D28 Knocks and pops

[RangerNielsen]

Holy crap... Who ever did the brakes on this truck... I pulled off the driver side wheel to see how the caliper goes back on, and the outside castle nut was loose... like i took it off with just my fingers... and the spindle wasnt greased, so pulling the rotor was a pain, and the bearings had barely any grease in them. I got the passenger side pretty well situated, torqued the outside down to 150ft lbs, all my tq wrench would do, and it seems pretty satisfactory right now. just need to put the caliper and shoes on, and then the tire. then do the drivers side.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Also, the truck has 2 different sized hub carriers, and the axle on the drivers side sticks out about 1" past the spindle and the passenger sticks out about .5" is this normal?

 

[4x4junkie]

Not sure what you mean by the "hub carrier"... Got a pic?

The axle shaft (splined end) no doubt should stick out the same amount on both sides (about 1½" past the end of the spindle if I recall correct). Sounds like your passengerside may be missing the thrust washer & c-clip (visible in this pic)

 

[RangerNielsen]

By hub carrier I mean the unit that had the lock on it to lock the hubs to get the front tired to turn in 4wd. I got my bearings find today too. I'll pull of the hubs and tires tomorrow and take pictures of it tomorrow from te time of this posting.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Here's pictures of the passenger side hub. Not sure why my phone decided to make the one of the axle black, but its barely out of the spindle... See the picture lower down for details. Notice the dimensions of the hub. The passenger has no c clip in it. i think... Ill discover that when I pull off the whole freaking unit, again, to get the axle set. and greasing it up ALOT. Also, my passenger side hub keeps getting hot, need more grease? Drivers side still looks like it has brand new grease... The passenger side has a spring inside the hub, and the drivers doesn't.

 

[RangerNielsen]

And heres the driver side. The bottom picture is the passenger side axle... I'll let you tell me what you see wrong with it... And this side has a C-clip, kinda. replacing it.

 

[4x4junkie]

Some of your pics are difficult to see...

It looks like you're talking about the locking hub being a different length (the "hat" part being taller). I would guess it's because you have two different brand hubs there (one OEM or Warn, and one Mile Marker, I'm guessing). Shouldn't affect anything.
But yes, your axle appears to be missing it's C-clip & thrust washer(or bearing) for sure.
Part #s 61 & 63 on this diagram (if it's a D28 it should have a needle thrust bearing & shims, rather than a simple spacer)

 

[RangerNielsen]

Im not sure why the pictures came out the way they did. did realise that until AFTER I posted them, haha. Ok, so the different sized hubs are fine? and I know for a fact its missing the c clip. I get to take the whole hub assembly apart are get the axle out and such now too. yes it is a D28 sadly. For part number 61, the spicer, does that just keep the axle center'd inside the spindle? im not sure if mine is missing or if it rode into the axle housing with the rest of the axle. there is some thing on the out side of the grease seal thingy towards the splines. How much grease should be applied to the axle when i re install it?

 

[4x4junkie]

It's a "Spacer" (I just noticed that diagram is typoed).

On a D28 the 'spacer' consists of two steel spacer shims (one with teeth to engage the axle shaft, one plain), and a needle thrust bearing. The plain spacer goes on first, then the needle bearing, then the toothed spacer, followed by the C-clip to hold it (and the axle shaft) in place within the spindle.

Edit:
Here's a pic from my Ford book showing how the D28 spacers & bearing goes together. (clicking on it will make it a little bigger if needed)

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[RangerNielsen]

Well crap. I think I'm going to need more than just a c clip to fix the problem then. I don't know what's up with my passenger bearing either. I took the wheel off and check the locking nuts, and the inner was loose, so I tightened it back up by hand as much as I could (no in lb tq wrench) and put it back together and the wheel wobbles, again. I got the truck home and checked my camber, both front tires are perfect, but my passenger hub is hot as hell. I put a good amount of grease on everything.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Will I need to replace my passenger side bearings since my hub keeps getting really hot? or should i just clean them out and re pack them?

 

[4x4junkie]

Sounds like you might've tightened the preload too much (or the lock ring slipped and allowed the inner nut to turn while you were tightening the outer nut).

I think if the bearings look ok go ahead and repack them. If there's any marks on the races or rollers you can feel with your fingernail though, replace them.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Ok. I did see it tighten a little bit when I was torquing down the outer, and the rotor didn't turn wry easy by hand, but when I did it the first time, the inner loosened. And my rotors and with the races mounted in them so I didn't use the ones that came with the bearing them selves. I don't have have a inch pound torque wrench and my spanner but doesn't exactly fit over the inner castle nut. I took every thing off and am down to the spindle, couldn't get it removed so I sprayed a generous amount of penetrating oil around them seam and will resume progress when I have time.

Also while I'm here and thinking about it, my passenger pad slid out of the caliper. It was stationed properly when I bled the brakes, and when I got the tire off, true to wiggle the rotor, it wouldn't move. I then tried to spin it, and it would get stuck, so looking around the rotor, the inner pad was getting caught on the dust shield. To be succinct, how do the pads go into the caliper? I thought I figured t out when I took the driver side apart, but I guess not.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Finally got the passenger side axle shaft out. I have a c clip, some seal thingy, and some other clip thing. I'm going to make a trip to the dealership tomorrow with my spindle and get what ever I need to re assemble it properly.

 

[4x4junkie]

Never ever EVER mix up different brand (or new with used) bearings and races!! That's the 2nd-quickest way to a bearing failure (after overtightening). ALWAYS use the race that comes with a bearing as a set. If that means knocking some piece of crap out from a new rotor, then do so.

(buddy of mine just bought brand new top-of-the-line Raybestos AT rotors for his... To both of our disgust, we find a pair of POS chinese races inside of both rotors All this does is creates unneeded hassle in order to be able to install the Timken races for his Timken bearings)

As for the lock ring slipping (letting the inner nut turn), this is something not unheardof on Dana axles.
What you'll probably have to do is take your lock ring (the one with the holes in it) and hit the end of the indexing tab with a welder just a bit to lengthen it a couple mm, then using a Dremel or similar rotary tool, shape it down flat so that it rests flat both against the spindle nuts and down into the spindle groove. This should keep it from riding up out of the groove as you tighten the outer nut. If you don't have a welder, maybe a muffler shop can do it for you.
(alternatively, you might be able to bend the ring oval very slightly in a vise so the tab sticks further down into the spindle groove, though they are pretty brittle and will break easily if you go too far with it, I'd do it by welding the tab if possible).

I thought there were pics somewhere around here someone posted of having done this (weld the tab), not having much luck finding it though...