Outer front axle bent?

[pastorbud]

I was trying to inspect/replace the bearings on the front passenger side. When I tried to take off the lock-nut (required special socket), I found the nut started to bind as I loosened it.

On closer inspection, I noticed the axle end is not centered in the hub. As I take off the nut, it starts to rub on the splines.

Could this be anything other than a bent axle? How do I get the nut off now?

If I grind the splines off on one side, the nut will clear. This will ruin the axle, but my thinking is it is already ruined. Is there any reason a good axle would be off-center in the hub?

BTW-- the sympton that started this was uneven wear on the right front tire, and a rubbing sound when the 4WD is engaged. A bent axle would do that, woudn't it?

 

[Yardape]

thats normal relax, the axle just floats freely in the hub. As for the binding, you can wiggle the rotor as you loosen the nut.

 

[pastorbud]

thats normal relax, the axle just floats freely in the hub. As for the binding, you can wiggle the rotor as you loosen the nut.

I got the lock nut off. The keeper had twisted free of the keyway, and jammed up everything.

But that axle is not floating freely. The one on the other (that is, driver's) side is free-- you can wobble it back and forth with your hand. But the one on the passenger side is jammed over against the inside of the spindle.

You can put a bar through the U-joint and rotate the shaft with a little pressure. But it is not free to "float" inside the spindle, and it looks like it did a little (heat?) damage to a plastic ring inside the hub.

I think there is something going on inside the spindle. Bad bearing, or something jammed in there. (Pieces from the old broken lock-nut?)

I bought the truck as is off eBay. It has some right front fender damage, and a new radius arm bracket on that side. Could be it did something inside the spindle, too, and that never got repaired. (If the owner or mechanic did not test the 4WD afterward, there would be no evidence of a problem, or maybe he just decided it was cheaper to drive it in 2WD.)

The nuts holding on the spindle are pretty old and rusted, and the bolts are pressed in (like lug bolts in a rotor).

I wonder if there is a trick to reducing the chance of having those bolts break loose (or just break) when I put a big wrench on the nuts? I've already hit them with PB Blaster, but haven't tried twisting yet.

 

[Seabronc]

Sounds like a case of bad spindle bearings. You can get them from Jeff's http://www.broncograveyard.com . You will also need a new set of seals. If you are in there, you might as well check out the other stuff, like dust shields for example and do everything at one time.

Good luck,

>-

 

[pastorbud]

Sounds like a case of bad spindle bearings. You can get them from Jeff's http://www.broncograveyard.com . You will also need a new set of seals. If you are in there, you might as well check out the other stuff, like dust shields for example and do everything at one time.
Good luck,

>-

ThanX, SeaBronc.

PB'laster worked fine on the nuts. They came right off.

The shield is beginning to rot out, and it has "welded" the spindle to the steering knuckle w/ corrosion. Tapping, wire brushing, dosing w/ PB'laster.

I changed my boat's name to "Maybe Next Year"; I think the Bronk is "Maybe Next Year II".

I may work up a post on those self-locking wheel bearing nuts. The manuals make it look like the whole unit turns like a nut . (see http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?F...23d800a0ee6.jsp )

But just the part the socket engages turns-- if you do it right. Which I didn't.

 

[Seabronc]

When you put the new spindle nuts back on, the proper torque is 25 ft lb on the inner nut, (the one that presses against the bearing race), wiggle the spindle while tightening to make sure the bearings are seated properly. Then back it off about 1/4 turn to engage the locking ring. After that tighten the outer spindle nut to 125 ft. lb

Good luck,

>-

 

[pastorbud]

When you put the new spindle nuts back on, the proper torque is 25 ft lb on the inner nut, (the one that presses against the bearing race), wiggle the spindle while tightening to make sure the bearings are seated properly. Then back it off about 1/4 turn to engage the locking ring. After that tighten the outer spindle nut to 125 ft. lb
Good luck,

>-

You probably already know this, but for the sake of other victims, I'm posting it.

