Melted plastic switch in front hub

I have an 84 Bronco II. The red plastic switch in the front hub, (the one that you lock it in 4-wheel drive) has melted. MELTED. It is held on by a phillips head screw. It appears that you can just unscrew it and it will pop right off. Yeah, right. I've been told that there is just a spring behind it. I'm afraid that if I unscrew it, all sorts of stuff will fall out. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Sounds like your wheel bearings are fried or your brakes are really dragging. It will all have to come apart in either case. If you want to do it yourself I recommend getting the Ford repair manual or a Haynes manual. Either should walk you through the teardown and reassembly. The plastic part works fine as long as the assembly stays in its normal operating range.

Oh yeah, IIRC nothing comes off but the knob with that first screw. You have to remove a keeper to get to everything else.