ford f150 2wheeldrive

[jgoins]

Howdy y'all,

I'm gonna try and replace the spindle assembly on my truck. It looks like to pins and thats it but something tells me it not gonna be that easy any tips or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim goins@vims.edu

[RobS]

Get a Chilton's or similar repair manual. It's not difficult but there are some subtleties to setting the bearing preload and torque values to everything. If you don't get a manual, at least go to the library and take a look. Maybe some of that info is available on-line?

What year?

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[jgoins]

Sorry it's a 1994!!!!

[Autotech]

I can't say that I've actually done a spindle on a '94, but I'm sure that there has been no revolutionary change to Ford's front end design lately.

The spindle is probably attatched to the axle by two balljoints, an upper and lower. While a seemingly simple design there is one very important subtlety. Due to production tolerances there is almost no way to design these components in such a way that guarantees both balljoint studs will fit into their respective tapered bore in the spindle at exactly the same time. Because of this there is usually some device to accomodate staggered seating of the tapers (usually some type of bushing), and a resultant important step-by-step procedure involving specific torques and orders of assembly. Another possibility is that one of the balljoints is allowed a slight "float" in its mounting, and this design generally REQUIRES the balljoints be replaced.

Get some sort of repair manual - it will detail the required steps and specifications, and should also let you know if there are any special tools involved.

I would also strongly reccomend replacing the balljoints while the spindle is removed, even if the procedure doesn't require it.


Gregg