A new problem?

[Antsinmyeyes]

Hello i'm new to the forum and new to ranger ownership, after picking up a 98 3.0 xlt with 143k miles this summer past. Unfortunately neither one last so I'll get down to the issue at hand. This weekend i wanted to lift up the front end to replace rotten ball joints but instead i was horrified by what i found.
So here's some pictures to do the explaining.

Passenger side,

Drivers side.

Beneath the cover it looks like the hubs have been welded on with something on the spindle! Surely this isn't right?

Has anyone encountered anything like this before? What would a mechanic do if i brought it in to the shop vs. What can be done with simple tools? And importantly how much could it cost?

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

Jeeze, someone did weld the axle to the hub, no never seen that before

It will need to be torched off, maybe a small grinder, hopefully the axles and hubs can be saved, but..............I would call some wrecking yards, to see if you can get used hubs and axles
New hubs are $80-$120 each
Axles are about the same, each

You have a Dana 35 front end, seen here: https://therangerstation.com/tech_library/dana_35_sla.shtml

1998-2000 Rangers used PVH(pulse vacuum hubs) which were "OK" but did fail, which is why someone welded the axles to the hubs, vs spending $100- $130 on manual hubs
Seen here: https://www.therangerstation.com/how-to/axles/1998-2000-ford-ranger-manual-locking-hubs/


You could also swap in 1995-2001 Explorer "Live Axle" to your 1999 Ranger
Seen here: https://therangerstation.com/tech_library/99hubswap.shtml

All Rangers got Live Axle setup in 2001

 

[OldMan2]

Sell the truck and buy another one.

 

[lvwill]

I've been really tempted to weld a few things together on the bil's truck a few times. He's just a cheap ass that doesn't like to maintain vehicles and then gets pissed when they break down and doesn't want to pay for parts.

 

[adsm08]

Whoever did that is a freaking genius. That is possibly the best budget fix I have ever seen for PVH hubs.


If you cant grind those welds out without destroying stuff I'd look at just swapping to an 2001.5 front end setup. You will be buying most of the parts anyway.

 

[Shran]

Wow.

Do you have a die grinder? Looks like it would be pretty easy to grind off those little tack welds on the axle shaft.