1991 Explorer driveshaft -E-torx fastener question

[parksgm]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum, but fairly experienced in the repair of cars...

I am trying to replace the U-joints on my '91 Explorer's driveshaft, but the u-joint yoke bolted to the differential input shaft uses a very strange bolt, and I can't find the tool to remove it....therefore I can't remove the driveshaft to swap universal joints.

The bolt appears to have an "external" torx head on it...it requires something similar to a regular standard or metric socket, but with a torx pattern on the inside.

Here's a link to a 6 point external torx socket:
http://www.wihatools.com/773serie.htm

But, there's a further complication...it's a 12 point bolt, so it requires a 12 point external torx socket. Now, normal 6 point external torx sockets can be found...but I can't seem to find a 12 point external torx socket anywhere. Napa lists them, but doesn't have them in-stock.

Am I missing something? It seems like Ford would have made the driveshaft easier to service...does it require a special tool from the dealership?

I'll post a pic of the bolt later tonight...don't have access to my digital camera at the moment.

Thanks for your help...

 

[410Fortune]

ITS A TORX BIT, FORGET THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOLT HEAD, USE A torx bit on the inside.

spray it with liquid wrench first, they can be a bear when left untouched for 15 years....

sorry about the caps.
the torx size needed is posted on this forum let me try a search for you but T-25 comes to mind....

 

[410Fortune]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165588&highlight=torx+size

 

[boominXplorer]

12 point 12 MM socket. Sears has them as well as many other places

 

[410Fortune]

Hommie the 12mm 12 point if for the rear d shaft and for the rear flange ion teh front d shaft, he is asking about where the front D shaft attaches tot eh front axle yoke, using straps to hold the u joint caps to the axle flange
it uses a torx bit

Once when I broke the torx bit inside the bolt I used vice grips and a torch to remove one, that was fun....

 

[RangerX]

he is asking about where the front D shaft attaches tot eh front axle yoke,QUOTE]
Where do you see that in his post?

I'm with Boomin on this one, 12mm, 12 point. Sorry Jamie. :flipoff2:

We'll see when he posts back.

Oh, welcome to the forum, parks.

 

[410Fortune]

but the u-joint yoke bolted to the differential input shaft uses a very strange bolt, and I can't find the tool to remove it....therefore I can't remove the driveshaft to swap universal joints.

The bolt appears to have an "external" torx head on it...it requires something similar to a regular standard or metric socket, but with a torx pattern on the inside.

Ah I see, well two things threw me off
Firt the U joint yoke attaches to the diff input: this to me sounds like where the front U joint attaches to the diff with straps over the end caps, but I guess he could be talking about the rear pinion flange with the U joint inside it

then he said with a torx pattern on the inside, I thought he meant the bolt, not the socket.

So yeah either way you read it the question has been answered, 12mm 12 point box wrench and a torx bit for the front d shaft U joint straps.

Bill you can flip me off anytime, I take it as a compliment! Hows the ranger these days? Wifes tranny?

 

[RangerX]

You may end up being right, Jamie, but those 12 point bolts throw off lots of people. They DO look like a torx bit.

Ranger's good, wife's Ex's trans is good, everting good! Come visit, you got a co-driver now!

<hijack over>

 

[parksgm]

Alright guys...thanks for the quick replies. Looks like I'll try to the 12pt. 12mm socket first (yes, I should have probably done that before posting, but it really didn't look like a simple 12 pt. bolt).

If that doesn't solve it, then I'll post the pics. Speaking of which, how does one post pics on the forum? On other forums that I'm a member of, I can attach .jpgs from the post dialog box...do I have to externally host the photos and provide a link here?

Thanks for the help and the welcome...these internet forums are an absolutely fantastic resource when it comes to detailed technical info on a particular topic, and I hope I can contribute here in the future.

I'll post my results after I try the 12mm socket.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

The 12 point will get it, use some penetrating oil as well, those bolts catch a lot of road spray and can be difficult to remove.

 

[parksgm]

The 12 point will get it, use some penetrating oil as well, those bolts catch a lot of road spray and can be difficult to remove.

...and we have a winner! The 12 point 12mm works. Thanks for all the advice. I've put some penetrating oil on it, and will attempt to loosen it tomorrow with my 1/2 drive ratchet.

Thanks again...next time, I'll know.

