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272 hits | 54.06 KB | Posted: 2013-10-01
New switch in column. Put the two screws in, plus the screw holding down the ground block. It's the little white block just to the left of the hazard switch. Tuck those wires over by the hazard switch in and make sure the switch is flush when you put the two retaining screws back in. At this point, you can put the key in and turn in aux power to test the signals. If all is good, put the steering wheel back

Special thanks to YouTube user Firesupression1 for his video on doing this. Very helpful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oou2FPEGiLw...
(Posted in: Turn Signal Switch)

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265 hits | 59 KB | Posted: 2013-10-01
The black sleve / sheild you pulled off the old set of wires...put it back on the new one. I assume since there are so many wires down there, this is necessary protection. Push it up as far as possible to give yourself room to put the wires back in the connector. Get them all up snug in the connector, and simply slide the red locking plastic piece back in. Give a little tug to see if all lines are secure. ...
(Posted in: Turn Signal Switch)

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258 hits | 77.66 KB | Posted: 2013-10-01
All wires are pulled through...
(Posted in: Turn Signal Switch)

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258 hits | 71.32 KB | Posted: 2013-10-01
I decided to do only half at a time, instead of pulling and yanking all down at once and risk damaging the wire. I thought the other half would have a hard time going down. But they didn't and it only took a few minutes....
(Posted in: Turn Signal Switch)

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258 hits | 46.91 KB | Posted: 2013-10-01
Preparing the new wires for snaking down the column. I used some, I believe, 12 gauge wire. Wrap the ends good and tape up well with electrical tape. ...
(Posted in: Turn Signal Switch)

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253 hits | 50.25 KB | Posted: 2013-10-01
What I want to show you here is not in the pic...You'll see a curved, red piece of plastic in the middle of the connector. That locks the wire inside. You take it out, the wires pull right out. You'll need like an eyeglass screw driver or something small like that you pry at the middle of the red plastic and ease it on out. You see that U shaped cutout in the middle right hand side of the connector? Pry and lift there......
(Posted in: Turn Signal Switch)

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263 hits | 40.23 KB | Posted: 2013-10-01
I also took a bunch of pics of the new one as well as not to screw up the order....
(Posted in: Turn Signal Switch)

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245 hits | 61.15 KB | Posted: 2013-10-01
That's the connector at the end of the wires. How's that get back up the tight steering column the wires are snaked down? It doesent. You have to cut it off, no way around it. How does the new one go down the hole? It doesn't. You pull the wires out of it and snake only them down the column. Doing this is much easier than you think. Save the old connector!!!! And leave some meat on the wire. You'll need to put the new wires back in, in the same order.

Once the connector is cut, pull the wires at the top and pull the whole 9 yards out. ...
(Posted in: Turn Signal Switch)

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264 hits | 56.87 KB | Posted: 2013-10-01
Replace 89 Bronco Turn Signal Switch - Take a look at my Tilt Wheel section - http://www.supermotors.net/registry/15076/71228 - to read how to take wheel off and get at the switch. This time, take both of the bolts out holding the switch in. When you wrestle it off, you'll see the wires snaked down the column. ...
(Posted in: Turn Signal Switch)

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503 hits | 76.44 KB | Posted: 2010-05-09
The dead soldiers... See the ball joint out of the cup? That was my last one... With the forth hit with the pickle fork, the knuckle drops and I think I'm done. Nope... Another hour of oil, heat, banging and fun.

If you've come this far, and actually observed what you're working on, you should understand things now and be comfortable putting it back together. I say this because I had a few photos of everything going back on, and they got deleted.

I did run into one problem on one side. When you put the knuckle back on, you have to finger tighten both the upper and lower ball joint nuts, then crank down the lower nut to 30-40 ft lbs. (you'll need a tourque wrench for most of the nuts and bolts going back on). After the lower is at 30-40 lbs, then the top nut get it till 95 ft lbs. (check your manual for ft lbs numbers). Then go back to the bottom and finish that to 95 ft lbs. At some point during tighting the lower ball joint nut, it stud is going to start spinning with the nut. You need more pressure - from the bottom, to push that stud taper tighter in hole. Use your jack and pump it up below the lower ball joint. This worked fine for me on one side, but not the other. I couldn't get enough pressure with just the jack. I had to use the ball joint press, and that was fun. With the knuckle on, plus the ratchet to tighten the nut, there wasn't much room at all for the press. It took a while and a lot of patience, but I got it.

Once the knuckle is on, in goes the axle, followed by the spindle. Rotor back on the spindle. Now the first three things going back on inside the hub are the inner lock nut, the lock washer and the outter lock nut. The inner has a little peg sticking out of one side. This peg must be pointing at you when going back on. First, crank this lock nut with the special beer can wrench to 50 ft lbs. Back it off, then tighten back to 45 - 40 ft lbs. The 50 ft lbs sets the rotor against the spindle and sets the two bearings in the rotor nice and snug.

