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...

 

[Whipsaw]

Spindle threads are in good shape after an hour of pounding with the slide hammer, PB Blaster appears to be soaking into the edge of the fl@nge more readily than before, with the smallest amount of movement at this point. Stopped for the day and cleaned up for next week. I subconsciously started soaking the ball joint nuts with PB Blaster and have now decided to replace the ball joints while I'm in this deep, have the tools and parts. This is called 'scope creep,' or maybe just thinking this through a little bit more.

Note: the website seems to decide some words are dirty and replaces them with *****, in order to overcome this I have replaced the 'a' with an '@.'

Also, there should be a universal owners maintenance manual step to break down the entire front end on a new vehicle after 5 years of ownership in order to apply anti-seize lubricant and help out with future maintenance efforts.

 

[Tiha]

I totally agree on anti sieze. That stuff is great.

Nice work on the abs sensor, that little shield/block piece seems like it is usually cracked or broken when you get the front end apart.

 

[Whipsaw]

Broncograveyard.com has the ABS sensor shields, will be replacing the one I had to drill out. For removal of the ABS sensor shield with a seized 6mm bolt, drill or grind off the bolt head and push it through the steering knuckle from the back, then go after the stuck bolt.

1993-96 ABS Sensor Shield, Driver-Broncograveyard.com

NEWbr 1994-96 Ford Broncobr 1994-96 Ford F150br Front ABS Sensor 1994-96 Bronco and F150 front Anti-lock brake sensor.br Original equipment part.

shop.broncograveyard.com

 

[Whipsaw]

Both steering knuckles are removed, wire wheeled, painted gloss black, awaiting new ball joints to be pressed in.

Note - See pic of the unpainted steering knuckle and the end where the tie rod connects. Cool painting tip: Machined surfaces can be covered with masking tape, leave the ends of the tape free, take a small hammer and tap along the edge, this will cut the masking tape and leave a clean edge for painting. Works great.

Outer U-joints, left and right, replaced, axle shafts also wire wheeled and painted (Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer and gloss gray paint). Had to drill through the lower ball joint nut on both sides (see pic), the left side nut removed indicates that penetrating oils don't penetrate so good. Prepping the square TTB axles for paint, gloss black.

Someone on another post was making alignment pegs for re-mounting the differential, did the same - got the right size bolts (x2) plus another 1/2 in in length. Cut off the head and ground down the bolt end to the inner diameter of the threads, then cut a slot for a screwdriver. They'll ***** in from the front of the axle and the 'pegs' protrude out the back to catch the diff when it goes back on. Thanks for the great tip!

Ordering all new tie rods, the ends are tired and the parts are relatively cheap on Rockauto, just have to wait on delivery. Assembly will continue otherwise. Dropping the differential tomorrow!

 

[Tiha]

That is a big job.

Nice work though, it will be worth it.

 

[Whipsaw]

Q: The holes at the axle beam ends for the lower ball joint posts on both sides have horizontal scoring, is this common?

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Totally agree, this is a big job; 4th weekend running (this one 4 days w/Columbus Day!)
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If tackling the Dana 44 differential, watch this video (This would be a Dana 50, but otherwise its the same set up):

At time 2:10 I didn't do that; 2:20 didn't do that either :-/ 2:55 did do that!

Pay close attention to the part about leaving a side bolt in until ready to bring the carrier down. I placed a floor jack below the diff, raised to the height of the bottom of the diff, then removed all the bolts thinking the RTV would hold until I got around the back to pull it down. Nope, the RTV lasted about 12 seconds and the diff dropped off the axle beam - right into the cradle on the floor jack. Stupid and lucky. Leave in one of the side bolts!


Moved the unit to a table, pulled the axle shaft clip (two screwdrivers to push off the shaft, then rotate and remove with needle nose pliers) and removed the right inner axle. Cleaned and painted the diff carrier (left the vent tube in place), replaced the seals, flushed out the internals with almost a full a can of brake cleaner, then sprayed with WD-40 before any moisture could attack the metal. There was a good bit of residue in the bottom of the carrier. Everything looked good though.

Replaced the U-joint on the inner axle shaft (Non-Greasable Spicer Life DANA 5760X - also at the wheels). Painted the axle shafts gray. Installation is the reverse of removal, as they say. The axle clip took some pressure to re-install, I used the handle end of a pair of clippers that was coated in rubber so I could press it into place and not have the tool slip.






Went with a LubeLocker gasket (also have one on my Jeep XJ-highly recommended).



The alignment pin idea failed miserably, muscling the diff into position knocked out the pins and dropped the gasket out of place.





I managed to get one side bolt in to hold the diff, then fiddled and adjusted for an hour to get the gasket back in place.

