97 4x4 front axle

Over the weekend I replace u-joints and slip yoke in the front axle of 97 Ranger 4x4 took some pix. First got the truck up and secured on jack stand and rear wheels blocked. I then removed wheels and warn locking hubs. then the brake mounting bracket..left the caliper bolted on (one less thing to put back in place.

With a spindle nut wrench (sorry no part number) removed the outer hub nut, then the lock washer/spacer and the inner hub nut and removed the rotor. This exposed the spindle and the 6 six nuts holding it on. removed the nuts and with a rubber malet beat the spindle loose..if these are rusted spray them with a penetrent and let soak a while. My 92 took some beating...A LOT of beating to get it loose. After gettign the spindle off the axle shaft on the drivers side (left) pulls right out. The (right side) passagers side slides in a yoke which has a rubber boot the needs to be slid off the axle. The the axle will pull right out. The last picture is of the nipple on the inner hub nut that must be installed outward..so the one of the holes in the washer/spacer will go over it.

more axle

Here are more pix of the process of removing the front axles.
right side removing spindle nuts, right side outer wheel bearing, right side spindle right side axle.

Axle continued

I needed to replace the yoke as the old axle and the yoke were worn out.
There was nothing left of the inside of the yoke. worn smooth no splines at all. I didn't take any more pictures of this process..because it is a lot of work getting the diff out in order to remove the C-clip so the inner axle shaft will come out. but here are the rest of the axle removal pix. a pic of the yoke, left side spindle, left side axle and left side axle removed.

nicely done, description, pics, I don't have a 4x4 but if I needed to work on one this would be extremely helpful. Hope the project is going well.

If you notice the nut in center of last picture...then go in from there. you can see a cynlinder shape..this is where the bottom bolt for the radius arm threads into. After it was all back together and during 4x4 testing this cyclinder broke loose. This allowed the radius arm to move anytime the supenison flexed.. Only way to fix for this shade tree...was a sawsall LOL. I replaced it with (sorry not duct tape) grade 8 hardware. drove it for a little while, took it back a part and re-touged it to 225 lbs and lock tight. no more problems. Glad it looks like it would be helpful.

C-Clip

rangerider said:

I needed to replace the yoke as the old axle and the yoke were worn out.
There was nothing left of the inside of the yoke. worn smooth no splines at all. I didn't take any more pictures of this process..because it is a lot of work getting the diff out in order to remove the C-clip so the inner axle shaft will come out. but here are the rest of the axle removal pix. a pic of the yoke, left side spindle, left side axle and left side axle removed.

Click to expand...

The above mentioned about removed the C-Clip so the inner axle shaft will come out. Do you mean the pass side axle shaft? If so, could you post the pix to remove the C-Clip, please. Thanks