Hub disassembly when installing 4" Superlift?!

[kythri]

Went to the dealer today to order some stiffer torsion bars in preparation for the lift install this weekend, and tried to order some o-rings/seals per the install instructions from Superlift - specifically, the following:

Ford suggests that these factory front axle components be replaced every time the front hub assembly is disassembled. Although we have found that if the parts are in good condition and carefully removed, they can be reused. There are two each of these Ford part numbers per vehicle:

#F87Z-1177-AA..... O-ring for wheel bearing hub-to-knuckle
#F87Z-1177-BA.... O-ring for locking hub-to-wheel bearing hub
#F87Z-1190-AA.... axle half shaft main seal

I'm friendly with the parts manager there, and he's also an Gen2 Explorer owner, so I usually deal with him for Explorer stuff. He thought something was odd about these parts. He happened to have one of the auto hubs on the shelf, and we looked at that, and it's a complete sealed assembly - neither of us can figure out exactly why the hub would be being disassembled for the installation of the lift.

Removed from the knuckle, and re-installed to the new knuckle, yet - but taking the assembly apart?

Can anyone shed any light on this? I'm a firm believer in doing all of the easy preventative maintenance that I can, and if the parts above are something that I've got easy access to when I'm doing the lift install, then by all means, I want to install them, but I'm starting to think that someone at Superlift half-assed the install instructions, and copy/pasted a bunch of non-applicable stuff from the Gen1 install sheet...

Any help/clarification would be much appreciated!!

 

[IZwack]

Are you sure you didnt get a Superlift for a 1st gen?

Because I dont think the 2nd gens use any type of seal to interface the hub assembly to the knuckle -- the hub assembly literally just bolts onto the knuckle (3 bolts).

 

[gijoecam]

Sounds like Ranger parts to me... What's the lift kit for exactly?

-Joe

 

[kythri]

I ordered the K494 lift kit from truckaddons.com (they'll beat anyone's prices, including sale prices - just sad I wasn't able to order the kit while 4wheelparts.com was doing their "truck stimulus sale" - I'd have saved $150 from truckaddons.com

Anyhow, the Superlift website for the applicable kit shows these instructions:

http://www.superlift.com/instructions/9637.pdf

That's where I got that information...

Like I said, I think we're dealing with some shoddy half-assed instructions on the part of Superlift.

 

[kythri]

Are you sure you didnt get a Superlift for a 1st gen?

Because I dont think the 2nd gens use any type of seal to interface the hub assembly to the knuckle -- the hub assembly literally just bolts onto the knuckle (3 bolts).

Correct - or at least, from what I've seen. The hub assembly I played with at the dealership yesterday looked like exactly what you describe.