I am going FULL manual 4WD running gear, will F150 hubs fit an Exp?

[Dude13450]

I found 3 rigs with the 1354m (92 and 93 Exp and a 91 Ranger).

The 92 had been previously removed along with the transmission and was just sitting in the "trunk", if you will. I'm guessing the dude was just after the flexplate or something, because I went to check the transfer to see if it was worth getting or not. Here's the rundown, all gears work, no funky noise when turning by hand (obviously, under torque of the engine is going to be a different story...), no excessive play between the front and rear yokes at all! This lead me to believe that the chain was nice and taut and only minimally loose if at all (which judging by the lack of rattling as I manhandled it to the checkout counter almost a quarter mile, I think the chain is a-okay).

I planning of doing away with any potential loose ends in my 4WD system; this is why I am replacing my t-case with a manual, and thus why I am ultimately looking for manual hubs for a decent price.

I can get manual hubs for $10 a pop at my local junkyard, no explorers OR rangers had any hubs at all (they were ALL stripped down to the bare knuckles, even the 2002 they had). SO, my only question is: will the manual hubs and spindle nuts off a 5 lug F150/250, Bronco, or Bronco II fit a 1996 Explorer?

 

[RangerX]

None of those will work for you.

 

[Dude13450]

None of those will work for you.

So the hubs have to be from an Explorer/Ranger?

 

[colintrax]

Do a search on here, you need ranger cvs to go with manual hubs

 

[RangerX]

Only 91-94 Explorers had locking hubs, whether auto or manual. Your 2nd Gen doesn't have them. Like colintrax mentioned, it may be possible to convert to an aftermarket hub made for late 90's Rangers, but I'm thinking it only works on Explorers that are a couple years newer than yours.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

I always wanted to do a 4406 and manual hubs on mine so I could stop everything up front from spinning, diff, CV's driveshaft etc. Less wear and better fuel mileage but it seems to be quite a task to convert to manual hubs on a gen 2.

 

[Dude13450]

Only 91-94 Explorers had locking hubs, whether auto or manual. Your 2nd Gen doesn't have them. Like colintrax mentioned, it may be possible to convert to an aftermarket hub made for late 90's Rangers, but I'm thinking it only works on Explorers that are a couple years newer than yours.

So are my front wheels permenantly engaged then and just awaiting input from the front driveshaft?

 

[delexploder]

99 ranger half shafts hub bearings and seals and the circlips ,and AVM hubs, but if you have a 96 you most likely have the factory vacuum disconnect on the passenger side if you have the six cylinder,

 

[1997XLTRollover]

So are my front wheels permenantly engaged then and just awaiting input from the front driveshaft?

Depends on the options your truck has but in a nut shell for a universal answer yes.

 

[gmanpaint]

96 has the CAD front axle housing. This vac disconnect axle is activated when you turn the 4wd switch on the dash, which also controls the shift motor on your stock 4405 t-case. You have a built in "hub" action into the axle already, no need for anything else.
You can install a lunchbox locker into this axle, with a simple mod to the vac switch.

97+ switched to a straight live axle housing. This version is what others install the AVM hubs onto.

4.0L:
If you swap to a 1354 Manual t-case, you will have reliable control over your 4wd system. But... if you do this, you have to use the dash switch to control the front axle engagement as well.

5.0L AWD:
If you swap to a 4406 manual t-case, you have everything mentioned above, plus a better crawl ratio. You also have to change drivelines to fit the bigger t-case.

Doing the swap, you wont need to do anything else to the axles, as you lose control trac, and only static power will be applied to the front diff. (Your stock t-case sends pulses of power in 10% increments when the ABS senses wheel slip)

Hubs are spline & lug space matched to your specific vehicle generation/model. You cant just interchange them from one gen/model to another. They match the splines on the axles, the bolting patterns on the knuckles, ABS line/connectors, and match the rear axle lug pattern. F-150, 250, 350 are all larger, and BII's & some Rangers are smaller.

Bottom line is, you can't use any factory made hubs, other then what was made for your vehicle stock. You don't need manual hubs with the CAD axle.

You can turn off the ABS if you want the t-case to not operate 4wd and send power to the front axle, but this is your choice to make and I do not advocate such an action to anybody, for a few reasons I choose not to discuss here.

 

[Dude13450]

What is the easiest/fastest way to remove and reisntall the transfer case? I got the driveshafts out, VSS unplugged, unplugged the motor, etc. Everything is ready to come out theoretically. I have the floor pan removed (over the transmission tunnel), I found the upper two bolts but they won't budge (I don't have a working compressor for my impact tools, btw).

And then there is the issue of reinstalling everything. I am doing this via a one-man team (myself), and personally the ground clearence is a little lacking (I probably should have jacked up the rear).

 

[gmanpaint]

This is a job that can be done alone if your strong enough. If you can bench press 75 lbs, and hold it for a few minutes without dropping it on your head/chest, this will be a cake walk job. If you even hesitate at that for a split second, find help, and/or use a floor jack.

