with the bar verse trying to pull it. Good luck on the next one.
Mike

[hntwhitetail]

Originally Posted by Fulltime

Glad you were able to get the axle out. I should have told you that you can put a pry bar next to the u joint on the axle and pry it out alot easier than trying to pull it out. I learned this the hard way after thinking it would just pull out. I then used the bar and it really did pull out fairly easy with the bar verse trying to pull it. Good luck on the next one.
Mike

Nice write up guys

[fleastang]

Are you guys having issues with your ball joints or replacing them as preventive maintenance when doing front hub bearing changes? I have a late '99 and have had no issues with the front end to date but am going to replace the hub assemblies as preventive maintenance. Also when changing hub assemblies, (as i am about to do), I am going to replace the yellow o-rings and at $10 set probably new hub bolts but do you recommend changing the front hub seals also? I don't have those yet and noticed some places put those in their hub replacement kits they sell. Looks like about $35 each. Thanks ......................and thanks for the write-ups!!

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Last edited by fleastang : 09-13-2009 at 07:35 AM.

[hntwhitetail]

Originally Posted by Nightcrawler

Jeeez that was a bit of a mission. I could not get on the pc in time so I took the diff cover off & like you say there was no clip. I thought It was better to check than keep pulling on the drive shaft. At least it was a chance to change the diff oil.
I could only do the passanger side ball joints as I wanted MOOG & the place I get my parts only had the one side in stock. He is getting me the others & brake pads & discs in the next day or so.
Here are some pictures.


The auto lock was a bit of a nightmare to get off.






This metal ring was a little tricky to get back in.

In a couple of months I'm going to spend a few days wire brushing everything including the chassis & underseal & clean,paint or grease everything. I was supprised how the winter has made everything look so bad.

Nice Write-Up. How did you get the metal ring back in? Any close up shots of that?? What is the metal ring??
Thanks

[strokethis04]

did you guys change the axel seal in the diff tube when you did the ball joints? i gotta do dads one of these days so i was woundering what it was like?