1993 Bronco XLT Front End Rebuild - Auto-Locking Hubs

[Whipsaw]

Upon closer inspection of the back side of the steering knuckle is the 6mm 12 pt. bolt I've read about. No such sockets to be found retails, so I ordered a S&K Made in USA 12 pt metric set, arrives Wednesday. Will be soaking with all manner of penetrating oils in the meantime. Extraction will most likely involve a propane torch.

 

[Whipsaw]

My 12pt Metric socket set arrived, I heated and soaked the crap out of the ABS sensor bolt and the head rounded off and now the socket slips. Now I'm trying to find the size of the SAE 6 pt socket to hammer on and try again. It will probably have to be drilled out and tapped for a new bolt.

While the ABS sensor bolt was soaking, I went after the bearings, they will be replaced. Check out the picture, the outer bearings (cleaned) are discolored (overheated), the inner are outright damaged - galling, metal flakes visible. Thatsa no good!

 

[Whipsaw]

ABS Sensor removal at 3:30

 

[Whipsaw]

The ABS Sensor Shield is defeated! The drilling out of the bolt was about 50% on, but did go through the steering knuckle, not ideal but salvageable. 15 min with a hammer, drift and channel locks I was able to remove the ABS Sensor shield. The sensor itself required a destructive removal, drilling out the center then pushing it out the back with the drift. Sleeve is still in the steering knuckle, for now. The last picture shows the culprit, drilled half through, and the associated wreckage from the sensor.

 

[Whipsaw]

I purchased the Dana 44 spindle puller from Toms Offroad (https://tomsoffroad.com/parts/dana-30-44-spindle-removal-tool/), essentially they welded a spindle nut to a piece of pipe, then welded a large nut on the back of the pipe (which happens to be the same thread as the slide hammer... hmmmmmm). You can either run a bolt against the axle to get the spindle off, which I deemed unnecessary potentially putting damaging stress on the differential, or attach a slide hammer, which I did. Hasn't budged yet, want to be sure the spindle threads hold up okay. Applying heat and penetrating oils... 2 pm is the hottest part of the day in my driveway, so I came inside to make an update to the '93 Bronco Dana 44 Breakdown Massacree, with pictures. You can find all the rust you want under that '93 Bronco. It's a '93, all original cr@p, all stuck hard and breaking my back! You can find all the rust you want...