I've been intrigued at the possibility of increasing the capability of our front axle and brakes. A visit to a CAT scale showed that the axle was at 99% of its 4600 pound capacity. So... a number of phone calls ended in a 400 pound pallet of takeoff axle parts shipped to a nearby freight terminal. I used a shipping agent called Freight Management Logistics and they were wonderful. Great Carrier, On Time, Super Price.
Terminal loaded the pallet in my mini pickup with a forklift. I had to unpack the heavy duty cardboard carton fastened to the pallet every time I wanted to move the thing. I quickly found out that the Rotors are the heaviest of the parts. The axles came with the spindles attached which made them awkward but they weren't as heavy as rotors.
I didn't actually jack the RV up. I had it on our concrete driveway and put 2x4 blocks under the Front HWH leveling jacks. I then extended the HWH all the way, and slipped 6-ton jackstands under each frame rail. That put the tire treads about 3 inches off the driveway.
At first it was like a brake job. Remove Caliper, Disconnect Brake Hose (new axle calls for different ones). I capped the steel lines with wiper hose plugged with golf tees. Then remove Caliper Bracket (21mm socket and Breaker Bar). Then Rotor at the Bearings (1-1/8" socket). With all that off, I removed the Offset Caster/Camber bushings and the axle looked like this
Then I put a floor jack under the lower ball joint, removed the spring clip at the top of the spring and disconnected the lower shock absorber mounts. Lowered the jack and the spring just tipped out. There is NO NEED of a Spring Compressor and the possible associated hazards.
With the Spring out, I could easily remove the Shock with a Box Wrench on the Nut and Open End on the Shaft
My "parts kit" included a new pair of shocks. These use bigger bushings and bigger fasteners than the original ones. The OEM shock bushings (Ford calls them Insulators) are somehow forced into the frame and I had to break them to remove. In this pic, you can see how late model insulators center themselves in the frame hole. The upper Insulator is integral with Nut and Washer. Those did not come in the parts kit. I had to buy them at Ford along with the Radius Arm to Frame Bracket Bolts which are odd to find at 18mm diameter. More on that later. Shocks...
Each Axle is bolted to the Front Crossmember. Nut and Bolt for the Passenger Side Axle are easy to get at (21mm socket and 21mm wrench) but the nut for the Driver Side is recessed and sits right in front of the Oil Pan
A hose blocks access to the Nut but once moved, the 21mm box end will slip right on.
The new axle uses a different Radius Arm and the new arm requires new Brackets to the Frame. The biggest Bolt in the project goes through the Radius Arm and Axle. I used a 3/4" drive 1-3/16" socket and breaker bar on the nut. Sorry, I forget bolt head size. The torque spec is around 250.
Then I unbolted the Frame Brackets which have 3 bolts into captive nuts (15mm socket) and installed the new Brackets and Radius Arm. The new Arm uses a rubber bushing "Heim Joint" instead of the shaft and rubber bushing each side of the Bracket. This should help maintain alignment longer.
The new axle incorporates Splash Shields for the Brake Rotors
Here is the new axle in place. You can see where Ford added bosses for Sway Bar End links but left the hole for the old-style sway bar end bushings. The bracket for our Hellwig front Sway Bar shows here and illustrates that the early style bar will work with a late model axle. Naturally if you have a late model E-Series you'd want to order the appropriate bar kit. But if a used one was available, it would work. I worked alone on the entire project and it was easy to install the axles. I put the Spindle end on a Creeper and rolled it under. The Bolt end was easy to lift to the mounting points in the crossmember and I could roll the creeper around till the holes lined up.
I installed the Shocks to the Upper Mounts while Springs were out, then installed the Springs by pushing up with the Floor Jack. Then I attached the Lower Shock Mounts. They require a twisting action to get the Bushings over the Studs.
I torqued the Radius Arm to the Axle but left the Axle Bolts and Radius Arm to Frame Bracket Bolts loose.
Then the Rotors (New Left and Old Right) where you can easily see how much wider the braking surface is. Looking carefully, you can see how much thicker the new rotor is also.
And the Brake Assemblies (Old Left and New Right). The pistons and pads are larger and the pads are spaced farther to allow the thicker rotor.
The Brake Hoses are different so they went on new. Parts Kit didn't include the "banjo bolts" that hold the Hoses to the Calipers but the old ones fit the new calipers. Since the 2008+ chassis uses a different ABS setup, the connectors on the new ABS sensors were different and I re-used the old ones.
I installed AirLift 1000 Series Airbags into the Springs before putting the Springs back. This is the Right/Passenger side completed
I didn't add a compressor for the airbags and ran the lines into the Radiator area using these existing mounting screws
There is good access through the upper openings in the grille.
I left the Axle and Radius Arm bolts loose because I don't like locking them down when the suspension is topped out. Not enough room with the wheels on the ground so I lifted the suspension with my floor jack under the wheel lug flanges on the rotor hubs.
That was it. Hung the wheels, set it down and torqued the nuts. Installed Wheel Simulators.
