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Ford Superduty Steering wander repair....Axleshaft u-joints

May 02, 2020
Hello YouTube, today I'm in the shop where we have a Ford Superduty and we're going to talk about a

steering

problem that is commonly misdiagnosed, so I see this quite often, a lot of times they come in and have a problem. literally relate to this: you go down the road and you turn left and it wants to stay left, you turn right and it wants to stay right or even sometimes you're just driving down the road and you can feel the ride back and forth and commonly people lift the truck, they check the front end, everything in the front is tight, so they naturally assume the

steering

box, this truck actually came to me after it had been to another shop, the other shop He diagnosed it as an address.
ford superduty steering wander repair axleshaft u joints
In the box they put a steering box which as you know is not cheap, but one of these didn't solve the problem, so they put a steering stabilizer in it and it still didn't solve the problem, that's how they ended up with me. What I have typically found is that the cause of this is the U-

joints

on the front axle, so let me show you a quick way to diagnose this to verify that they are bad, so we are working on a 2007 here, but this problem is not limited to only 2007 or even this body style, this can occur on any model from ninety nine to current so the easiest way to diagnose this is to disengage the steering and then lock the hub and try turn the steering manually. so in 2005 and later you will have to do it.
ford superduty steering wander repair axleshaft u joints

More Interesting Facts About,

ford superduty steering wander repair axleshaft u joints...

I found the easiest way is to disconnect the sway bar from both sides it will be an 18 millimeter bolt with a 21 millimeter bolt on the rear and then lift up the sway bar and then take Remove the tie rods now on the passenger side here you go the longest strap and has the upper strap. The reason you have to take the sway bar and push it up is because this upper tie rod, the axle is too long and you actually, I can't take that off the knuckle without interfering with the sway bar, so let's take this steering off and then I'll show you what to do next, so we have our steering off, so the next step is going to be to lock the axle and then what you can do is turn the whole knuckle left and right so you can see that this one turns moves quite freely.
ford superduty steering wander repair axleshaft u joints
What I want to show you is that if you turn this knuckle 90 degrees, it no longer rotates, so what's happening is one. The universal joint side is frozen and this may be the reason why sometimes this is an intermittent problem, sometimes you will drive it the steering will be fine, they will drive it again the steering will be all over the place and the reason is because that universal joint is actually spinning to get to the place where it moves nice and freely and then you drive down the road a little bit more, it spins again and it's frozen so what we're going to do is start taking this apart to get to the universal joint and I'll follow the procedure that I use to replace it so to start taking it apart we first need to remove these brakes here some people choose to separate the caliper from the bracket and then take everything individually.
ford superduty steering wander repair axleshaft u joints
I like to take it off in one piece. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you want to make sure that you have a way to hold this clamp so that it doesn't dangle from the hose because if you leave it hanging. You can damage the hose, sometimes it's damage you can't see and then in the future the host of your unit collapses internally and that's how you can cause the clamps to get stuck. One of the most common causes of caliper failure is hose failure, so it's just something you have to be very delicate with these hoses, they are not designed to support any type of weight, so keep that in mind, so let's go ahead and remove this caliper with 21 millimeter bolts.
You'll need a pretty strong impact. they never bend a lot of times they're on they're very tight so next is going to be the locking hub so that's three t25 torx bits and then once you get the three torx bits out you can use them as a small bit screwdriver flat. and just gently pull it out here, you have to be very careful and make sure it comes out straight, so just do it little by little until you get it out and after that we'll show you what's next. Up top will be this retaining ring that is inside the hub bearing.
You'll really want to get a nice, sturdy pair of retaining ring pliers. I have a Cornwell set, but you can definitely get a good set on Amazon or something, if I can find a set I'll put a link in the description, you just want to make sure they have a decent reach and are nice and sturdy, this ring elastic can be very difficult to remove so just be patient make sure it is fully inserted into the little holes in the snap ring take your time and it will come off so now we will move on to the ABS sensor so first thing you need to do is to disconnect it.
Behind the inner fender you'll see there's a little tab that it goes into and you just need to disconnect the sensor and then it connects to the suspension right here, if you can unclip it and pull the cable out then there's another little tab on the right. take it out of there, then you have two bolts holding it on like the bottom of the spring hanger, they are eight millimeter bolts, take them out and then there is one more eight millimeter bolt on the top of the knuckle, now I like to leave the sensor speed the ABS sensor on the hub just because I've had a lot of bad experiences trying to get that sensor off the hub and then the sensor breaks then you're replacing the sensor unnecessarily, I mean if you don't need a wheel bearing and you don't need a sensor, we're just attacking the universal joint right now, there's no point destroying other parts, so let's take this ABS sensor out and then we can work on the bolt in the hub bearing, right?
Now we're going to remove these nuts to hold the hub there 21 millimeters on the old five and more. It's pretty easy to put a straight bushing in there, so with the wheel turned all the way or the knuckle turned all the way. way to put a bushing directly on the nuts of the 99204, the little seal that I'll show you how to change later has like a metal ring and that middle ring can sometimes get in the way of the nut bushing depending on the thickness of the nut. wall that has the plug in it, but don't worry too much about it if you have to use a small hammer, i.e. very small, and just hit it to push the small piece of metal to the side and the plug.
I'll continue, but I'll remove those four hub nuts and then go over some tricks I used to get these hubs out of here when they're stuck. They seem like they're pretty new so I don't think they'll fight me too much, but if you're not experienced with these hubs you'll learn pretty quickly that they'll come out right away or you'll have some issues, so if you're struggling to remove your hub, which It's not very strange. I mean, it'll probably happen if you haven't removed them. There are a couple of options you have, you can do it with a hammer, which frankly takes forever and 99% of the time you are going to ruin the wheel bearing or there are a couple of tricks, one of them, this is what I found it has been the easiest way but sometimes you run the risk of damaging the bearing just because of the way it works but this tool from ATD I will put a link in the description.
This is awesome if you're trying to remove a wheel bearing to change it or you know ball

