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Drive flange VS hubs

BLZN4FN

BLZN4FN

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I have a Dana 60. Going 35 spline outers. So now is the time for new hubs or slugs.
Looking for pros and cons of both. This is not a daily driver only time the K5 runs on the street is when I'm crusing the neigborhood or returning back to my trailer from a run.

The axle is open for now but will have a Detroit nospin in near future.

let me know what you all think
 
if its a trailer queen, I say flanges. I went flanges when I upgraded to 35 splines since I have seen so many warn premium blow up on the trail. when you go to 35 splines, the lockouts have less material and are not as strong as the same hubs on 30 splines. as long as you run around in 2wd on the street, there is no problem... and I run a detroit up front.
 
I ran 35 spline lockouts for a little while and was blowing them every time out on mild trails, swiched to flanges and no more problems.
 
so flangers are what came on full time trucks, right?? Like what's on my truck with an np203? Do they complicate the axle changing procedure? I'm still learning all of this.
thanks,
James
 
No they don't complicate axle changing quite the opposite. There's two different stylwes of flanges depending on axle and years. The "outer style" flanges are attached with bolts. The "inner style" is attached with a snapring. I changed from hubs to the "inside type" flange with a snapring and think they are much easier to deal with.
 
no question, flanges.

if there's no input to the locker (ie in 2wd) it will act like an open diff, right? shouldnt be that big of a deal with flanges on the street then. :dunno:
 
But if there is a weak point in your front drive train the flange will show you where its at.
 
ankarback said:
No they don't complicate axle changing quite the opposite. There's two different stylwes of flanges depending on axle and years. The "outer style" flanges are attached with bolts. The "inner style" is attached with a snapring. I changed from hubs to the "inside type" flange with a snapring and think they are much easier to deal with.
Click to expand...

GM Dana 60's all used internal (splined) hubs.
Dodge used external, with the 8 bolts.
 
beater_k20 said:
no question, flanges.

if there's no input to the locker (ie in 2wd) it will act like an open diff, right? shouldnt be that big of a deal with flanges on the street then. :dunno:
Click to expand...

With flanges and a locker, it will act like a front end with a locker, even if there is no input to the axle. Both sides will be locked and the flanges lock that to the hub. It will act funky. If you are open on the front, then no big deal.

What I generally tell people that are on the fence about it to do, is just lock your hubs in and drive normal for a week, you'll find out if you want flanges/slugs or not.

Persoanlly, on a street driven machine, I go with hubs. Especially if it's a DD. Just saves some wear and tear. If I'm serious about trails, then it's slugs/flanges. I actually have a set of both. If I'm gonna be driving on the street alot, then I leave the hubs on and un-lock em. Now, that being said, I haven't ran hubs in a while on a DD, but I also ran a mini-spool too. In for a penny, in for a pound.
 
is it time to let the cat out of the bag about WMS's new flanges yet? :grin:

j
 
atho said:
GM Dana 60's all used internal (splined) hubs.
Dodge used external, with the 8 bolts.
Click to expand...

OK, you learn something every day :D

The point was that they don't make axleshaft changes any more complicated.
 
Thanks all for the help on this. I'm going to go drive slugs on the K5. Might as well go hard core or not at all;)
 
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