a little D-60 front end help.

[IDIoit]

Good morning.
im replacing ball joints today in the front end of my F350.
its basically ready to press the ball joints out.
i cannot get the bottom covers of the nuckles off.
do i need to pull the top ball joints out first?
i have the tools to do so, just didnt want to beat on these bottom covers.
thought id ask for a bit of help.
THANKS!

 

[79jasper]

Covers?
I think I had to take the upper out first, also upper needs to go in first.

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[IDIoit]

the lowers press from the bottom side up, uppers need to be pressed out the same way.
but these covers are a PITA!
a chisle and map gas didnt cut it.
i got an air hammer on its way, hopefully i can get em off when it arrives.

 

[79jasper]

What do you mean "covers?"
Is it a king pin axle?

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[IDIoit]

ball joint axle.
theres a cover on the bottom of the knuckle that needs to come off in order to press the lower ball joint up and out of the axle

 

[79jasper]

I guess I haven't seen one.
I know there's a snap ring.

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[IDIoit]

ok, and the moron award for today goes to me!!
kingpin.

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[79jasper]

Pic didn't come through.
But lol

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[IDIoit]

well, i have the wrong parts, and i cant get them for 2 days.
i started putting them back together for another day,
and they dont have any play, and there nice and tight from left to right.
should i even be messing with them?

 

[79jasper]

That would be a question for someone else, I don't have any experience with king pins.

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[Black dawg]

usually, just a new spring and bushing will keep these nice and tight.

 

[IDIoit]

when i pulled it apart, there were no seals?on the axle tubes....
can anyone enlighten me on what kind of axel seals this thing uses . splicer D-60?
high pinion on my 87 F350 XLT CCLB

 

[towcat]

the seals are all the way inside the housings just outside of the carrier. pray you didn't nick the seals. in order to replace them you have to pull the carrier.

 

[IDIoit]

It's comming out. Both shaft seals leak.

 

[dunk]

I was wondering WTH you were talking about covers, I've done a ball joint axle before and there are no covers, just ball joints, snap rings, castle nuts, typical BJ stuff... When I did my king pin axle I did the whole shebang. Worthwhile for peace of mind. Lower bearings get nasty when not regularly greased, king pin will rust and then chew up the cone. Cone wears and spring gets weak and allows play causing death wobble. The bigger the tires the more risk and you may have to preload/shim the spring a bit to keep the tire under control. Having dealt with death wobble before I don't mess around with front axle stuff. If I'm in there and componenets are unknown age or service history it all gets replaced.

Anyhow that lower cap can be a bear to remove. Lots of heat cycles, PB blaster and a BFH will get it loose. They are usually a bit stubborn.

When I did mine I used this kit ... Though when I did mine they were $49 per side instead of about twice that now.

Wow, and the spindle bearing/seal kit was $13 when I did mine, now $31.27.

Going by D60 parts prices inflation is a lot more than the alleged 3% as this was only 5 years ago... Maybe better prices elsewhere but 5 years ago 4wdfactory.com had the lowest prices I could find on this stuff, a bit less than local stores and easier to just order everything I need online and not have to deal with parts jockeys who don't know a set of points from a king pin.