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Replacing hub assembly on '93 4.0 Ax15

wave97

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Rhode Island
Replacing hub assembly on '93 4.0 Ax15 with 230,000 miles. If I'm able to get the damned bolts off what else would be wise to replace on the front end while the wheels are off?
BTW: I've just replaced the floor pan and I'm planning on having the motor re-built.
Thanks,
Chris Cannon
 
Thanks for the reply,
I'm OK with the gears, I could use advice on what to look out for as wear & tear issues from the front end steering & suspension on my daily driver with 230,000 miles.
 
At least give a thorough check to the ball joints for wear, because this is a hub-off operation if needed, and although I've had vehicles go that far without needing a ball joint, it wouldn't be surprising if it did. Otherwise, the only other hub-off job that you should be sure to do is the axle universal if it's anything but perfect. However, once you've done the hub job, if you reassemble with plenty of anti-seize, you won't have big problems doing it again down the road.

By the way, not to hijack your thread, but....

just yesterday I did a hub on my son's 96, which apparently spent much of its life in eastern Mass. by the ocean. Two of the hub bolts came right out. The third didn't. I thought I might be able just to shear it, but whebn I tried torquing it off, I cracked the first craftsman socket, and with the second, it literally twisted the splines of the head before stripping them. I ended up having to torch the head off the bolt. So then it pulled off, right? WRONG! I attacked the hub (not one to be saved anyway) with my axle-pulling slide hammer, and though the hub started coming loose in the knuckle, the part held by the torched-off bolt wouldn't budge. I finally stripped the threads on the slide hammer! So then I tried torching the stub of the bolt out of the hole from the back, but even hollowed out a half inch or so it wouldn't budge. So finally I torched the ear off the hub. I ended up breaking a drill bit trying to drill the bolt out, so I had to torch it out from the outside. The last inch or so of bolt stuck in the middle took a hard beating with a big hammer and a pin before it came out. The bolts are necked down to prevent them from seizing in the knuckle, but this one was packed solid with rust. No way it would ever have turned. I've never had a hub come off so hard. It took all afternoon. And to top it all off, when we got to the axle, he pulled out the new U-joint he'd bought for it, and it was the wrong ***ing one! Off we went trying to find an auto parts store that was open after 5 on a Saturday. Finally found one, and found that for some reason his non-ABS axle had the joints specified for ABS. I hope your hubs come off more easily!
 
Check all the tie rod ends.
There's one on each knckle for the tie rod, one at each end of the drag link, and one at the frame end of the trackbar.
Check the rubber trackbar bushing for slop, and see if the hole is wallowed out from the bolt moving.
Check the balljoints for tightness, there shouldn't be any slop.
Check the upper and lower control arm bushings for slop/cracks/rubber degradation.
If you're going to have the bearing off you might as well pull the axle shaft and put a new u-joint in it.
 
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