 

[boominXplorer]

Blah Blah Blah I'm a post padder and I read quickly

 

[Brutus93]

One additional note... when I removed the 8.8 rearend from my Mustang (essentially same as the Ex) I got the 12mm 12pt socket, but I still could not get it to budge for the life of me. The ironic thing is that I took a propane torch and heated the bolt-head for 10-15 seconds, and then saw a puff of smoke come from the bolt head, put the socket on and it came out like butter. I think they used threadlocker during assembly, and the heat freed it up... a propane torch usually doesn't do much if it is rusted together... usually need alot more heat. I removed all 4 bolts the same way, and every one freed up just as easy. Good luck!

 

[410Fortune]

hahaha boomin you know my only goal in life is to pad my post count hahaha

They do have thread locker on these bolts, you will see the blue stripe.

 

[parksgm]

One additional note... when I removed the 8.8 rearend from my Mustang (essentially same as the Ex) I got the 12mm 12pt socket, but I still could not get it to budge for the life of me. The ironic thing is that I took a propane torch and heated the bolt-head for 10-15 seconds, and then saw a puff of smoke come from the bolt head, put the socket on and it came out like butter. I think they used threadlocker during assembly, and the heat freed it up... a propane torch usually doesn't do much if it is rusted together... usually need alot more heat. I removed all 4 bolts the same way, and every one freed up just as easy. Good luck!

Thanks for the tip...unfortunately I didn't see it in time :-(

I was similarly unable to budge the bolts with a 3/8 inch socket, 1/2 inch socket, or impact wrench...and I thought I was stuck. So, I went to Home Depot, bought 1 inch x 12 inch and 1 1/4 inch by 12 inch sections of steel pipe that fit inside each other, and slipped the 1 inch end over the open end of my 12mm box end wrench, with the box end on the bolt. Boom...instant telescoping cheater bar with plenty of torque to loosen the bolts.

Now I'm working on pressing the ujoint bearings out...that also seems to take more pressure than I'm comfortable with. We'll see how things go.

 

[parksgm]

just a follow up note here...

After removing the driveshaft (using a 12mm 12point shallow socket or box end wrench as described above), I was able to press out the ujoint bearings fairly easily using a the C press tool from Harbor Freight (for those that are interested, there's a thread elsewhere on this forum with good pics of the tool...do a search for ujoint and Harbor, and you should come up with something). I was also able to press the new joints in without issue.

However, I was NOT able to fully seat the snap rings that the retain the bearing in their grooves because the bearing assembly I bought form AutoZone was slightly (like .01 in or so) too long. At first, I thought that the bearings were not completely seated, so attempted to more firmly seat them with more pressure...however, I still could not get the snap rings in, and there was so much pressure on the bearing caps of the ujoint that the joint was binding pretty severely.

As I had time obligations at work the next day, I was forced to take the disassembled drive shaft to my local mechanic and have him press the ujoints in (using a part from a different supplier, of course!). Total bill was $98...$60 for 3/4 hr. of labor and about $30 for the parts. I would have prefered to have done it myself, of course, but work comes first. In any case, he was able to install the new joints and snap rings without issue. When I picked the driveshaft up, I asked him if he had heard a similar problem with parts in the past...he replied that replacement part quality was always a problem, so my experience was not out of the ordinary.

Bolted the driveshaft back in the truck after cleaning the bolts and applying a little bit of removable threadlocker, and the driveshaft clunk when shifting into reverse, squeak at low speeds, and most importantly, vibration problem from 45-70+ is COMPLETELY gone. The vibration was so severe before replacement that I thought at least one cylinder was missing.

So, all in all, a success story, even if I did spend $60 on labor, that's better than the $112 to $150 in labor I would have paid had I just dropped the truck off.

 

[Bwana Bob]

U-joint replacement

Wow! This thread is providential! I am in the same boat. I've been getting intermittent squeaks at low speed and just yesterday (12th) it started vibrating under acceleration. The truck shakes, especially at highway speeds. I'm sure its the rear U-joint. I'm planning on doing it myself, if I can get it apart.

Thanks for the info on the pinion flange socket tool. A co-worker remembered that it is 12 point metric, but could not remember the size. I presume that this socket can be bought at Autozone, NAPA, or Sears Hardware.

Do I need a different tool to disconnect the driveshaft from the transfer case? A Torx? What size? I think my 92 has a slip joint and boot at the front end of the driveshaft, so maybe I don't have to unbolt it from the transfer case.

Autozone lists the U-joint part number as 1-0153BF, but if it doesn't fit right, should I avoid Autozone and buy from NAPA or Ford?

I need the truck this weekend, so I plan to gather up the parts and tools this Friday, but put off the job until Monday, when I'll take a vacation day and allow all day to do it. However, now that its vibrating, how long can I run it before it explodes and drops the drive shaft on the interstate ?

Thanks, guys!


