I know it's been a while and I hate those people that resurrect old threads
, but just thought I would post how the job went - for the benefit of those who might do a search and come up with this thread.
Everything went well. The tires were filled, so I used a hoist to remove them. Once they were off I removed the "ring" of bolts and slid the axle right out. Getting to the inner seal was no problem.
However, getting to the outer seal required removing the axle lock nut. They were torqued to almost 250ft/lbs. I tried every tool I could think of, but it just couldn't be done without the special tool from Ford - it's like a
very long socket that fits over the axle. I talked to the dealer about borrowing theirs, but it required a 3/4" drive impactor and all I have is 1/2". So, I broke down and took both axles/hubs in to the dealer - they charged 2 hrs labor @ $68.50/hr. to change the outer seals and repack the bearings. I wasn't all that happy, but I guess it wasn't that bad.
After that it was just a matter of sliding the axles back in and bolting things back together. Also did fluid changes, and other misc maintenance, but overall everything went smoothly.
Thanks again TBN for the great help!