joints

or even a universal joint job like this, so how does it work? bolts and then it comes with this kit with different sized nuts to suit different applications and what you do is you screw these nuts on and then you smash down here with a hammer, loosen the hopper. I mean, this works very, very well. sometimes you have to turn it sideways, hit it this way, turn it back this way, hit it this way a couple of times, but I really haven't had a center where this hasn't worked, that being said, if you don't have access one of these, one of the other options is to take a bushing, a deep bushing and put it between the universal joint and the axle tube, so take the bushing, put it between the joint and the axle tube and then go back To engage the steering, start the truck and use the power steering to remove the bearing.
This is much easier if you have a friend to help you insert the plug. Turn the steering wheel, just make sure you keep your hands off it. there as the wheel spins there are some pinch points but this trick works great. It is this. This has never failed me. The only thing I don't like is that it pushes against the back of the wheel that wears a little bit well, so all that's really left to get this universal joint is to get this axle shaft out of here, this big seal here is sometimes hard to get out, so what I like to do is grab a big lever. and I like to pry behind the axle, you'll see there's a little lip between the actual axle and the axle tube and if you put that lever behind there, you can just pull it and it will pop the axle and the Sometimes, seal by complete one really rebellious that has not separated.
You may need a lever on each side, which you can do yourself, but it's much easier with two people, so here it is, we take out this shaft and As you can see, this U-joint moves nice and smoothly this way. one way, but in the other direction it is simply stuck. I mean, you can see it come loose and fall on its own, but in this direction, I mean, it's frozen, so you know it's. It is difficult to say what causes this. I mean, this is a greaseable U-joint. It definitely looks like it was greased. I mean, there's some fat coming out.
I don't know if maybe it was too late on this particular one, someone tried to grease it. do it later, but the biggest suggestion I have is to use a good quality u-joint, especially if you have a greaseable joint, be sure to grease at regular intervals, greaseable u-joints tend to have looser seals and are designed that way so that The way it pumps grease will allow the grease to push out the water and the containment is now sealed. U-joint lubricated for life. U-joint. This seals a little tighter, so there are pros and cons to both. person you're just not going to do it, I mean, be honest with yourself if you're not going to grease it.
I would put the non-greasable U-joints here if you are the type of person who has the old farmer attitude where they say grease is cheaper than parts and you plan to use grease on this, often the grease will bond very well, just choose a good quality brand, they are not cheap but I know the long term reward is better than having to do it. Do this job twice, okay, so let's go over how I make these U-joints, so the first thing you're going to do is not move this seal out of your way, it's just pressed in there, so grab a little hammer.
There's a couple of hits on all sides to get it out of there, so the next step is. I think this is probably the hardest part of doing this, so retain these universal joints on these little clips. I don't know if they can be seen. that or not, but it's a little C clip and it goes on the inside of the cap, so on the inside of the shaft lug or where these little clips go, you're going to curse, they're not fun, sometimes They come directly from these. It's probably not as bad as the wheel bearing.
You know, they're not that old, but sometimes when these things are really rusty, it can be a real problem to get them out, so I just use a small hammer a couple. of chisels and punches and just work with them and just remove these four clips from these new joints. There are a few different techniques for changing u-joints, everyone has their own way, but my personal preference is to use a press on ball joint, so what you do is use an adapter that the u-joint cap will fit through, put it on this end, then just use this round end on the other side, tighten it and start pushing the universal joint to the right.
So far the only suggestion I have for you when using a ball joint vise is to be careful not to continue too much because you may damage the axle lugs and just go easy and you will feel it once If you have some experience it is quite simple, but you can rent a ball vise from Autozone I think, as a tool rental, and you can clamp it directly in a vise and that will hold it steady, then you'll just have to clamp the axle. first type of axle personally, you just like to put it on the bench, use a couple of wooden blocks and go in that direction, but if you push on one side, you can remove this cap.
