1971 Ford 3/4 Ton Frt axle overhaul,
 

Howdy Ol Ford fans,

I am getting set up to go thru the frt end of my 71 F250 and needed a good forum to discuss the entire procedure,

Its the smaller 8 bolt axle they call it, and as you will see the focus will be on the type of grease used,

What Ford calls the "Proper" lube,

Interesting story,

picture of the ol Rig
 

Scan From manual
 

Scan from book

The Right side,
 

Now Back in 2005 I reworked just the drivers side because the upper trunnion bearing was worn,

This is the first axle of this style I had worked on, on the back side of the knuckle is a fill plug, Now I asked the sales Rep who sold me the parts what I should fill this axle with?

I was "informed" that originally 80-90w oil went in there and since the ball Rusts and pits it would be a waste of time and just to pump a bunch of regular wheel bearing grease in there,

Well all that made sense enough at the time, so that is exactly what I did,

Now I am reworking the same side, while the side that Ol Ford put together with the "1/2 Pint of Proper lube" is still just fine from 1971

Well my mistake, I was to lazy to research the subject of lubrication myself and asked the guy selling me parts what to use,,

So here is a picture of the side I repaired in 2005

Attachment 2553

the 1971 Side
 

So heres the side Ford put together 40 years ago ,

Still solid, with his "Proper" lube,

Attachment 2552

Now here is where the story gets a bit crazy, It was a 1988 Toyota Land Cruiser that I worked on some 5 years later that clued me into what was going on here,

Now this Toyota had some sort of thick oil or thin grease in the knuckle, this made a lot more sense then what the parts supplier had said about the 80-90 W being the intitial fill,

So I went right on down to the Toyota dealer to get some of this stuff, long story short, I was told that this grease was "Private"

Interesting !!

So then and only then did I pick up the books and start reading for myself,

Now Old Henry Fords Technical writers left me hanging with the wording for this grease, only said "Proper" and 1/2 pint of it,

But it did tell me at least there was some sort of correct grease,

So here is the side I reworked in 2005
 

Attachment 2551

Without the "1/2 pint of proper lube"

on the inside
 

Okay so while the side I redid looks better on the outside than what factory Ford did,

On the inside is what matters, now for sure I know that there are folks who know that a dry seal is ineffective,

What has happened here is two fold with the incongruous grease the lube is just flung to the outside never to do any good,

And dirt is wiped in evident in the color of the grease towards the bottom where it has settled,

Attachment 2550

The Wheel Joint
 

On the Ford axle a conventional spicer U joint is used, the upper and lower supports are small tapered bearings,

While the lower trunnion bearing is lubed okay with just about anything the upper bearing is the failure point, extended 2 wd operation the upper bearing will starve for lube, even when a proper viscous lubricant it used,

The rotation of the axle throws the lubricant up into the bearing, while in 4x4 mode, advisable to lock the hubs in once and a while and drive it a bit to re lube the upper bearing,

Attachment 2549

The Wiper seal
 

On Most of the domestic axles the wiper seal consists of a felt oil seal, and a integral steel spacer and rubber seal,

The other variation is a steel spacer and then a separate rubber seal, the integral style like on this Ford seems to be the ideal set up, less discharge, or contain even a thinner lube,

Actually The Dana Brothers state to fill these things with a 140 W oil, which would be ideal from a lubrication standpoint, but may bee troublesome to contain, so along with saying to use a 140 W they also state to follow individual manufactures recommendations,

Attachment 2548

Same lube for the wheel bearings
 

Now since there is no provision in these axles to keep a liquid type lube contained in the spindle bushing, the same lube is used for the wheel bearings as well,

While I am sure that this bushing is worn a bit it measured about .015 or so larger than the axle,

The fluid lube will work its way thru to †he wheel bearings,, so same goop in the wheel bearings,

Attachment 2547