hey all. i just put the f150 in 4wd in a snow storm and ive got bigtme clunking from the u joints on the front axles. are they as bad as they look to change. thanks ruppman :)

oh yea i forgot its a 1986. tks

its not that hard. surly nothing you want to be in a hurry doing your first time.

Auto hubs or manual?

If it's an '86 and hasn't been changed (I doubt it) it would have manual hubs.

You have to tear down quite a bit of crap to get the shafts out, but its not all that hard, more just time consuming.

The right-side inner shaft has a circlip inside the diff that holds it in, so to get that one out means removing the diff from the suspension arm.

thanks for all the replies. i just bought the book and the new u joints so now its time to get greasy and geter done!! ill let u all know the end results. BTW you guys have some fine rides in here its always a good time looking around. ruppman :D

you can do them without tearing down the hubs just take out the turnstops and crank the wheel to get at the outers,lots of room but are you sure it is not a stripped slip joint???

you can do them without tearing down the hubs just take out the turnstops and crank the wheel to get at the outers,lots of room but are you sure it is not a stripped slip joint???
I think you ment inspect them.... No way to change the U-joints with out taking a lot apart.

Here are some pics and generic notes I took: http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/Mr.N44.htm

I changed the passenger axle shaft and slip and u joints without tearing down the hubs the only tricky part was sliding the outer shaft back through the ttb arm it will fit but just barely. in my opinion Im a shade tree mechanic at best and not particullarly lucky with easy installs so If I did it it really cant be that hard. :shaking:

I changed the passenger axle shaft and slip and u joints without tearing down the hubs the only tricky part was sliding the outer shaft back through the ttb arm it will fit but just barely. in my opinion Im a shade tree mechanic at best and not particullarly lucky with easy installs so If I did it it really cant be that hard. :shaking:
I'd like to see pics of this on the drives side.

to be honest hardest part was getting the retaining clips out of the u-joint as they were rusted bad(Canadian winters) might be harder if you were trying to keep the u-joints for reuse but I wasn't so it wasnt too bad just need a good assortment of punches and pry bars and an extra hand is nice soak everything with penetrating oil take out the turn stop and turn wheel till the u is exposed take out 1 retaining clip turn the joint till the 1 you took out is pointing to the back brace the top and bottom ears, smack the one pointing forward, take the cap all the way out grease it take the opposite clip of turn the joint around put a punch on the exposed end and pop it out too grease it and pop them both back in as you need them on when it you pop the other 2 for leverage when you smack them out.
hope this helps if I have done it any body can

just to clearify this was done on an 83 bronco and an 86 both stock ttb havent got my hands on a solid front for it yet