99-04 ford front axle rebuild tips?

Justgosurfin

Justgosurfin

Active member
Doing the ujoint conversion and am hunting for a ‘04 front axle to rebuild. I’d like to have parts ready to go when I find a good one.

Can anyone familiar with that axle chime in about what is involved or a link to a DIY? I’ll leave the gears alone for now until I’m happy with the ratio and will do a locker of some sort at that point. Mainly just wondering what kind of ball joints, seals and bearing kit to get and if any special tools are required. Any special precautions or ways to support things to make it easier?

I’ve rebuilt my trans, t case and a couple engines so I’m sure I’ll figure it out but a manual and or parts diagram would be super handy. Just trying to be as prepared as I can to make it go quickly.

Thanks in advance.


I promise I’ll get a build thread going at some point...
 
tmo2460

tmo2460

Observer
I hadn't ever touched an axle before starting mine, I found this distributors videos super helpful:

https://www.venturestruckparts.com/youtube/

They also sell the parts in a kit form and I liked the videos enough I ordered from them as well. The production quality isn't anything over the top but if you watch through a couple of the videos it gives a good overview of how it all goes together/comes apart. I did end up buying a seal installer tool on amazon, I sold it on ebay after I was finished for like $10 bucks less than I paid new. They mention in one of the videos you can make one from hardware store parts as well, theres a bunch of tutorials out there for that too.

I ended up replacing all the wear items including the ujoints, seals, unit bearings, and ball joints for peace of mind. Keep in mind there are two different thread pitches out there for wheel studs (m14x1.5 and m14x2.0), so if you are getting new unit bearings be sure to match the pitch with your rear axle studs or spacer studs.

I'm far from an expert on this stuff but besides getting the old u joints out it was pretty painless.
 
Justgosurfin

Justgosurfin

Active member
tmo2460 said:
I hadn't ever touched an axle before starting mine, I found this distributors videos super helpful:

https://www.venturestruckparts.com/youtube/

They also sell the parts in a kit form and I liked the videos enough I ordered from them as well. The production quality isn't anything over the top but if you watch through a couple of the videos it gives a good overview of how it all goes together/comes apart. I did end up buying a seal installer tool on amazon, I sold it on ebay after I was finished for like $10 bucks less than I paid new. They mention in one of the videos you can make one from hardware store parts as well, theres a bunch of tutorials out there for that too.

I ended up replacing all the wear items including the ujoints, seals, unit bearings, and ball joints for peace of mind. Keep in mind there are two different thread pitches out there for wheel studs (m14x1.5 and m14x2.0), so if you are getting new unit bearings be sure to match the pitch with your rear axle studs or spacer studs.

I'm far from an expert on this stuff but besides getting the old u joints out it was pretty painless.
Click to expand...
Awesome. That’s exactly what I was after. Thanks man!
 
R

RVflyfish

Fishing is life. The rest is details.
I have a set of '04 axles I'm not going to use. 3.73 ratio, Dana 60 front and Sterling 10.5 limited slip rear. In case you're interested.
 
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