How to Swap Axle?

fordassassin · 03-29-2010, 06:03 AM

Well long story short. I got another full 9.25 axle to put on my front end since I bent my housing on the one I have and the lift shop replaced everything out the old axle to find out that the actual housing was bent. I been driving it like it is for about 1 year almost and haven't had any problem but hate that my front wheels are turned in.

So I bought a front and rear full axle. I plan to paint both axles and powdercoat all the bars and pans. Anyways, my question is. HOW HARD IS IT TO PULL MY AXLE AND PUT NEW AXLE IN ITS PLACE?

I am putting a 3" spring up front and some control arms for a 6" lift to push axle forward to help with my new wheels I ordered. I have all new bars up front that are on the axle already as well.

So what do I do to drop my axle and put new axle in its place? Front of course. The rear shouldn't be a problem for me.

jsetrum · 03-29-2010, 10:09 AM

pretty straight forward. Even better with you replacing the springs and arms. Off the top of my head here goes:

-disconnect ABS wires going to front hub assemblys
-remove calipers and hang on frame with wire
-disconnect driveshaft
-disconnect tracbar from frame
-disconnect steering linkage from steering box
-remove shocks
-put a jack under each side of the differential
-disconnect upper and lower control arms
-lower axle with jacks and remove coil springs
-pull axle out from under truck.

things to keep in mind:

-please use jackstands under frame of truck when doing this
- when everything is disconnected from axle the axle is going to try and rotate so the pinion is pointing at the floor (damn gravity) so either support it or be ready for this.

I hope this helps and I don't think I missed anyhthing.

***Smoker03*** · 03-29-2010, 01:43 PM

How much longer are the control arms that you are using? You may have some issues at full compression.

jsetrum · 03-29-2010, 04:39 PM

AXLE VENT TUBE! That's what I forgot. Disconnect that as well.

***LaMoparPower*** · 03-29-2010, 04:56 PM

watch it when pushing the front axle forward..... trac bar clearance with the diff could become an issue....

ban89 · 03-29-2010, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaMoparPower

watch it when pushing the front axle forward..... trac bar clearance with the diff could become an issue....

^^^^yep. I had this problem when running +1'' arms on 3'' of lift. The trac bar would hit the diff before full bump.

fordassassin · 03-29-2010, 08:29 PM

Thank You everyone. I am going to be using some 1.5" longer control arms I think. THE ARMS ARE OFF A 6" SUPERLIFT. So they might not work your saying?

If that is the case, I might just do a 6" lift, but the thing is that the truck has High Trap Speeds @ 1/4 mile and I don't want to loose control or make it slower.

***Smoker03*** · 03-29-2010, 08:43 PM

I'd stay with the Thuren springs and use stock control arms, or 1/2" longer arms would be perfect.

fordassassin · 03-30-2010, 01:32 AM

I think I am just going to lift it 6" or 8" now and when I get some money, I will put some nice leafs in the rear.

**strtlegal** · 03-30-2010, 01:41 AM

Is the axle complete? I've replaced 3 front diffs and one rear on mine, yes all bent...I can rebuild them from scratch in my sleep..But if its complete its even easier..But dont do it at home...

fordassassin · 03-30-2010, 01:44 AM

The axle is complete. Everything except calipers. The guy went with 6.4 Ford axles with the locking hubs. Maybe after I take this axle out(All new internals), maybe I can drop it off to be straightened for a friends D-Max to put it in.

I will do the lift at the shop with the truck on the lift.

Does anybody have pictures of a 6" lift with 2" spacer up front? I want it noise high like all you lucky baja guys. I really want to put 37" tires but won't put anything bigger than 33" tires with 20x12's since the truck is made to go fast.

fordassassin · 03-30-2010, 02:38 AM