Then I was able put all the bolts in by hand, nice and smooth, torqued it up and added 80W-90 Valvoline Gear Oil - which immediately ran out of the left axle hole - Doh! Wiped that up, no other leaks - Victory! Of course, I knocked off one of the drive shaft U-Joint cups and had to find all the little pin bearings, clean and reassemble.

Pressed the new ball joints into the steering knuckles, next up are the spindle rebuilds and hub bearing replacements.

I just hope this bucket holds up until I get the wheels back on!

 

[Whipsaw]

Q: The holes at the axle beam ends for the lower ball joint posts on both sides have horizontal scoring, is this common?

 

[Whipsaw]

Not allot of progress this weekend. Painted and assembled the new tie rod set. All but the main drag link are Moog, Made in USA.

Regarding the alignment pins, I probably should have screwed them into the diff and hung the gasket on it. I'll keep that in mind for next time.

 

[Jimbo26]

Stay after it......

 

[Whipsaw]

Last weekend was a pitched battle dismantling the steering linkages, these things just didn't want to let go. The connection to the pitman arm took a dedicated puller, a pickle fork, torch and hammering to get it apart. Installed the left steering knuckle and painted the ABS shields, chased the threads on the right side shield, like new. L side ABS shield replacement set from Broncograveyard very good quality for the somewhat lofty price.

Good progress today, installed the right steering knuckle, the left and right axle shafts - when removed they didn't have the rock shields in place, these came with the TIMKEN kit for the spindles; I was able to seat them with a hammer using a bearing race from an old diff out of a Jeep XJ. There is a seal that goes on it (greased that), then a beveled plastic washer type thing.

Watch this video:

The left axle shaft went into the diff with some assembly **** on the splines and on the surface that the seal rides on. The right shaft was a little tricky, put Lucas Red an' Tacky grease on the splines, held the boot up on section in the diff with another jack stand allowing the axle to go straight into the boot and mate up with the other half.





Upon inspecting the bearings and seals in the spindles, they looked clean, undamaged and relatively new - the left one didn't want to come out with a drift so I didn't fight it. Cleaned both, repacked with high temp bearing grease, put a light coating of anti-seize on the mating surface and the hole in the knuckle and installed over the axle shaft using the nuts to pull the spindle into place.



Installed the steering linkages - I measured and adjusted against the old set to get as close as possible to the same lengths before going for an alignment.




Tomorrow, hub bearings, seals and re-installation of the wheel hubs.

Here's this video on break down and re-assembly of the auto-locking hub mechanisms, what do you think, give it a shot?

 

[Whipsaw]

Pro Tip: Check the fitment of the replacement ABS sensors prior to spindle hub assembly.

Last weekend saw assembly of the left wheel - replaced bearings and seals, packed with Motorcraft bearing grease, mounted and put in the spindle nuts - very straight forward - first the inner nut with the tiny post facing out, 50 Ft Lbs then back off 45 Deg (per the Haynes manual), then the lock washer ensuring the post goes cleanly into one of the holes, then the outer spindle nut at 150 Ft. Lbs. Did the right side this weekend, installed new brake pads (will be replacing the calipers soon, one of the old pads was worn more on one end that the other), also replaced the auto locking hubs with Mile Marker Supreme manual locking hubs (PN 104), no conversion kit needed in this case - the conversion kit is just the set of spindle nuts and the washer I already have. The spacer and the C clip come out in order for the hub to fit properly, it has a snap ring for the axle stub and an outer ring that goes into the lip of the hub to secure it.

Another Pro Tip: Copy down the serial number off the hubs before installation, its needed for the warranty registration.

The auto-locking hubs work, removing them while they still do to possibly source that plastic piece that is in there.

Wheels are back on and the truck is off the jack stands after 2+ months. Greased the tie rods with the Lucas Red an' Tacky grease.

Fired it up last night, now there is some lash in the drive train though I'm not finding any play in the drive shaft U-Joints. Going to have the mechanic check it while doing the front end alignment tomorrow. Will have to send the ABS sensors back to Rock Auto, the sensor is just a half mm too big and won't go in the hole in the steering knuckle - from china, what do you expect.

Question:

With the hubs locked and the transfer case disengaged, will the front end have problems going around corners? Should I be off dry paved surfaces if the hubs are locked, even if the transfer case is in 2WD? Thanks!

 

[L\Bronco]

With the t-case in 2wd there should be no binding/hopping on corners.
I left my 79 locked year round.
Cheers

 

[Whipsaw]

First test drive last week the truck drove straight, and the steering wheel was 90 Deg left. Taking it in for an alignment, saw that the wheels were visibly tipped out at the top, the mechanic had to get a different set of inserts for the upper ball joint sockets to get the wheels under 2 deg to vertical. I'll have to figure out what impacted the orientation of the TTBs. Aside from getting the ABS sensors squared away, this adventure is complete! Thanks for all the help along the way, hope this write up helps others doing the same. Looking forward to trying out the new locking hubs!