Hello fellow Ford nuts. I'm new to this forum as well as trucks. Although, I do own an '08 Escape (FWD), '04 Explorer (4wd) and an '02 Sable. I bought my '97 Lariat with 131,000 miles from a local dealer for only $2,200. It was traded in and the dealer hadn't had a chance to clean it or do any service to it. I offered to take it as is. Well, I've cleaned and waxed it, changed the oil and filters and pretty much fixed the rough idle (without going so far as to change the plugs) and I've replaced the front calipers and brakes. Today I decided to change the rear shoes and the wheel cylinders (one was leaking) so after replacing the brake line I broke trying to disconnect it, I moved on to those pain in the butt springs. That's when the real trouble started. I broke the post that both of the top springs attach to. So my question is, how do I fix it? Of course it's Sunday night and nothing is open...

Thanks for your help

 

Welcome, D. Can you post a photo of what you need to fix?

 

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

 

Okay, now I see. Hmmm, I don't know if that can be welded back on or not, or you might have to get a new (junk yard, etc.) part. What's that called? The thingamajig that the wheel cylinder, etc. attach to. Somebody else here will help us out soon.

 

I think it's the backer plate and the post is indeed welded to it. The next question is, do I need to open up the rear end and remove the entire shaft to get plate off? Thanks again.

 

Well, I was able to remove the broken backer plate and thankfully my local dealer got one in overnight. The axle came right out so the setback was actually pretty minor. Plus it gave me a chance to change the diff fluid, which turned out to be 2 pts low. Today, everything is back together and the running fine . The brakes do take a lot more force (leg effort) than I'm used to, but the truck stops straight and the antilocks work good. I'm a little gun-shy to start another repair, but I'm thinking it might be the master cylinder or power brake booster. Not sure? Maybe I'll just wait on any more repairs though until I absolutley have to do it. Too stressful when things break, and things always break.