Sho axle difference?

[Pablo sho]

Hello, I'm new here. Just bought a 96 sho. Has some clunking noises in the front. Think I have narrowed it down to the bearing. Pulled it apart and thought I would replace the axle as well since I'm there. All the axles I'm finding are pretty cheesy compared to the original and are a little different. I'm about ready to put the original back in cuz the new ones just don't look right. I did a few searches and didn't find anything else addressing this. What are all your thoughts? Thank Paul

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Hi welcome to the site. Hope you will have fun with your new car (and not too much troubles).

I remember when I bought mine and I must advise you to check also the subframe bushings which with time will become loose creating a front clunk too. There are 4 but the 2 front seems to loose faster.

Someone here searched for this in the last month have seen this ?
https://shoforum.com/index.php?threads/96-99-cv-axles.134965/#post-1471795

I will check part numbers later. There is chance that isn't the same part for SHO and SLO (3.0L Taurus)

Good luck,

 

[Pablo sho]

Thank you for the reply. I will have a look at them. I did look at that link but didn't read through it close enough. Some good info on there. Pretty sure mine is bearing failure. It's a clunking noise that changes with rpm. Starts at about 10 mph. Changes a little when turning. Thought it was the passenger side from inside the car but after running it with tire off ground it is left side.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

What is your mileage ? The other guy who has changed that has 275k on his car...

 

[Pablo sho]

Mine has 130,000

 

[stephen newberg]

My normal suggestion for when changing wheel bearings is that if one side is gone, change the other side also as it is not long for the world either.

pax, smn

 

[Pablo sho]

Thank you. I am considering that. My main concern now is trying to find oem axles or using slo axles? Am I the only one that has ran into this? Do the slo axles work and hold up?

 

[stephen newberg]

It is my understanding that SLO axles are not going to work well.

pax, smn

 

[Pablo sho]

Thank you. Any idea where to get oem or replacement joints?

 

[stephen newberg]

Have you tried Ford itself? They have a department that deals with normally out of the pipeline parts. Also there is one that runs via Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/b/Ford-Vintage-Car-Truck-Parts/10073/bn_19396446

And then, there is always checking with junk yards for dead Gen III SHOs. There are way more dead ones about than ones still on the road.

pax, smn

 

[Pablo sho]

No longer available through ford. I may try again. As of for now I will probably put my old one back in.

 

[98SF19]

You've only stated that the bearings were in need of replacement. I'm the last one to say "leave well enough alone" since I'm biting off more and more of what began as only ball joint and SB link replacement, but it appears that trying to track down the SHO axles will be a time and energy-consuming venture. Newberg's got the right idea - check into junkyards from time to time if you really want to replace axles. Just hope that the ones you find are in decent shape!

 

[Pablo sho]

Let's start over. I must of put to much content in my original post. Forget everything I wrote please.
Does anyone know if oem axles are available for a 1996 sho?
Thank you, Paul

 

[98SF19]

No, I think my post was confusing, not yours. I was referring to front end work I'd been doing where I keep getting further and further beyond what my original goal was.

 

[Pablo sho]

Well, I gave up on finding an axle. Put it back together with just the bearing..it quieted it up quite a bit but still has some noises.
Thank you for all your input. Now for a new thread.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Thank you. Any idea where to get oem or replacement joints?

Just watching pages on Summit Racing site (with "Ford 3.4L" keyword) and I found this at the 46th results page... :

https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/aaz-66-2008/overview/make/ford

However, I'm not sure is for SHO.