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Vacuum hub to live axle       #: 1588
 Moderated by: NoPower, Mike69, MaDMaXX,
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 Posted: Mon Apr 15th, 2019 06:27 am
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black06xlt
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 Ditching the vacuum hubs in favor of a live axle setup. Parts list is small and readily available.
1. Left and right knuckles
2. Left and right hub bearings
3. Left and right axle shafts




Remove the left and right vacuum hubs, knuckles, and axle shafts. It's very important to cap off the vacuum lines going to the knuckles. Replace with parts listed above. Tourqe all bolts according to specs. For non abs trucks simply cut the abs wire as close to the wheel bearing as possible. 

Parts can be found at any salvage yard or if you choose new any parts supplier. You will parts from a 95-01 explorer or any non vacuum hub ranger with the 2 piece right upper ball joint. I will post more detailed pictures of my conversion as it take place. Stay tuned...



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 Posted: Tue Apr 16th, 2019 01:24 pm
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Scrambler82
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 Which truck are you doing this on, thinking 2000 back ?

I watching, good project !

I would luv to get rid of the Hubs on my '03... not sure there are parts to go manual hubs !

Luck to ya, Ltr !



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Ltr,
2003 EDGE, Std Cab, Steppie, E4 Red, 5sp, 4x
5" SuperLift, 33" x 12.50 x 15"
Hurst Shifter
Mod'd Backrack to fit Steppie
Front and Rear Bumpers by Custom 4x4 Fabrication, OK; now Mike's Welding and Fabrication.
Working on more Mods, just need more time, longer days would work !
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 Posted: Tue Apr 16th, 2019 01:56 pm
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black06xlt
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 Doing this on my 98



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 Posted: Tue Apr 16th, 2019 09:20 pm
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Scrambler82
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 Ok on the '98

Good Luck on your project !



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Ltr,
2003 EDGE, Std Cab, Steppie, E4 Red, 5sp, 4x
5" SuperLift, 33" x 12.50 x 15"
Hurst Shifter
Mod'd Backrack to fit Steppie
Front and Rear Bumpers by Custom 4x4 Fabrication, OK; now Mike's Welding and Fabrication.
Working on more Mods, just need more time, longer days would work !
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 Posted: Fri Apr 19th, 2019 08:42 pm
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black06xlt
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And as easy as bolting a few parts on conversion is complete. No modification needed. Live axle swap



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 Posted: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 05:13 pm
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aroundincircles
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 I need/want to do this on my 98. I know you just finished. follow up if you notice any big difference in driving/fuel economy, please!.



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 Posted: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 06:32 pm
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black06xlt
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 Driving it handles no different. The only change was a small decrease in fuel mileage. But not enough to worry about. The benefits from this swap are more then the cons. Parts are cheaper easier to find and 4wd works better



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 Posted: Sun Apr 28th, 2019 12:52 am
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Chewy_719
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 I will be doing this. Just replaced the ball joints on my truck and found out all the vacuum lines are rotted out. I wish there was a why to use actual lockers though.
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 Posted: Sun Apr 28th, 2019 07:45 am
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black06xlt
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 You can trace out all the lines but it was getting dark so I just capped the by the suspension



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 Posted: Wed Mar 11th, 2020 10:12 pm
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Scrambler82
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 black06xlt wrote:
You can trace out all the lines but it was getting dark so I just capped the by the suspension
Black06, 

How did this turn out ?

You mentioned losing some mpg, funny, are you using manual locking hubs ?

Ltr



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Ltr,
2003 EDGE, Std Cab, Steppie, E4 Red, 5sp, 4x
5" SuperLift, 33" x 12.50 x 15"
Hurst Shifter
Mod'd Backrack to fit Steppie
Front and Rear Bumpers by Custom 4x4 Fabrication, OK; now Mike's Welding and Fabrication.
Working on more Mods, just need more time, longer days would work !
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 Posted: Thu Mar 12th, 2020 09:31 am
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410customs

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 I just did this on a 98

Only 98-99 Rangers had PVH
You are converting from a automatic vacuum hub setup to a live axle setup = NO MORE HUBS
This means both half shafts (CV axles) are spinning all the time, the front diff ring and pinion gear is spinning all the time.
The 2000-11 Rangers, the 97-01 Explorers, 97-04 sport and sport trac are all this way from the factory

If you remove all of the vacuum lines from the valve down to both wheel hubs and then remove the valve itself (below pass headlight)
Then you will be able to route the vacuum line that feeds the hub controller right back into itself, remove the "T" and simply plug the two lines together
Will see if I can get a picture

Also you do not have to swap the entire knuckle, just the wheel bearing and CV axle.....but if your donor is a later model Explorer sport, sport trac or later model ranger the knuckle will have provisions for larger rotors...so in that case you will need the knuckle and larger rotors to take advatange of the bigger brakes



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 Posted: Thu Mar 12th, 2020 11:46 am
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Scrambler82
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 When I first read about the Vacuum Delete Procedure on the 98-99 Ranger my first thought was, I need them NOW !
Too bad some company didn't build a manual hub for that range of Rangers... I would have bought them, I think manual hubs would have given us Ranger owners a few more mpg.

Ltr



____________________
Ltr,
2003 EDGE, Std Cab, Steppie, E4 Red, 5sp, 4x
5" SuperLift, 33" x 12.50 x 15"
Hurst Shifter
Mod'd Backrack to fit Steppie
Front and Rear Bumpers by Custom 4x4 Fabrication, OK; now Mike's Welding and Fabrication.
Working on more Mods, just need more time, longer days would work !
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 Posted: Thu Mar 12th, 2020 11:57 am
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410customs

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 they do make manual hubs for the 98-99 Ranger
Problem is they are not very strong, off road with big tires they just do not hold up

The 95-96 Explorer V6 came with a CAD (vacuum operated center axle disconnect) as part of the front axle/diff
This device disconnects the passenger front CV axle from the rest of the system, this way the front ring and pinion and front driveshaft do not spin
The problem with this is the differential will not clear the v8 oil pan easily, and they are getting harder to find.

The live axle setup works just fine, the gain in MPG is negligible, not a large gain to be had IMO



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 Posted: Thu Mar 12th, 2020 01:49 pm
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aroundincircles
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 I went with manual hubs in the short term, running 31" tires. They have been great. Plenty of off road trips with them without issue. It is a temp solution, but I'm not unhappy with it.



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 Posted: Thu Mar 12th, 2020 04:24 pm
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410customs

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 Good to hear! 
that's the cool thing about building Rangers, so many different options to keep every build different!



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 Posted: Thu Mar 12th, 2020 08:21 pm
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black06xlt
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 Scrambler82 wrote:
black06xlt wrote:

You can trace out all the lines but it was getting dark so I just capped the by the suspension
Black06, 

How did this turn out ?

You mentioned losing some mpg, funny, are you using manual locking hubs ?

Ltr
It turned out great.... I did loose a little mpg but after the 5 speed swap I gained it back. But when it was automatic the loss wasnt really noticable



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