This one is actually a little bit frozen here and sometimes I like this app. Here I'm going to have to grab a pair of jaws and just pull them out to get one side out and then flip it over, push the universal joint back in the opposite direction. Now go ahead and use the same technique to get the rest out. it comes together from the end journal so this is the part of the universal joint that froze so it's rusted on this cap and rusted on this cap actually this one movespretty loosely, so it looks like it's really just going to be this cover.
It can be difficult to remove, so sometimes you put it in a vise and tap it with a hammer. Worst case scenario, you take a pneumatic chisel, make a small slot in them with a clip and you can just hit that cap repeatedly and eventually this will work. It's going to be absolutely full of rust, so be patient, keep working on it, remove this cap here and then do the same thing as the other part of the shaft and push the universal joint all the way in. Removing the cover and then reassembling the U-joints is fairly simple.
What I like to do is, first of all, make sure you orient the U-joint the right way, so if you're using one that has a grease nipple, don't put the grease nipple on until you're done because pushing it back and forth You can break the grease fitting and then you'll basically have to get another joint unless you're very good at removing it, but what I like to do is make sure the grease fitting is in the right place for the direction the axle shaft is traveling, in other words , if you know that this actual axle shaft is rotating this way, you want to make sure that the cap that is in front of the grease nipple goes into the axle shaft that way, as it rotates, the force pushes instead of trying to separate where this grease nipple is, it just works for a stronger joint.
I've never seen a joint fail in normal operation, but I mean, if you're using your truck for all-wheel drive drag racing, I mean, who knows what you're doing with your truck, but it can definitely affect strength. If you have the grease fitting in the wrong place then I take off two of the caps, you have to be very careful to make sure you don't rotate any of the needle bearings so take off one cap and feed the u-. through the joint and then reinstall one of the caps, then what you can do is take the ball joint vise again and push the universal joint almost all the way out, so you want to push it all the way in and then almost until This cover comes off. from the ear that way you can put the clip on nice and easy and then you can put the cap on the opposite side nice and easy so now you can take the new C clip and push it over the cap and now you go a I want to make sure that if you look at the lug of the axle shaft there is a little notch right here, if you don't line up that C clip correctly it won't fit over that notch, it's a little hard to show on the camera, but you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. speaking, there's like a little shelf here that that C clip can fit in and if you turn it too far in one direction, it'll hold and then you can.
Don't push the universal joint all the way in, so now that you've got this, you want to slide the universal joint out just a little bit, put the other cap on, sometimes they're a little crooked, so you're just going to tap it a little bit to straighten it out. and then use kneecap pressure once more and push it until it touches. After pushing it all the way in, you can now take the clip that goes inside and put it on. It can be a little more complicated now, so sometimes you use a hammer, hit it, and then repeat the same process for the outside stop, so the most common thing is that you get this all together and feel like maybe it's going smooth but it's feels a little tight in some spots or in a way if it's nachi that's not good if it's just a little tight what you can do is lift the shaft vertically and just give it here a little tap so just take a little hammer, give it a little tap, flip it over like this, give it a little tap and it comes free.
What happens is that the dinettes sometimes compress a little and put a little stress on the inside of the universal joint. and it ties it together, so you just want to make sure it's nice and free. I mean, there should be some resistance like new when you join it, it's tight, but you want to make sure it's nice and free in both directions and you're fine. To go, make sure you remember to install that grease fitting before you put it on the truck and then we're going to put the seals on. There is a stamp that goes here.
