Dana 35 spindle hub seal?

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ve come across a number of mis-assembled bits in the hub area of these vehicles over the years, so the drawing should be correct, but it’s unfortunately common to be missing bits.

FYI, clean out the auto hub really well and lube with some 30 weight oil. Make sure you keep grease in the wheel bearing area and away from the hub. Auto hubs are notorious for failing when you need them and some of the failures are because the mechanism got gummed up.

Personally, I haven’t run auto hubs in forever, I went to manual hubs on everything.

 

[jballard81]

I’ve come across a number of mis-assembled bits in the hub area of these vehicles over the years, so the drawing should be correct, but it’s unfortunately common to be missing bits.

FYI, clean out the auto hub really well and lube with some 30 weight oil. Make sure you keep grease in the wheel bearing area and away from the hub. Auto hubs are notorious for failing when you need them and some of the failures are because the mechanism got gummed up.

Personally, I haven’t run auto hubs in forever, I went to manual hubs on everything.

This is great info. My auto hub was absolutely packed with grease. I cleaned it out really well and will use oil when I reinstall.

Will have to search around to see where I can find those thrust washers.

Check out how oval'd out the nut was from this lower ball joint . Also, half the snap ring was missing.

This couldn't have been good for my tires.

 

[jballard81]

So I'm checking the FSM to find a part number for the thrust spacers and noticed this in the part list for the diagram:

#5 and #6 have the same part number. Is that one of those Ford parts numbering deals or does that imply something else?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So I'm checking the FSM to find a part number for the thrust spacers and noticed this in the part list for the diagram:
View attachment 126685

#5 and #6 have the same part number. Is that one of those Ford parts numbering deals or does that imply something else?

That’s… odd… wonder if it’s sold as a set and that’s why or a misprint or something.

 

[jballard81]

That’s… odd… wonder if it’s sold as a set and that’s why or a misprint or something.

I wonder if anyone with auto hubs could give specs on the thrust spacers (material, dimensions)?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I wonder if anyone with auto hubs could give specs on the thrust spacers (material, dimensions)?

Hopefully someone can help on that. Theoretically I should have a set somewhere, but I have no idea what pile I’d need to dig in for it, haven’t seen them in years. Really need to do something about that this year. Nobody seems to believe it, but I’ve honestly been trying to get things cleaned up and organized for years, I hate the mess. It was never supposed to end up like this but things got out of control when I got busy and then health problems and here we are.

 

[jballard81]

Hopefully someone can help on that. Theoretically I should have a set somewhere, but I have no idea what pile I’d need to dig in for it, haven’t seen them in years. Really need to do something about that this year. Nobody seems to believe it, but I’ve honestly been trying to get things cleaned up and organized for years, I hate the mess. It was never supposed to end up like this but things got out of control when I got busy and then health problems and here we are.

I hear ya on the mess/stash. It's very easy for it to get out of hand. I'm in the midst of getting rid of stuff too. My tech hoarding is a problem, I have laptops with Windows XP on them...

 

[jballard81]

I'm going to reinstall the auto-hubs sans thrust spacers until the manuals arrive. Probably going to do a little testing of the auto 4x4 system just to see if it will engage or not. My original test of the auto-hubs a few months ago they worked, but were pretty sticky and it took a bit to get the front DS to disengage. maybe they'll be 'better' now (not holding my breath).

I'm also going to order a manual hub conversion kit from eBay. They're cheap and the only reason i would need to use 4x4 would be snow or the occasional beach trip.

my ultimate findings regarding the 2 thrust spacers were inconclusive:
- i watched every ranger auto-hub removal YT video i could find and none of them had any thrust spacers behind the cam assembly.
- internet searches revealed a number of other folks with the exact same question and no real answer
- using the ford part# from the FSM revealed no hint at a replacement part, aftermarket or not

 

[jballard81]

Got everything put back together (mostly).

