I have a 1990 F 150 4x4 (5.0, 180k) and have some problems with the front end. The right front tire has been wearing BADLY on the outside edge, and the hub on that wheel seems to be loose, and I think the U joint between the right side shaft assemblies is loose too. (Left side seems ok) Could that be causing the tire to wear badly or is it just a camber problem?

Also, whenever I brake, I can hear and feel a "clunk" through the floor, and, sometimes when I brake hard, the whole front of the truck rattles so hard I feel a) the truck is falling apart, b) I cant hear myself think, c) I'm not gonna stop the thing, and d) I'm gonna die. That doesnt happen too much but its pretty terrifying when it does.

Im not much of a mechanic, but I cant really afford to take it to a shop. If I had a pretty good idea of what was wrong, I may be able to tackle this with my Haynes & Chilton manual (thanks to the local library), but Im not really sure where to start.
Does any one have any advice?

Thanks

Patrick S.

 

Hi Pat Welcome!

With 180K on truck...Has there been any front end work done that you know of?

I understand what your saying...but unless you get qualified help..i suggest you take to a pro. for the front end work.

The vibration you get when braking could be warped/cracked rotors? Brakes/rotors could be a more friendlier DIY than tackling the front end problems. Oh...if U joint bad enough..you'll stop in a hurry.

Yes...find manual for your truck. Should have trb. shooting info. That should help you decide if you can DIY?

Good luck...OT

 

My guess is that your ball joints are toast. Its probably not the brakes that are causing any of the symptoms that you describe. When the ball joints go bad the axle isn't held in place the way it should be and will give you a shudder while braking and bad tire wear. Unless you feel like more or less disassembling your whole front axle I'd take it to a shop. Replacing ball joints can be a PITA sometimes, but it depends on the truck. I'd put money on bad ball joints on your truck. Also when you say your hub is loose, what do you mean? The bolts backed out some or what? More than likely what you think is a bad hub is the wheel moving due to bad ball joints. If you put new ball joints in yourself you have to disassemble the outters for the axle to get down to the knuckle to replace the ball joints. This means that you have to pull your front shafts out. If you do that make sure you check for looseness in the U-joints, and depending on the condition replace them. If there is ANY looseness in the joints replace them as its a PITA to pull them again to replace a u-joint. Now I'm not sure if Dana 44 TTB axles have C-clips on the long shaft side for the slip yoke shaft or not. I know that Dana 28 TTb axles (89 and older Rangers had these) had C-clips but you could run a C-clip eliminator on them. If the D44 TTB axle has C-clips on it then you have to pull the front diff off and pop off the c-clip inside the diff housing. If it doesn't have them the shaft should pull right out. of the housing. Like I said this won't be a real small project, it will require almost completely disassembling the entire front axle to do it. You will also need special tools to do this too. You'll need a ball joint press which looks like a modified C clamp, and you will also need a spindle nut tool too in order to get the retaining nuts off the spindle. This looks like a big piece of pipe with little fingers on one end of it. My advice is that if you don't really know what you're doing take it somewhere to have them do it since if this is done wrong you will have WAY more problems that you started with.