There is a seal that goes into the actual axle housing. We will get them. Done, then we're ready to reassemble, so there are a few seals you need to make while you have this all separated, one of them is this dust seal. Now what it does is enter the axle tube. You can see the old one. the ones on the axle tube, sometimes you'll see if you look at a lot of these, all the trucks, you get like a piece of rubber that just falls off because it was dropped, so they upgraded it to this seal that actually fits in the axle tube itself keeps dust, dirt and everything out of that tube, so the other seal you need to replace is very important, especially if you have a 4x4 vacuum.
This kit is here so I suggest you buy it from Ford. I'll put a link in the description for as many of these pods as possible, but this kit comes with a new C-clip retaining ring. I mean, it holds the axle in the wheel bearing, it comes with a new O-ring. rubber for the wheel bearing where it is sealed. in the housing it comes with new lug nuts that hold the wheel bearing and it comes with what you need to seal the four by four hub and three new bolts for the four by four, eh, that's pretty cool, but also the most What's important is this big donut seal right here, so a lot of times, if it's not replaced or it's installed incorrectly, this is where you can have those four-by-four problems where if you have an automatic four-by-four, you turn it on and it goes. turn off the light.
On the dash, the driveshaft fits, but the four-by-four hubs don't, so you need to make sure you install it correctly. Now you can do it without the special tool. You're going to use it very gently, like a round. Strike a brass punch or punch and just work lightly all the way around. I found it very difficult if this is something you plan on doing more than once, you definitely want to get the tool, so the tool looks like this now what it does is the stamp. it fits perfectly into it and then it fits perfectly by moving the shaft and you tap it and install a seal at exactly the right depth, perfectly like it's supposed to be, it doesn't damage the seal at all and then once you're done with that use the same tool after sliding the shaft in, use this tool to drive the seal into the journal so that all the tension you had trying to free it when trying to get it out is the same tension you need to put it back on.
Some people suck it back into the wheel bearing but what happens is this seal is designed to rotate and if you push it right up against the wheel bearing it pushes against itself and starts to break down and they all overheat and Sometimes, if you pull one of these apart, you'll see someone installed using the wheel bearing to push it in and you'll see all these rubber and plastic fibers in there because as the wheel bearing went forward, it got hot and this I made it spin. it was just wearing out the seal and then that's like I said incorrect installation you get a total failure from lack of operation once you change these seals don't forget to put a couple of grease pumps on the universal joint and then you can just slide this one on semiaxis inwards.
Sometimes it can be a little tricky to get it to start going into the splines of the differential, but be patient, move it back and forth, twist it, and slide it in. and now this is where that tool comes into play again so slide that tool back and you'll see there's a gap now they make the tool different from 99204 and then oh five onwards it's another tool and then if you have all five and up on 450 and 550 with the front end of the white rack, there is another tool that has the same setup but it has a little more depth because the knuckle actually has a little more depth, so slide that tool in and then You will want to tap the tool until it is flush with the bearing mounting surface.
Let's put this all back together and test it. Well guys, I really hope you found this video helpful. It is a fairly common problem that is often not diagnosed correctly. Like I said earlier in the video, yeah, I mean you guys know well that if you've had these trucks for a while, these things can be pretty expensive, so try to focus on diagnosing things properly, making sure you find the cause. reality of what is happening. continue before you start potting these and if you have any questions feel free to contact me in the comments section if you have any questions about the tools or the pots that I use.
I'll try to link as many of them. what I can in the description of this video so you can try to find those things easily and you know if this video is useful, do me a favor, hit the subscribe button, maybe give me a like, say what happens in the comments, whatever makes you happy. but hey guys, I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to see what I do here, so once again, thanks for looking in the store.

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