Lessons learned:
- I tried to use the old spindle to axle seal instead of the small rubber oring type seal from the sbk4 kit. No matter how many times I took it apart and tried to squeeze another 1/8" of axle shaft out the hub it wouldn't budge.

I finally thought to take out the old seal and replace it with the one from the sbk4. I still had to fight to get the c-clip to seat. There's no way I could've fit in 2 thrust spacers. Maybe if I didn't use the sbk4 kit?

- I'm glad I read the FSM and noticed that I had to phase the ujoints on the passenger side.

- good input on using 10w-30 on the auto hub instead of the loads of grease that was in it.

- I didn't order the metal straps for the slip shaft rubber boot. I was hoping maybe a hose clamp would work but the largest I had was 1.5" and it wasn't enough. Going to order something from Amazon I guess.

Not sure if these were the original bearings. They were in good shape. Probably could have left them in there. Koto/Koyo brand from Japan.

Now I have to do the driver's side... Hopefully it will go faster.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Got everything put back together (mostly).

Lessons learned:
- I tried to use the old spindle to axle seal instead of the small rubber oring type seal from the sbk4 kit. No matter how many times I took it apart and tried to squeeze another 1/8" of axle shaft out the hub it wouldn't budge.

I finally thought to take out the old seal and replace it with the one from the sbk4. I still had to fight to get the c-clip to seat. There's no way I could've fit in 2 thrust spacers. Maybe if I didn't use the sbk4 kit?

- I'm glad I read the FSM and noticed that I had to phase the ujoints on the passenger side.

- good input on using 10w-30 on the auto hub instead of the loads of grease that was in it.

- I didn't order the metal straps for the slip shaft rubber boot. I was hoping maybe a hose clamp would work but the largest I had was 1.5" and it wasn't enough. Going to order something from Amazon I guess.

Not sure if these were the original bearings. They were in good shape. Probably could have left them in there. Koto/Koyo brand from Japan.

Now I have to do the driver's side... Hopefully it will go faster.

Maybe that’s why the thrust spacers usually aren’t there? Like I said, I haven’t messed with auto hubs in forever though.

Standard 7-8” long zip ties work better than hose clamps for the rubber boot because they don’t throw off the balance of the shaft. If you use hose clamps they should be clocked 180* from each other or use the stainless ties like the factory.

 

[SenorNoob]

My slip joint boot has had a plain old nylon zip tie on it since I put the axle in. Something like 8 years ago...

 

[jballard81]

My slip joint boot has had a plain old nylon zip tie on it since I put the axle in. Something like 8 years ago...

Zip tie was my original thought, but i thought it wouldn't hold up over time. looks like i should have trusted my zip-tie gut lol.

i bought the metal bands and a tool from Amazon for $14. if it works great, if not, zip-tie!

 

[SenorNoob]

You can buy stainless zip ties too...

 

[sgtsandman]

Zip tie was my original thought, but i thought it wouldn't hold up over time. looks like i should have trusted my zip-tie gut lol.

i bought the metal bands and a tool from Amazon for $14. if it works great, if not, zip-tie!

I've done the zip tie thing in the past. Just to be sure, I installed two, with the ratchet ends 180 degees opposite of each other. They held up just fine for years. The biggest issue with zip ties is UV exposure from the sun. Being under the vehicle, that kind of exposure should be all but nonexistant.

 

[jballard81]

That $14 metal tie kit thing is the devil. Clearly it was created and sold to me as such under the guide to tempt me into evil. I spent 20 mins trying to make this stupid thing work, realized it was a trap and tossed it.

Applied the highest quality harbor freight ZIP ties and will periodically check on them 'wink'

Backed her up into the garage so that I could work on the driver's side. Tore out the knuckle and beat out all the bearings and races within 2 hours. Significant improvement. All the bits are in the degreaser stew

Also, I opened up a new tub of grease. It's probably 25 years old though. Wild how being old and hoarding stuff sneaks up on you.

Lololol at Mercury. It's been a minute.