STILL putting Tools away and wondering what I'll do with a big carton of serviceable used parts. Those include a recent brake job with rebuilt calipers, new hoses, new pads, bearings packed, rotors resurfaced.
Now to drive it...
Terminal loaded the pallet in my mini pickup with a forklift. I had to unpack the heavy duty cardboard carton fastened to the pallet every time I wanted to move the thing. I quickly found out that the Rotors are the heaviest of the parts. The axles came with the spindles attached which made them awkward but they weren't as heavy as rotors.
I didn't actually jack the RV up. I had it on our concrete driveway and put 2x4 blocks under the Front HWH leveling jacks. I then extended the HWH all the way, and slipped 6-ton jackstands under each frame rail. That put the tire treads about 3 inches off the driveway.
At first it was like a brake job. Remove Caliper, Disconnect Brake Hose (new axle calls for different ones). I capped the steel lines with wiper hose plugged with golf tees. Then remove Caliper Bracket (21mm socket and Breaker Bar). Then Rotor at the Bearings (1-1/8" socket). With all that off, I removed the Offset Caster/Camber bushings and the axle looked like this
Then I put a floor jack under the lower ball joint, removed the spring clip at the top of the spring and disconnected the lower shock absorber mounts. Lowered the jack and the spring just tipped out. There is NO NEED of a Spring Compressor and the possible associated hazards.
With the Spring out, I could easily remove the Shock with a Box Wrench on the Nut and Open End on the Shaft
My "parts kit" included a new pair of shocks. These use bigger bushings and bigger fasteners than the original ones. The OEM shock bushings (Ford calls them Insulators) are somehow forced into the frame and I had to break them to remove. In this pic, you can see how late model insulators center themselves in the frame hole. The upper Insulator is integral with Nut and Washer. Those did not come in the parts kit. I had to buy them at Ford along with the Radius Arm to Frame Bracket Bolts which are odd to find at 18mm diameter. More on that later. Shocks...
Each Axle is bolted to the Front Crossmember. Nut and Bolt for the Passenger Side Axle are easy to get at (21mm socket and 21mm wrench) but the nut for the Driver Side is recessed and sits right in front of the Oil Pan
A hose blocks access to the Nut but once moved, the 21mm box end will slip right on.
The new axle uses a different Radius Arm and the new arm requires new Brackets to the Frame. The biggest Bolt in the project goes through the Radius Arm and Axle. I used a 3/4" drive 1-3/16" socket and breaker bar on the nut. Sorry, I forget bolt head size. The torque spec is around 250.
Then I unbolted the Frame Brackets which have 3 bolts into captive nuts (15mm socket) and installed the new Brackets and Radius Arm. The new Arm uses a rubber bushing "Heim Joint" instead of the shaft and rubber bushing each side of the Bracket. This should help maintain alignment longer.
The new axle incorporates Splash Shields for the Brake Rotors
Here is the new axle in place. You can see where Ford added bosses for Sway Bar End links but left the hole for the old-style sway bar end bushings. The bracket for our Hellwig front Sway Bar shows here and illustrates that the early style bar will work with a late model axle. Naturally if you have a late model E-Series you'd want to order the appropriate bar kit. But if a used one was available, it would work. I worked alone on the entire project and it was easy to install the axles. I put the Spindle end on a Creeper and rolled it under. The Bolt end was easy to lift to the mounting points in the crossmember and I could roll the creeper around till the holes lined up.
I installed the Shocks to the Upper Mounts while Springs were out, then installed the Springs by pushing up with the Floor Jack. Then I attached the Lower Shock Mounts. They require a twisting action to get the Bushings over the Studs.
I torqued the Radius Arm to the Axle but left the Axle Bolts and Radius Arm to Frame Bracket Bolts loose.
Then the Rotors (New Left and Old Right) where you can easily see how much wider the braking surface is. Looking carefully, you can see how much thicker the new rotor is also.
And the Brake Assemblies (Old Left and New Right). The pistons and pads are larger and the pads are spaced farther to allow the thicker rotor.
The Brake Hoses are different so they went on new. Parts Kit didn't include the "banjo bolts" that hold the Hoses to the Calipers but the old ones fit the new calipers. Since the 2008+ chassis uses a different ABS setup, the connectors on the new ABS sensors were different and I re-used the old ones.
I installed AirLift 1000 Series Airbags into the Springs before putting the Springs back. This is the Right/Passenger side completed
I didn't add a compressor for the airbags and ran the lines into the Radiator area using these existing mounting screws
There is good access through the upper openings in the grille.
I left the Axle and Radius Arm bolts loose because I don't like locking them down when the suspension is topped out. Not enough room with the wheels on the ground so I lifted the suspension with my floor jack under the wheel lug flanges on the rotor hubs.
That was it. Hung the wheels, set it down and torqued the nuts. Installed Wheel Simulators.
STILL putting Tools away and wondering what I'll do with a big carton of serviceable used parts. Those include a recent brake job with rebuilt calipers, new hoses, new pads, bearings packed, rotors resurfaced.
Now to drive it...
