Hi All

I lent my recently aquired Ford Ranger Mk2 to my future stepson to go on a camping holiday with his family. All was fine until he was on his way back along the M25 when the rear passenger wheel came off and overtook him. Fortunately he was in the nearside lane and managed to pull it on to the hard shoulder. He said there was no warning vibrations or any sign of anything amiss until the moment it happened.

Eventually we managed to get him recovered and brought home. The damage looked minimal considering what had happened. Five of the six wheel studs are still in place with the sixth one sheared off. The brake shoes are still in one piece but badly scored where they were dragged along the road. The drum seems ok but not sure if has any hidden fractures in it. The most significant damage is to the back plate which holds the wheel cylinder etc, it is completely flattened on the bottom and is well beyond repair.

This is where I need some guidance. I was hoping I could purchase a new complete hub from a breaker but there doesn't seem to be any about. One breaker said I would probably need to buy the whole back axle beam which can run in the region of £300-800.

Thinking I may be able to just buy the back plate from a Ford dealer I started taking the hub apart. I managed to get it off but the whole half shaft came off with it and I couldn't see a way of getting the back plate away from it at first but now (after downloading the manual) I see it needs special service tools to dismantle further.

I'm not sure of the best way to proceed now. Take the whole unit into a Ford dealer and get them to rebuild it. I guess this is the most expensive option as the back plate alone is around £300. Or, hang on for getting another axle/hub assembly and just bolt it all back together again. Not even sure if that will work as it has ABS and not sure if the parts need to match up in any way.

Any advice would be gratefully received...

Graham

Hi Graham, I would go down the line of buying a replacement from a breaker and just replace the unit as one. it should be fine I suspect, as long as its a Ford part from a same motor, it will probably be fine.