1969 F250 4x4 Highboy 7/9 rubicon

[1971ford]

They came from i think it was seatbelt pro's. Cost a good chunk of change. $240 or something. The side's are 3-points with retractors and the middle is a typical lap belt. All buckles are chrome lever release. I love them oh so much.

[1971ford]

So I knew highboy's have a lot of frame flex, but i had to find out for myself. And now that i know, it's safe to say i won't be going on that trail again until I get new leaf packs that will allow the axles to articulate and not so much the frame and bed. Look at the tailgate.
pics here http://fordification.com/forum/viewtopi ... 2&start=15

[1971ford]

So i noticed water dripping from my closed knuckle 44 (the ball, it was coming through the wiper seal). And my front left brake squeaked, and the truck shook when i hit the brakes hard. So i began tear down of the front axle.

First i noticed the hub was filled with water. Great... I'll clean it out, new grease and be good to go.
Then water kept coming out the axle shaft area. okay, wtf.
Then I pulled the wiper seal off and i nearly drowned in a waterfull of water coming down at me.

And the moral of the story is, don't use your truck as a boat if it has a closed knuckle 44, unlesss you plan on full hub/knuckle tear down.

Perfect time to swap in a open knuckle, high pinion, disc brake d44 but i have to spend that $600 on the race truck and not the 4x4.
So for now, new wiper seals, full knuckle/hub/axle shaft cleanout and re-assembly. And NO MORE water crossings

Oh and a buddy of my boss's gave me a complete NOS HD Ford locking hub!!!

[fireguywtc]

Can I ask where you got your axle wipers from? do you have a part#? I know mine need to be replaced, but havent done anything to warrant an immediate change. Thanks Ryan

[1971ford]

Good ol broncograveyard is your friend, bookmark it and it will be one of your favorite sitse (unless you already know about it)

broncograveyard.com

do you have a d44 HD (12 bolts on wipers) or standard d44 (8 bolts)? Or you can just look at the size of the lockouts, you probably know what you have already.
It matters, just make sure you order the right one.

I have the HD 12 bolt so these
http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-217 ... arge-.html


non HD 8 bolt
http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-217 ... mall-.html

I originally thought (until yesterday) that replacing the wipers would be a HUGE PITA and you would have to pull the whole ball apart but it could not be any more easier than it is.
Pop the 8 or 12 bolts off and there you have it. THe wiper seal is in your hands. Behind it, if you haven't been in there before, is 40 year old mud,water,maybe some oil/grease remainders.
Clean it out best you can and get a flashlight and check out the top and bottom bearings. mine luckily looked great so i packed them with grease and put everything back together.

I called up Dustin (averagef250) and he was a big help, even with his limited knowledge on the closed knuckle 44's as he hasn't dealt with one in a long time.

[fireguywtc]

Thanks for the info and the explanation. I wasn't aware of how to do it and now I feel better knowing it should be farily simple. I have heard of bronco graveyard, but not familure with it at all. I will check it out. I am almost certain I have the HD 44 with 12 bolts, but will have to check to make sure. I know my truck is the 7700 gvwr and had 6 leafs over the 5 most of them have. Thanks again and keep up the good work and updates!

[1971ford]

You have a D44 HD (12 bolts). Just looked at your project thread.

I tore down the passenger side today and found that someone had already swapped out the original wiper for the style that broncograveyard sells. Why they didn't do both sides i have no idea. The side with the newer setup had significantly less water but still had quite a bit so I cleaned it out and re-greased it. The original type is a one piece deal and the newer style is several pieces, works much better.

This is the passenger side, that i went through today.
It has two separate plates, a one piece felt, and a one piece rubber wiper that is nice and thick and fits nicely.



Pulled off the warn hub and put on the brand new NOS Ford lockout assembly! Now both sides are Ford Lockouts and i have a spare warn lockout.Ford lockout feels much more heavy duty. I dont think the warn lockout is enough weight to be a paper weight.
Also washed the truck bottomside and outside.

[fomocoguy]

It's nice to see that they have new wiper seals inthe larger size. They were discontinued and unavailable for about 2 years from dana, so they must have sourced a new manufacturer or dana decided to start another production run. Did you see a brand name on the kits? I couldn't get them and ended up drilling the sight plugs and fitting them with grease fittings. I just pump about 10 pumps of grease in there at every oil change.

[1971ford]

Yeah its nice they're being made again.
I didn't get the new wiper seals (after re-reading my posts it kinda sounds like i did), just cleaned up the insides and decided to stay out of water for the time being until i get new wiper seals or new HP d44 axle.

I ordered a ton of 2x4 .120 steel tube today from the shop, for the highboy.
I wonder what that could be for...

[1971ford]

Beefy C channel boat anchor. Bolted in with 4 9/16 Grade 8 bolts. Beefy because it will probably help support the tow hitch and may put tow points on it depending on how my flatbed sits.

$23 in stupid bolts.

[BigBlueF250]

NO!!!!!! NOT A FLATBED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1971ford]

Yeah, a flatbed.

If i dont like it in the long run I'll drop my bed back on and sell the flatbed. It will take me a long time to decided if i like or not. I'll always have my bed to drop back on. Right now i just dont have the money and time my box bed needs.
Flatbed will be very similar to Dustin's

I think flatbeds look great on lifted 4x4's. After I pick up 33's or 35's for the highboy and lift it a few inches, It should look nice.

[Eric L]

Flatbeds are OK.. if ya dont mind having to tied down EVERYTHING you might haul.. I cant bring myself to do the Mustang tank due to having the filler in the bed (a flatbed might be able to fill from the rear), I will someday look closely for another option for our trucks.. might have to be custom

[rjewkes]

just rotat the tank and get the hose that goes wher you need it.

[BigBlueF250]

Yeah, a flatbed.

If i dont like it in the long run I'll drop my bed back on and sell the flatbed. It will take me a long time to decided if i like or not. I'll always have my bed to drop back on. Right now i just dont have the money and time my box bed needs.
Flatbed will be very similar to Dustin's

I think flatbeds look great on lifted 4x4's. After I pick up 33's or 35's for the highboy and lift it a few inches, It should look nice.

[ Image ]

OK. Gotta admit I DO like the looks of that one