Other things of note during installation - the spindle nuts get cranked to a certain tourque (mine was 50 ft lbs)...easy does it putting the axles back in. Don't damage the oil seal on the diff or bust up the splines on end of the axle...change the U joints on the axle if needed. You want do 3/4 of this all over again in the future?....Don't forget the CV boot on the passanger side axle. And replenish any gear oil that may have leaked from the diff when you pulled the axles. ...
(Posted in: Ball Joints)

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461 hits | 66.35 KB | Posted: 2010-05-09
New upper joint pressed in. Look in far middle and you can see the press and cup I used to get it in. Take the grease cap off the ball joint first so not to damage it. Remember, this time around put the upper in first, then the lower. I read a tip on some other web page with ball joint instructions to put the new ball joints in the freezer a while you're taking apart the front end. They're frozen and shrink just a bit, making it easier getting them in. I did it, and installing them wasn't bad at all...

Once the both ball joints are in, install the zerks for greasing and grease them up. I didn't have a gun, so I got one locally for $20. Remove the zerks and save for later use. They need to come out due to clearance issues, especially for the upper ball joing. Right under it is where the axle U joint is spinning. ...
(Posted in: Ball Joints)

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553 hits | 59.15 KB | Posted: 2010-05-09
The ball joint press in action. In this photo the upper ball joint is coming out. You have to do the lower first in order to getk the upper out. See the bolt and ratchet coming out the lower joint hole?

You can rent the press at a local store. It was like $180 at Advance Auto, which is a bit much for a 60 dollar tool, but you get it back. There's a boat load of presses and receiving cups. Taking the joints out, you just use the right size receiving cup. Putting them in, play around with some of the cups to get a good configuration.

Pressing them out is tough. My leverage you see on the rachet didn't make it. Breaker bars are like 40 bucks. I went to home depot and got a piece of 3" dia., 4' long section of black pipe for 12 bucks. I won't be bending this thing......
(Posted in: Ball Joints)

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572 hits | 59.13 KB | Posted: 2010-05-09
All done pulling stuff off the truck. You should be staring a pile that looks similar to this. 4WD hub pieces and spindle in upper right, dust cover and rotor, axle and knuckle with beat up ball joints still in there....
(Posted in: Ball Joints)

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549 hits | 60.59 KB | Posted: 2010-05-09
The last thing that remains are the two ball joints themselves. What you see in this photo - Knuckle with ball joints still pressed in is gone. Tools on the bottom (from left to rt): Pickle fork to release the lower ball joint, a 1" and 5/16 wrench and for the upper ball joint nut, and 1/2" drive ratchet with (I think) a 1" and 1/8 socket. What you don't see in this photo: a can of MAPP gas to heat the nuts, about an hour of hard work and sweat, along with some cursing. My ball joints hadn't been changed in a loooong time. Tons of rust. I had an old can of propane gas I was using to heat the nuts to crack them. Couldn't budge them...propane not hot enough. Got a can of MAPP gas - that stuff burns hot. After about two minutes of heating the nuts with MAPP gas, they came off much easier.

Just because you've taken the ball joint nuts off doesn't mean the knuckle just falls off the control arm. Like I said, the ball joint is tapered and pressure (and rust) is holding it in. That's why you need the pickle fork. 10 bucks...well worth it, believe me. The 1" and 5/16 open/boxed wrench is a size I didn't have. I went looking for that size in a socket, and couldn't find it. I bought the wrench at Sears for $30. Since it's only taking the upper ball joint nut off, there is plenty of room and you can use the boxed end. The lower ball joint nut needs the socket, as you're putting it thru the hole in the knuckle to get at the nut. I don't remember exactly what size it is, but it's part of my standard sears purchased 1/2" drive socket set - I didn't have to buy that one.

To take the knuckle off / release the ball joints, first you crack the upper ball joint nut. Like I said, use penetrating oil and heat (be carefull, the oil if flammable). Loosen the upper nut, but don't take it all the way off. Now on to the bottom nut. Put the rachet thru the hole in the knuckle (where you pulled the axle thru) and again apply heat and oil, then a lot of pressure - you see my home made breaker bar in the photo. Once that nut is off (completely off), now use the pickle fork on the lower ball joint. It goes right under the control arm, inbetween the control arm and the ball joint (red arrow). As you bang it in, it exerts pressure downward on the ball joint, releaseing it from the hole. When it releases, the whole knuckle will want to fall out and down...on your toes. This is why you don't take the upper ball joint nut off completely. It will stop the knuckle from fall on your toes...unscrew the upper nut and lower the knuckle to remove it from the control arm. ...
(Posted in: Ball Joints)

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651 hits | 66.23 KB | Posted: 2010-05-06
Spindle and dust cover gone. Pulling axle through the knuckle. That U Joint was shot. Got one for for $30. The old one looked old, rusted and pissed off. I paid a shop around the corner 50 bucks to press it off and put the new one on. Well worth every penny. ...
(Posted in: Ball Joints)

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565 hits | 67.59 KB | Posted: 2010-05-06
Next up is the tie rod end still attached to the knuckle. Remove the cotter pin, then the castle nut. The tie rod end is like the ball joint - it's tapered and held in there by pressure. Do not beat on it directly. Put the castle nut on backwards and beat that. Used a lot of penetrating oil too. When it breaks free, let it hang....
(Posted in: Ball Joints)