I think I got a hillbilly hub. It does not have inner and outer bearing nuts, even though all the manuals and posts talk about them. And the part numbers don't correspond at the parts store, both on the nut and the bearings. (Inner and outer bearings are identical on this model; parts store says they are different. Parts store is wrong.)

It has an "outer" nut that can only be turned with a special 4-pronged socket (about $15 at AutoZone). Between the nut and the bearing is a "keeper", sort of like a flat, inverted grease cup, with hole that the spindle goes through and a tab on the rim of the hole that slides into the keyway on the side of the spindle.

Between the outer nut and the keeper is a spring-loaded mechanism with teeth pointing towards the outer nut. The teeth engage detents on the back of the outer nut, thereby holding it in place. Forever, apparently.

What is supposed to happen, is you press on the socket (the manuals tell you to do that--they don't tell you why, or how to tell if it's not working) and the prongs NOT ONLY engage in the nut, they push those teeth back off the detents, thereby freeing the nut to turn.

Yeah, right. The truth is this is a very delicate little mechanism to bolt inside the hub of a 4X4.

It's called a self-locking (self-destructing?) bearing nut. It does self-lock going on. Mine self-destructed coming off.

Ideally, as you turn the nut, the keeper does NOT turn. But if you meet resistance, is that 'cause, hey, it's a bearing nut, it needs a little torque to turn loose, or 'cause, hey, those teeth did not disengage, and the keeper is still holding it?

Not knowing what was supposed to be happening inside that do-hicky, I thought the whole mechanism was meant to turrn, and I broke the keeper and the components, and they made removing the mechanism after that miserable.

BTW-- is the the inner/outer nut system an aftermarket fix to this? One post on another site says Ford only used this system for a brief period. Gee, wonder why.

Luckily, my NAPA store guy is a real gear-head, and proud of it. He matched up the component from memory when I showed him the pieces. I'll post the NAPA part number when I get it all put back together.

 

[miesk5]

yo,

yep HB hubs, here is info on these yrs by Matt K

http://web.archive.org/web/20010218101810/...s/bbfaq.html#11

"11.3 How come the hubs on my 87-88 Bronco are different than other Broncos?

This was another of Ford's better ideas. For '87 and '88 Ford used a one-piece locking hub assembly. This hub simply sits between the wheel and brake rotor and is held in place by the wheel studs. This type of hub is very easy to remove (simply remove the wheel), but it is different from all other Broncos and therefore parts and replacement hubs are expensive and hard to find.

To convert your 87-88 Bronco to the "standard" hubs you'll need to swap all the parts from the spindle out from a Bronco or F-150. It may even be possible to take these parts from any vehicle with a Dana 44 front axle and the same wheel bolt pattern as the Bronco (5 on 5.5"). If you are considering this swap it would be a good time to consider the 8 lug axle swap you've always wanted (see section 10.2). "

good that you found that NAPA parts dude! if you can post part numbers, etc.

 

[pastorbud]

The locknut is a Balkamp 630-1662. Cost me $26.70!

BTW-- that spindle is not coming off very easily. I found a link with another guy fighting one on a '70's Bronco

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27857

but that was three years ago, and he never says how it turned out.

I don't want to put a puller on it, because the axle is off-center in the spindle; plus that would seem to put a lot of stress on the front axle in a way it wasn't designed to be stressed.

I rented a slide hammer with a three jaw clamp, put the old nut on the spindle, and wailed away on it. Also tried a chisel where the spindle meets the shield/steering knuckle. Also laid a pry-bar sideways on the base of the spindle, and whacked it.

Nuthin.

 

[pastorbud]

Well, dug a little deeper. Turns out the problem is a bent right front suspension arm. It is putting pressure on the axle between the front differential and the joint covered by a rubber boot.

Big job tearing that down, to replace the suspension arm, since the big bolts and nuts are rusted.

Works OK in 2WD. That's good enough for now. Son scheduled to go into military this Spring. Maybe I'll play with it while he's gone.