[Cornborn]

I just finished replacing both upper and lower ball joints. Ran into a couple complications along the way (you always do) however I was able to overcome all of them except for putting the snap ring back in place. I went through a couple of pliers taking them out until i found the right one now I am having issues putting the ring back in place it seams as if the axle shaft is not out far enough. Is it possible the seal is not 100% pressed in or something else? Any thoughts on this? Any feedback is greatly appreciated I just had to skip the ring and roll it out of the garage for the night.

 

[pperchansky]

Your inner seal is most likely shot, you can push the shaft out from the back. That may give you enough room to get the snap ring on. I had the same issue with my 05 until the inner seal was replaced. With a new inner seal the snap ring goes on easy. I used craftsman snap ring pliers that I purchased from sears to put the snap ring on, they work very well. With the inner seal replaced the switch in the cab for fwd works, no more vac leak. I hope that helps.

 

[Cornborn]

Hey thank you very much for the reply I haven't had any luck. I just put a new seal in but you might be right and simply just needs to be pushed in deeper. I also tried pushing it out but wondering if you have a better technique. Any tips on pushing it out? Yes I am hoping that the new seal will help with my auto lock vacuum.

 

[pperchansky]

It sounds like the inner seal may not be seated deep enough, there is a tool for that, you can buy it or if you look on the forum there are threads that tel you how to make it with a pipe and a flange. Make sure your hub assembly is seated properly, put a little oil on the o ring before you put it into the knuckle. Ford dealer put a new inner seal in for me when they did the driver side ball joints. I had to remove the new hub assembly because of speed sensor issues. SKF replaced it with another new one. When the inner seal is seated properly, the shaft will stick out just far enough to accommodate the snap ring, it will be very easy to put on and take off. With a bad seal the shaft will float back and forth with out the snap ring. Good luck, you'll get it.