I have a 2000 Ford F250 Super Duty that is up for sale. Over the past few months been fixing / updating things in preparation.
The other day during a test drive, a potential buyer asked me if I had the manual hubs locked out because he thought he cd feel it when getting on the highway. I told him they shouldn't be, but we can easily check to be sure. Turns out they were switched to the "free" position, but the the axle was moving like the hubs were still locked.
He didn't want to drive the truck home (8+ hours at normal driving speed if the hubs were locked. He had a tight schedule to keep & was afraid he he'd have to drive a lot slower because of this issue. We postponed the transaction for a couple of weeks.
Yesterday, i bled the power steering system to get rid of the whining. Then i figured "while i have both front tires off the ground, i should test the hub locks" because a few nights ago i was getting stuck in 4-5" of snow while in 4 wheel drive. I hadn't locked the hubs because of what we had witnessed with the hubs previously. Once stuck in the snow, i got out and locked the hubs - what a huge difference, i was plowing through 12" drifts like butter. It seems like the hubs are working properly.
Now, with both front tires off the ground, i tested the passenger side locking hub. The wheel spun freely when hub was unlocked and didn't spin when the hub was locked. Perfect!
On the driver's side the wheel rotated a few inches either direction but appeared to be locked, regardless if the hub was switched to free or locked.
Side note: This past summer i had problems getting the locking hub switches to turn at all so i pulled the hubs off, tore them down for inspection, cleaning & regreasing. Got the switches to turn again & I tested the hubs / 4wd after putting them back on. Everything worked perfectly....
I figured i should pull the locking hub again to check things out. I removed the snap ring & tapped the hub a cpl times with a screwdriver while pulling on the hub. It came off nice and easy. I couldn't see anything obviously wrong with the hub or around the spindle. I then spent another 2 hours outside, after dark, in 0 deg weather trying to get the locking hub back on. Brought it back inside to look at the splines on the hub. I used a small file on a few small, nicked / dinged teeth just to make sure this wasn't an obstruction. No luck, i called it quits when i couldn't feel my legs anymore.
In the morning w proper lighting I could see its not the hub splines that are an issue, the axle spindle alignment is off. If I'm centered on the spindle 1/4 of the hub splines won't even touch the axle splines. I could see the spindle had some room to move with just my hand.
After consulting the google & youtube, i tried using a screwdriver in the u joint to get the spindle aligned.
I tried rotating the u joint / knuckle to different positions. I rotated the tire around to different positions, i turned the steering wheel from left to center to right positions. I tried putting tire back on & lowering the jack. Nothing i did seemed to help even the slightest.
I noticed that the spindle seems to have enough play in its movement, just not in the direction I need it to go, no matter which position the u joint / knuckle is in.
I really need to get this hub back on. I dont live in the state Im currently in so i cant call any mechanic friends to come help. Im 25-30 miles from any town that has automotive shops. Even then, I am currently on an extremely tight budget for a few months so any towing fees & repair costs would really hurt.
Sorry for such a long post.
Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated [by both me & my frozen fingers! ;-) ]
Btw, if more info is needed or if photos would be helpful, just let me know.
Thanks again!
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
The other day during a test drive, a potential buyer asked me if I had the manual hubs locked out because he thought he cd feel it when getting on the highway. I told him they shouldn't be, but we can easily check to be sure. Turns out they were switched to the "free" position, but the the axle was moving like the hubs were still locked.
He didn't want to drive the truck home (8+ hours at normal driving speed if the hubs were locked. He had a tight schedule to keep & was afraid he he'd have to drive a lot slower because of this issue. We postponed the transaction for a couple of weeks.
Yesterday, i bled the power steering system to get rid of the whining. Then i figured "while i have both front tires off the ground, i should test the hub locks" because a few nights ago i was getting stuck in 4-5" of snow while in 4 wheel drive. I hadn't locked the hubs because of what we had witnessed with the hubs previously. Once stuck in the snow, i got out and locked the hubs - what a huge difference, i was plowing through 12" drifts like butter. It seems like the hubs are working properly.
Now, with both front tires off the ground, i tested the passenger side locking hub. The wheel spun freely when hub was unlocked and didn't spin when the hub was locked. Perfect!
On the driver's side the wheel rotated a few inches either direction but appeared to be locked, regardless if the hub was switched to free or locked.
Side note: This past summer i had problems getting the locking hub switches to turn at all so i pulled the hubs off, tore them down for inspection, cleaning & regreasing. Got the switches to turn again & I tested the hubs / 4wd after putting them back on. Everything worked perfectly....
I figured i should pull the locking hub again to check things out. I removed the snap ring & tapped the hub a cpl times with a screwdriver while pulling on the hub. It came off nice and easy. I couldn't see anything obviously wrong with the hub or around the spindle. I then spent another 2 hours outside, after dark, in 0 deg weather trying to get the locking hub back on. Brought it back inside to look at the splines on the hub. I used a small file on a few small, nicked / dinged teeth just to make sure this wasn't an obstruction. No luck, i called it quits when i couldn't feel my legs anymore.
In the morning w proper lighting I could see its not the hub splines that are an issue, the axle spindle alignment is off. If I'm centered on the spindle 1/4 of the hub splines won't even touch the axle splines. I could see the spindle had some room to move with just my hand.
After consulting the google & youtube, i tried using a screwdriver in the u joint to get the spindle aligned.
I tried rotating the u joint / knuckle to different positions. I rotated the tire around to different positions, i turned the steering wheel from left to center to right positions. I tried putting tire back on & lowering the jack. Nothing i did seemed to help even the slightest.
I noticed that the spindle seems to have enough play in its movement, just not in the direction I need it to go, no matter which position the u joint / knuckle is in.
I really need to get this hub back on. I dont live in the state Im currently in so i cant call any mechanic friends to come help. Im 25-30 miles from any town that has automotive shops. Even then, I am currently on an extremely tight budget for a few months so any towing fees & repair costs would really hurt.
Sorry for such a long post.
Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated [by both me & my frozen fingers! ;-) ]
Btw, if more info is needed or if photos would be helpful, just let me know.
Thanks again!
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
