A quick question....What size tool for rear drive shaft u-joint on 1992 F350?

medic265

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Hello Everyone...

I'm broke down and need to pull the rear driveshaft on my 1992 F350 4x4 CC to replace the carrier bearing. I've tried everything in my toolbox but I can't find a torx or allen wrench to fit the bolts. Can someone tell me what size it is? I'm assuming it's a torx head and not some funky design for an allen wrench?

I also need to replace the u-joints in the Dana 70 front axle but I can't for the life of me figured out what they are called. What I need is the u-joint at the end of the axle that connects the wheel to the axle. They are worn out. I just need to know what they are called so I can search for the part.

Thanks for any hep you can give!!
Greg
 

medic265

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franklin2

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It's not a 12 point headed bolt? And a 12 point 8mm or 10 mm socket won't fit? If your sockets are 6 point, you will be out of luck. 6 point sockets are excellent for working on old rusty trucks, but of course Ford had to put something else in there.

P.S. I just remembered, most of the time I use the 12 point boxed end of a wrench. That is, if that's what it turns out to be.

Like this;

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medic265

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It's not a 12 point headed bolt? And a 12 point 8mm or 10 mm socket won't fit? If your sockets are 6 point, you will be out of luck. 6 point sockets are excellent for working on old rusty trucks, but of course Ford had to put something else in there.

P.S. I just remembered, most of the time I use the 12 point boxed end of a wrench. That is, if that's what it turns out to be.

Like this;

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Thank you sir for your reply. Unfortunately for me that is not what I have. I did refine my search here on the forum and found a thread that talks about it being a Torx T42. I'm 99.3% sure that's what mine are as a T40 fits loosely and a T45 will just barely start in the bolt. The bad news for me is that of course I don't have that size and apparently (from what I've read) that size is no longer made. I've searched every tool site I could find but no luck. I do have a request in to my uncle who has been buying Snap-On for nearly 40 years. He's gonna check in the morning to see if he has one. If he don't I'm going to work on a T45 with a dremel a little and see if I can get a tight fit. If that doesn't work then I guess my last option is to weld a nut on the bolts and take them off with a wrench. I definitely am going to replace those darn bolts with something else when I get them out.

This all started about a year ago when the rubber came off the carrier bearing on my drive shaft. I couldn't get the bolts loose then and I was in a bind. I took the rubber bushing off a new bearing and put it around the old bearing. It worked well enough that I forgot about the repair. That is until today when the rubber came back off. Worst case scenario I can repeat that band-aid until I can find a T42 but I hate to waste a bearing. And I really need to just fix it correctly and be done with it. I'd like to go ahead while I got it out and replace all the u-joints also.

Also I did want to mention that I do indeed have a Dana 60. When I bought the truck many moons ago I had looked on the tube for the BOM number but it was worn too bad to read. A buddy said it was a Dana 70 so that just stuck with me. But tonight I dug up some pictures and references and figured out that it is indeed a 60. Thanks for the help on that!

Anyway Thanks again for the help!

Greg

PS if anybody out there has a Torx T42 socket for sale I'm definitely in the market!!!
 
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79jasper

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Front is definitely dana 60. Go to bronco graveyard and get the spicers. http://shop.broncograveyard.com/Dana-60-OEM-Axle-Shafts/products/1240/ Otherwise you'll regret it. Believe me.
For the rear should be a sterling 10.25. Mine has 8 or 10 mm bolts. So if you can, just twist them out with vise grips. Then go to a parts store and get a u joint bolt and strap kit.
Same thing with the rear u joints. http://shop.broncograveyard.com/Driveshafts-Parts/products/408/

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laserjock

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I think I took the ones out of my 91 with a harbor freight set of torx bits for a 3/8 ratchet. It was a pain and it barely fit. The socket part rubbed the yoke if I recall. I don't remember what size it was but I have 2 sets of torx plug sockets. One was from autozone I think and the other from HF. Had to be one of the two. Hope that helps.
 

medic265

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Thanks Folks for the replies. I've checked Harbor Freight, O'Reilly's, Autozone, Snap-On, Craftsman and every other tool site I can think of. I've searched "torx t42 for sale" and went through at least 50 pages.

I'm pretty sure at this point a Torx T42 is only a legend....hehehehe

I tried the T40 with some vice grips on the bolt and can't break it loose. I'd say those bolts have been in since the factory put them there in 1992. But one way or the other they gotta come out this weekend.

Thanks again for all the replies!
Greg
 

mblaney

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medic265, can you post a picture of this T42 bolt? I am not sure if you have a torx type head with an internal (takes an male socket) or has an external profile (takes a female socket). Maybe someone swapped bolts on you and used some other spline type... Count how many point it has, etc.

You might be hitting a roadblock because you are looking for TORX when it is actually something completely different. As suggested by others, this should take an off the shelf box end wrench.
 

franklin2

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Sometimes in rare cases a allen wrench will fit well enough to spin them out. It depends on the size, some will work some won't.
 

gandalf

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Now I'm a bit confused on this one. I just went outside and rolled under my truck, a '92 CC Dually. I shot pictures of both ends of the rear driveshaft, ie the rear universal and the carrier bearing, and can't find any bolts that fit the descriptions above.

Here are the pictures. Perhaps somebody can point me in the right direction.



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The universal is a bit dark because I was on macro, and the flash doesn't work on macro.
 

franklin2

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Ford must have had 5 or 6 different ways they hooked the shaft to the rearend. Flange mounts with bolts, a saddle with u-bolts. That's why there is a little bit of confusion about what he has, we all seem to have a different way the shafts bolt in our trucks.
 

gandalf

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He's talking about the u joint to rear axle flange.

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That would be pretty much my darker picture, the universal. In the picture posted, which direction do I need to go? I don't recall any additional bolts, so somebody had best direct me.


I'm going to be off very soon. My wife will need me. More pictures can come later today, after the main event.
 

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