There is only 5 bolts holding the t-case to the trans. The top bolt sits at 12:00, and it has a wire connector ring on it, so be careful not to pull the wire. I have been able to just feel for the bolt, and use a ratchet wrench to remove it. Don't forget about the brown wire. You can remove it from the connector or cut it.

Now the bottom bolt doesn't always want to come out after it is un-threaded all the way, as it hits the cross member. This is not a big deal, leave it alone and let it come out when you drop the case.

Ok so for dropping the case, it's best to get the vehicle up high as you can and supported well with good solid stands. Because you have to pull back, to get it off the trans spline shaft, then turn it before you can lower it. if your alone, and don't feel like the Hulk at that moment, you want enough room to get under it with a floor jack, and be able to manipulate it by hand. Just get it clear and drop it slow and easy.

Have a bucket or pan handy to catch the trans fluid that comes out of the tail housing. It can be as much as a quart, and make a mess. Be sure to clean any old gasket materials if any is on there.

This is a 20 minute job after the shafts are removed. It's way easier then it sounds.

 

[Dude13450]

This is a job that can be done alone if your strong enough. If you can bench press 75 lbs, and hold it for a few minutes without dropping it on your head/chest, this will be a cake walk job. If you even hesitate at that for a split second, find help, and/or use a floor jack.

There is only 5 bolts holding the t-case to the trans. The top bolt sits at 12:00, and it has a wire connector ring on it, so be careful not to pull the wire. I have been able to just feel for the bolt, and use a ratchet wrench to remove it. Don't forget about the brown wire. You can remove it from the connector or cut it.


Ok so for dropping the case... Just get it clear and drop it slow and easy.

This is a 20 minute job after the shafts are removed. It's way easier then it sounds.

This is a 20 minute job if you have the always handy air/electric tools. Like I said, my top bolts wouldn't budge originally. The top bolts took me 20 minutes alone from lack of room in the transmission tunnel (and socket kept felling of the bolts). The bottom three took me about another 20 minutes to do all together. Removing the case was like putting coolwhip on pumpkin pie, but installing the new one...........Let's just say that I couldn't do it even using my floor jack to hoist it up - I had to grab my neighbour to help with the lifting because there is just too much going on at once for one person to do it, IMO (i.e. lifting the transfer case, getting the input/output shafts to meet and then getting the splines to align while trying to push forward was a nightmare even with two people!). PS: I can bench around 200, so lifting it was not an issue, it what mostly the awkward arm positions that nearly made it impossible.


Of course, it probably would have helped if I had put my car on my ramps before taking it apart....would've given another 14 ish inches of ground clearance.

Also, I'm not sure what exactly you're talking about with the top bolt being at 12 o'clock. The t-case bolts are at 10, 2, 4:30, 6, and 7:30 and not of them had a wiring connector on or around them.

 

[gmanpaint]

I don't use air tools at all for the t-case removal. I guess after doing this a few times it gets easier. I lost track of how many times I have done this job, and I'm sure the first time I did it, it took longer. I only use a wrench, not sockets, but it is a ratcheting box wrench, so that helps.

As far as benching it, like I said, get it high and on stands so you have the room to manipulate it. Trust me, this makes all the difference with both removing & installing. Your arms are not locked if you don't have the room, and 75 lbs can feel like 400 lbs after a few mins.

When I said 12:00, all I meant was it is the top bolt that had the wire, and as I said, I felt for it, not looked at it. If the wire ring was not on it, all that means it was removed at one time, and not put back on. It's up there loose is all.

Believe it or not, I am just trying to help you.

 

[Dude13450]

I don't use air tools at all for the t-case removal. I guess after doing this a few times it gets easier. I lost track of how many times I have done this job, and I'm sure the first time I did it, it took longer. I only use a wrench, not sockets, but it is a ratcheting box wrench, so that helps.

As far as benching it, like I said, get it high and on stands so you have the room to manipulate it. Trust me, this makes all the difference with both removing & installing. Your arms are not locked if you don't have the room, and 75 lbs can feel like 400 lbs after a few mins.

When I said 12:00, all I meant was it is the top bolt that had the wire, and as I said, I felt for it, not looked at it. If the wire ring was not on it, all that means it was removed at one time, and not put back on. It's up there loose is all.

Believe it or not, I am just trying to help you.

Never said you weren't. The ratcheting wrench would made remove the bolts a million times faster, but alas, my 13mm ratcheting had stripped gearing so it wasn't doing anything at all. I have to use a crappy 6in long 1/2in box wrench and loosing the bolts all together was a PITA with a wrench that small...

Hopefully, my gasket sealant/maker goo worked and I won't have to take everything back off to replace the gasket.

I have yet to do the front and rear driveshafts (those are being installed in the morning), and then after that, I just have to deal with my vacuum disconnect which has, to their infamy, stopped working.