Steering Stabilizer

[tjm]

ordered some carlis.
will the OTC 7249 kit work on the u-joints as well?
does anyone have any recommendation on the wheel bearing/hub in case i need new ones?

I'm on vaca this week so i'll have time to do this.

 

[Topzide]

Here's one, https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinf...2Bgj/BvjAN33aV6o7z4OeVYSVcyii5OtfP0o/FWO8ZEmh

 

[tjm]

Yep @Topzide bought 2 of those on Amazon. Bought some splicer u joints as well. Might as well get it all done at once.

Quick Question: Do I have to engage 4WD before replacing the bearings and removing the axles?

 

[Topzide]

Nope. There some good videos on U-tube about getting the front hubs off. Just did mine not to long back and loosened the hub bolts and put socket and extension that would hit spindle. Then you just use the power steering of the truck to push on the bolts. Make sure you have the whole axle up on stands to make the job easier. Did the u-joints also while in there. The ball joint press C will do the u-joints also. Not to bad of a job for the hub and joints, can't speak about the ball joints though. If your comfortable turning wrenches, you should be fine. Watch the tube vid's and get a game plan ready. Post up any questions so that we can help you with the repair.

 

[Ozymandias]

Yep @Topzide bought 2 of those on Amazon. Bought some splicer u joints as well. Might as well get it all done at once.

Quick Question: Do I have to engage 4WD before replacing the bearings and removing the axles?

Depends if you loosen the axle stub nut with the tire on the ground or not.
If you take the wheel of first then yes, you'll need 4x4.
I recommend the tire on the ground, it's easier then torque the whole drive train until the nut breaks loose.

 

[tjm]

6 bolt steering box installed. Went fairly well. Followed this video


Almost have the driver side buttoned up.

When I torque the new Timken wheel bearing hub assembly to the required 150 ft lbs I cant turn the hub. If I loosen the bolts the hub turns. Will the bearing loosen up a bit after use or is something binding somewhere?

 

[Ozymandias]

They loosen up after some miles.
Put some additional grease into the ABS bore they come with very little grease from the factory.
2-3 strokes with the grease gun are fine.

 

[tjm]

They loosen up after some miles.
Put some additional grease into the ABS bore they come with very little grease from the factory.
2-3 strokes with the grease gun are fine.

ok I applied some grease, re torqued gently in a diagonal pattern and the wheel bearing turns freely. Thanks @Ozymandias

 

[tjm]

Ran into a problem with the spicer u joint install (DAN5006813). As you can see I cant compress the cap enough to get the 2nd clip in.
Its as if the tips of the yoke have moved in a bit after removing the old u-joints.
I've double checked the part number on the box with various sites for part number accuracy.

Any suggestions?

 

[petersonj]

You need to relieve the stress placed on the end yoke ears when the new caps were pressed in.

The best way to do that is to use your garage floor and some blocks of wood and a hammer and flat punch. Support the shaft with blocks of wood. Have one of the affected end caps placed directly onto a socket that is slightly smaller than the cap. Strike the outer most edge of the respective end yoke ear using a flat punch and a hammer. You should see movement and the gap for the clip should open up. Make sure the clip slides in the groove easily all the way around before installing.

Before you do this, you need to be certain that a single needle bearing didn't tip over into the cap during installation. Your photo suggests that this is a possibility.

- John

 

[Ozymandias]

Bent ears from removal of the old u-joint, pretty common.
Not a lot you can do now that is mechanical sound aside from buying new.
You can spread it with a long bolt and two nuts and heavy washers but that is redneck style as there is no guarantee the the center of the u-joint will still be in the center of the axle, aka. offset.

 

[GrantP]

I'd second John's comment on double checking for a fallen needle bearing. That REALLY looks to be the case from the picture.

 

[seafish]

IMO Spicer simply puts too just a little too little grease into their sealed caps. I started adding just a SMALL dab more greas into the center if each cap. Doing so ALSO holds the needle bearings in place during the installation process. Of course you do NOT want to put alot in as it can blow out the seals when you press the cap in...but a little dab helps ALOT !!!

 

[Ozymandias]

I don't think that's the case here as the gap is, from my point of view, asymmetrical - left is closer then right.

 

[tjm]

U-joints are on! Here is what I did.

1. Removed them
2. cleaned out the bores - again, with 3M scotch pad
3. Pb-blaster the bores
4. re-assembled the differential side - no issues with clips
5. assembled the wheel bearing side - this is where that asymmetry came into play
6. under compression used John's suggestion. After a few good hits it moved just enough to get the clip in.
7. driver and passenger sides behaved the same that is the wheel bearing side was the asymmetric yoke

Thank you everyone for the help. Now to put the last wheel bearing on and re-assemble and torque everything down.

I'll write up a lessons learned when I'm done.

 

[tjm]

Lessons Learned

TDR is a great help, great bunch of folks on here!

1. Rotors were the hardest to get off. I went through 3 small pieces of 2x4 hammering away at the backside of the rotor with a 2 lb hammer for quite a long time before it broke free. I did pb blast but didnt soak it. I did soak the other rotor overnight. Took ten minutes to get off.
2. The OTC 7249 kit as recommended by Carli with some 2" ID pipes amd 1/4" plates did work. I cut 2 1.25 " pipes. And when they say use 1/4" plate they mean it. This kit worked fine for the u-joints as well. For the ball joints it worked but wasn't smooth.
3. A 3 prong gear puller for removing the wheel bearings made short work of it.
4. New 6 bolt steering box seems to make the steering tighter and wants to center a bit more than the old one. For example when going around a long curve it seems like I have to use more force to keep the turn.

one wheel bearing was making noise, the other wasn't. U-joints didn't have any play in them but since I was in there replaced them anyway. Lower ball joints were shot.

 

[Ozymandias]

There we are, now we know why you had the DW.

 

[tjm]

There we are, now we know why you had the DW.

Hope so Ozy. Gonna go get the truck aligned this week at a 4x4 shop. seems like most repair facilities cant handle a dually.

 

[Ozymandias]

Sounds good, please post the print out of the Alignment.

 

[Rowdy Dalton]

Hope so Ozy. Gonna go get the truck aligned this week at a 4x4 shop. seems like most repair facilities cant handle a dually.

It's because those training wheels stick out too far.

.