Bob

 

[parksgm]

Wow! This thread is providential! I am in the same boat. I've been getting intermittent squeaks at low speed and just yesterday (12th) it started vibrating under acceleration. The truck shakes, especially at highway speeds. I'm sure its the rear U-joint. I'm planning on doing it myself, if I can get it apart.

Thanks for the info on the pinion flange socket tool. A co-worker remembered that it is 12 point metric, but could not remember the size. I presume that this socket can be bought at Autozone, NAPA, or Sears Hardware.

Do I need a different tool to disconnect the driveshaft from the transfer case? A Torx? What size? I think my 92 has a slip joint and boot at the front end of the driveshaft, so maybe I don't have to unbolt it from the transfer case.

Autozone lists the U-joint part number as 1-0153BF, but if it doesn't fit right, should I avoid Autozone and buy from NAPA or Ford?

I need the truck this weekend, so I plan to gather up the parts and tools this Friday, but put off the job until Monday, when I'll take a vacation day and allow all day to do it. However, now that its vibrating, how long can I run it before it explodes and drops the drive shaft on the interstate ?

Thanks, guys!


Bob

Alrighty, here's a bit more detail then:

I assume the socket can be bought at Sears/autozone/etc. It's a common size metric socket. However, I now realize that I mistyped earlier...I actually used a 12mm 12pt box end wrench to remove the pinion flange bolts because even with a shallow (short) 12mm socket, there was significant interference between the head of the socket and the driveshaft. Also, those bolts have quite a bit of torque on them, and had threadlocking compound, so I wasn't able to put enough force on them to budge them at all with a ratchet and socket...in fact, I broke the internal mechanism of a cheap ratchet when I put too much torque on. So...I ended up using the 12mm box end wrench because it was thinner and didn't have the clearance problems, and I was able to slip the end of a 1 inch pipe over the end of the wrench, effectively extending the wrench handle, and markedly increasing me leverage. Even then, I had to stand beside the truck to develop sufficient leverage to break the bolts loose...but they did come loose, and showed no signs of slippage or breakage from the wrench.

If you have a transfer case, then I guess you have a 4x4...my Explorer is a 4x2, so I'm not sure about how the drive shaft attaches to the transfer case. My driveshaft simply slipped off (easily too!) the output shaft of the tranny toward the rear of the car once I had disconnected the pinion flange and lowered the back end of the drive shaft.

I don't have the AutoZone part number handy, and I really can't globally condemn their parts, but I can say that the parts I bought didn't fit well, and my mechanic told me that he stopped using Autozone and started using NAPA a few months back for much the same reason. So, your call! (I've also had 3 sets of front brake rotors from AutoZone go bad from premature and excessive wear...one of which was on this Explorer, and had been installed only one year ago. So I'm becoming biased against their parts!)

As for longevity of your damaged joint, I can say that I drove my truck for months with progressively worsening symptoms like those you're describing. I wouldn't do the same again...I feel lucky.

Hope that info helps. Post here again if you need more info or help.

 

[Bwana Bob]

U-joint saga continues..

Thank you, parksgm. Good suggestion on the box wrench. I will also try penetrating oil and a propane torch as others have suggested.

I have dealt with Autozone, mainly because of their tool lending program, which is handy, but the NAPA store is closer to me, so I use them more frequently.

I did an internet search and found several U-joints, so now I'm not sure which is the correct one:

Autozone search: 1-0153BF "Brute Force" made by NEAPCO. However, a search of the NEAPCO site lists 1-0153BF as being for a Ranger front drive shaft and a 2-4800BF for the Explorer rear driveshaft pinion flange. 2-4800 is listed on Autozone for the Explorer, but doesn't come up in the search.

NAPA search: 6 hits, some are "heavy duty", some are greaseable, which accounts for the differences, but some list different dimensions:

All that show specs say 1.063" O.D. Some list a "Fit/I.D. of 3.22", but others show 3.62". What does this mean and which is correct? I will ask at NAPA; maybe their catalog shows more detail. I need to get this right the first time, otherwise I'll be walking back to the store!

Thank you.

Bwana Bob

 

[BobWeiss]

I just finished doing the u-joints on my explorer 2 weeks ago and I changed every one of them. They are all the 0153BF type and I got them from Advanced Auto. So far so good.

The problem I ran into was the rear u-joint did not seat correctly (the needle bearings fell apart on the inside of the cup and I didn't pick up on it in time) and I cranked on the u-joint tool way too hard and snapped the yoke in half. I had to get a new on from Ford for $58!

Those bolts that hold the yoke the rear axle were on TIGHT!! I had to use a cheater bar as well laying on my back...that wasn't fun!

Bob W.