Thank you

[Ike]

Ok first off Hello from another new guy and thank you to everyone, In the last three hours you have answered more questions then i knew i had.

I bought an 88' Bronco two months ago, almost no rust ( shocking because i live in Sudbury, Ontario Canada) probably thanks too more undercoat then is imaginable the guy who had it before me took good care of it and probably never took it off the road. I plan too, so far i have replace the universal joints in the rear ( two only had rust and no needle bearing left), your basic Oil, transmission and filter changes are done BUT, i hadn't played around much with the 4x4 then low and behold it snowed 6" yesterday, and the forecast is now ... -13

this brings me to a few issues and being new to bronco's and to 4x4 i was hoping for some advice.

first, a week ago i attempted to change the diff oil front and rear and the t-case fluid. I say attempted because every plug is seized solid, i've gotten a few suggestions on how to get them out . they include heat, a punch and hammer to drive them around ( ones stripped round )and a lot of moovit or jigaloo .. any more ?

second, yesterday i put it in 4 wheel, the transfer case engaged and disengaged fine however the auto locking hubs will not disengage, over tommorow and the weekend i plan on pulling them apart cleaning and greasing them, what grease should i use and any suggestions on the process? i found a link through bronco zone of diagrams for an 83' auto locking hubs would they be the same as an 88'? and yes i am changing them to manuals when i have some money to burn.

third, upon engaging the 4 wheel, i discovered the universals joints that i had put off replacing in the front end are toast, since its subzero and my garage is unheated any suggestions on tools and time saving? i have the universals for the transfer to dif at this point tommorow i will find the others .. if i have my info right theres three one between the diff and the drivers stub axle? and two between the diff and the passenger side ?

a little more on my Bronco its a 88' EB with a 302, 245 000km , 31 x 10.5 Toyo A/T, its an automatic transmission a C6 i think, any cold weather commentary or problems i can expect ? since i will have this all apart this weekend, anything i should be inspecting or changing ?

I'm a machinist apprentice and used to tearing things apart and busting knuckles, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Justshootme84]

Howdy and Welcome to Bronco Zone!!!I'll try to answer your questions, but you may find most of what you need to know about Broncos under the link to Miesk5's Homepage listed in the Tech Articles forum. I moved your thread from that forum to here in the Tech Support so you may get more replies. For now, heres the link to Miesk5's Homepage:

http://home.comcast.net/~miesk5/

1. for the drain plugs, if you have a welder, you can tackweld a bolt to the plugs, then get them out with a regular wrench/ socket. The welding will also loosen up some of the rust. Then replace them with plugs that have a square ****** on the end instead of the square hole. You'll have to use a vacuum pump to remove the fluid from the front diff, unless you're tearing it down to replace the u-joints.

2. As for the autohubs, they may be the same on your 88 as some other years, but there was an era during 87/88 where Ford used a different hub and spindle design. This is where you may want to refer to Miesk5's Homepage for more info on ID'ing your hub style. Most often, the grease will get hard and simply servicing the hubs will gete them going again. But, they are prone to failure without any notice, so a manual swap is a good idea.

3. the driver's side axleshaft has one u-joint, and slides out once the rotor, hub and spindle are removed. The passenger side is more work. Once you remove the rotor, hub and spindle, you need to remove the outer stubshaft and intermediate shaft connected to it by one u-joint. The inner shaft on the passenger side must come out with the gears thru the back of the Axle housing. It's usually a bear to separate the slip joint between the inner and intermediate shafts, where the rubber boot is located. JSM84

 

[Ike]

Thank you, i like the weld in option but don't have a welder so i might try JB Weld

How long would you figure the front universals would take and do you know of any special tools... ?

I'll keep looking through Miesk5's

 

[Justshootme84]

To change out the front axle u-joints would take 4-5 hours or a good day depending on the tools you have. Air tool and an impact gun make it much faster. You'll need a special socket/tool to remove the lock rings inside the hubs that hold the rotor on. And either a slide hammer to remove the spindles or a soft rubber mallet and perhaps a chisel. Small picks are good for removing the guts inside the hub, like the ring around the inside lip. I use a bench vise to replace the u-joints once you have the driveshafts or axleshafts out of the truck, along with a couple of sockets or a short piece of pipe. If you don't already have one, get a Haynes or Chilton's repair manual for the 80-96 Ford F-series and Bronco. That will help show you what needs to be done, JSM84

http://www.supermotors.net/clubs/superford...ry/1133/30189-4

 

[crazyhorse85]

Welcome ike,like JSM84 was say a manuel swap is pretty easy to do...he and miesk5 are very knowledgable....along with seabronc that help me out on a wiring problem....there are no dumb questions here....glade to have you and again welcome..... B)

 

[bluesman17]

The auto hubs also have to be driven in reverse at least 10 feet to disengage them (hope that saves you a little work if possible)

 

[Ike]

Thanks for the help, I dismantled the auto hubs and cleaned them and re-greased them so far so good, I had the truck out for a snow run and things worked great, in minus 30 the hubs still stick but thats to be expected. A heat gun is the only solution for that but thats Canada in January.

 

[Krafty]

Hey there, its good to see another Canadian member, I had alot of issues with my front end on my 81 for a while, it used to make some god awe full noises with the front end locked over 65 km's, I had a shop tear it apart and redo the bearings and u-joints and all seals for a solid $ 500. its been good eversince. I love playing in the snow just after a storm,its funny passing a bunch of cars on a gentle slope who are stuck. the lifted bronco and 33's come in handy.

and I just heard that the snow plows in my area are going on strike, more bronco snow days.