Hi guys, I'm new here. My 99 5.9 'rango has been hurting lately, so I decided to redo her front end. I neglected to go with the nicer Moogs and went with eBay cheapies. My girlfriend drives the car very few miles, she is very easy on it, and I have a huge mortgage to pay. All of my car cash goes into my 2000 Infiniti Q45, which I have keep in brand new condition, short of a new engine and transmission.
I have a set of upper ball joint, lower ball joints, outer tie rod ends, a pitman arm, and an idler arm. I don't think I had to replace the pitman/idler but they came with the other parts, so why not. I have already:
-ground out all rivets and replaced upper ball joints
-pressed out lower ball joints and replaced both (involves removing axle and well, everything)
-replaced tie rod ends.

The DAMN idler arm and pitman arm won't come off. I have removed the large pitman bolt on the box side, and the castle nut on the shaft side. I have used everything short of a pickle fork, which I'll get tomorrow.

Anyway, the issue is the axles. There is a portion of the axle that flares out again towards the hub, almost as a seal. However it is not a perfect seal.
This all came about when my front right hub blew and VERY quickly disintegrated. The passenger front axle took a beating in this area, and you'll see from the pics below what I'm talking about.

Passenger side hub-exploded beat up axle end (note missing ring):



Driver side axle end with ring intact:



Here's the thing...even with the ring intact on the driver side, it doesn't come very close to the hub. Here's the pic:



So I think it's alright to use them, my concern would be from dirt entering the hub/bearing assembly-but it seems even on the intact side there is 1/4" gap between the ring and the hub. I'd like to put her all back together again tomorrow night, do any of you guys have insight on whether these axles are going to be alright?

Thanks for your help.

 

Get a new boot and you should be fine, On a side note I am about to do my lower ball joints and the left inner tie rod end. anyway how big is the socket to pull the bolt on the hub?

 

I don't see how a new boot would help. There never was a boot in the existing setup. The part where the axle flares out at the hub end is metal.

Hub is on with 3 bolts, 13/16th. You really have to pound the socket on there, it is a VERY tight fit with the axle bulge. Use a 3" extension, and remove the outer/inner tie rod so you have free play with the spindle. I used air so life was easy. You'll probably need a chisel and very small STRONG flathead screwdriver to part the hub from the spindle. Mine were on pretty rusted on there.

I can't understand how to undo my inner tie rods! a) Mine have no free play (is this how to test tie rods???), and b) they have no "disconnect" from the intermediate shaft. It seems like the center shaft is one with these, and in lieu of a connection to replace it's just a completely sealed joint with a boot. I'll upload a pic tomorrow.

^^The new inner tie rods I got do NOT look like they would fit; I don't even see what they would screw into with their stud end.

Also, remember to do the lower ball joints you have to remove the lower ball joint, the axle (and I think this may require the upper ball joint and tie rod as well). I don't know, since I did it all at once.

I'm afraid to drive it to get an alignment...will be pretty off! My concern is re-aligning the steering properly, since I am pulling pitman and idler arms.

 

No one?

 

I thought you were talking about where the boot separated from the shaft. I would clean it up and if worse comes to worse replace it later. Those suckers are expensive at I believe $200 a pop.

As for the alignment do you have AAA? I am gonna call them up and feed them some BS and get it towed to the shop when I'm done.

 

Good point with the AAA. Hadn't thought of that. I do have it; thanks for the advice.

The pitman arm. OMFG. Has anybody successfully replaced this without cutting it off?

 

So how the hell did you get the lower ball joints off??? I couldn't get them off for nothing, I'm glad I started working on it at Pep Boys, I am going to have them bring their 4 ton press out tomorrow and do both sides, they told me it would cost $20 for each side and I broke a gear puller on it already. [:@]

 

Gear puller worked like butter on driver side. Had to use the autozone big boy rental c clamp ball joint kit for lower right.

don't try the pitman. Still struggling.

 

Mine aren't coming out, I ended up having pep boys do it since they have the really good tools. I'll have it back tomorrow. I broke 2 gear pullers trying to get it.

 

Anyone have input on the pitman arm? Can't get this thing off with heat, pullers, etc....think I have to remove the entire steering box and have it pressed off at a shop.