How tough is a D60?

[Fordum]

If that dial is like mine, the back side is a cam that slopes toward locked. If there is no detent, and the fingers hit that slope, then the spring tension and vibration of driving would cause the fingers to slide down to the locked position.
The fingers I am talking about are the little tabs that ride on the back side of that dial.

 

[Fordum]

Found this pic online that is like my Ford. You can barely see that the spring is cone shaped, and if you look close you can see the cam on the back side of the yellow dial.
On mine, the two fingers that rode on the cam had a little raised bump or line in the center that went into a little groove at the flat spot on the top of the cam.

 

[anwat]

That looks like mine as far as i can remember, but I think the cam is a little different. Can't be sure, though, and it's raining, so I don't want to go out and take everything apart until the storm blows through. I guess I should call it a drizzle...compared to what you guys get it FL. I used to live outside Tampa and can remember what a real storm is like. What you're suggesting makes sense. It's entirely possible I may not have turned the dial all the way or it didn't engage in the little dent and it worked itself back to lock. While I'm stuck inside, I did find this video which shows the details on the different types of hubs:

As soon as the rain goes away, I'll post up photos or an update. Thanks for the research....it's either that or possibly I have the wrong spacer in there and it's not pushing out with enough force.

 

[anwat]

Got sidetracked, seems to happen with increasing frequency these days. Here' s some photos of what my lockout dial looks like. I don't see any type of detent that would keep it where it's left, especially if I maybe don't turn it all the way so it's resting on the flat spot. I often have to drive in 4wd reverse a second, and I've never been able to unlock them unless I put the t-case in neutral. I'm thinking maybe I just didn't turn, or wasn't able to turn the dial all the way to "free" and it slowly worked its way back into the locked position. It's only a quarter turn from locked to free. I'm also basing that on the fact that the only two times it happened, it was after I unlocked the hubs on a road trip...they've never locked themselves unless they were locked just prior.

 

[Fordum]

Great pics. On the last one, I see a little line of grease right where I would expect a slight groove or dimple to be and where my plastic cams had one.
I'm sure you have already put them back together, but if you have not, take a look at the "arm" that slides on that cam. See if there is a slight raised line or inverted dimple that slides along that cam. If so, you might consider using a small file to put a shallow groove where you see the grease line.
On mine, you could feel and slightly hear a subtle click when it reached the full unlocked position.

That flat spot is fairly wide, and for the spring to cause any camming action, the dial would have to turn enough for the arm to start down the slope. So, it would seem unlikely for that to happen if it was turned all the way.

Also, as I was typing this, a stray thought started running through my mind. Somewhere, sometime, I used to work on some hubs that had the detent in the dial its self.
In other words, there was a little spring loaded something that clicked into place when the dial reached unlock. In was inside the hub-cap where the edge of the face of the dial rubbed. Not a clue what brand of hubs they were. Maybe my old Warn Lock-O-Matics from back in the '60s.
But there was a click when you turned the hub dial to unlock even if the cap was off the hub.
Probably was the old Warns. The cap and dial assembly was a several piece mechanism all by its self. And the way it engaged, would have done some serious damage if it tried to while the wheel was turning.

 

[anwat]

"So, it would seem unlikely for that to happen if it was turned all the way." I'm starting to think that's the key here....I may not be turning the dial all the way, or maybe can't turn the dial all the way to the flat spot. The one thing I did notice when I put them back together is that when I tried them with right after assembly, the internal mechanism didn't always pop out immediately when I got to "free". A couple of times, I could hear the internals pop out when I first moved the driveshaft to see if it was disengaged. It happened right away, like the first movement, but they didn't do it until it moved. If that first driveshaft movement was in reverse, would it possibly put a different pressure on the mechanism and keep it from unlocking? It seems unlikely that they were able to gradually work into a locked position while I'm going 65mph on the highway....making me think they never unlocked...I say they, but the one side.
I like the file and detent idea, next time it happens we'll play that. From now on, though, I'm going to keep a real close eye on them and see if i can figure out what conditions cause it. Zip ties going on the stub axle u joints so I can hear when that shaft starts turning....bottom line, I think it's something I'm doing wrong since no one else has this issue. I'll post up if I can figure out something......

 

[Wes Harden]

Go to the hardware store and get schdule 40 3/4" pvc "T" cut a slot in the T stem side that fits your hub dial. Use it to lock and unlock your hubs. Give you more leaverage and keeps your hand clean.

 

[obijuank5]

Skipping nearly the whole thread but if the stuh is rubbing the knob you can swap to a taller inner wheel bearing race to push the hub just a little further out. 387a and 387as.
Also if you are getting rid of old spicer locking hubs, im buying.

 

[anwat]

The saga continues: Happened twice on the way home from the last trip of the season. Then, out of the blue, it happened on the way to pick up a new steering column from a buddy after I got home. Prior to that, it had always been after a good period of time being locked that it would happen, and then only once. Now it seems to be happening more frequently, and even after the hubs haven't been recently locked. I am completely sure each time that they were all the way rotated to "unlock", but I am not sure I heard the internals pop back out. I'd have to turn the engine off and wait for the wind to stop to hear that. And I know that I drove a couple hundred miles with them fully unlocked to get home. Meaning they were unlocked. Went to get the column, and the driver's side locked. While I was driving on the freeway, I felt the vibration getting worse. It's not the stub rubbing the inside of the dial. I'm determined to figure this out...there's got to be a reason it keeps happening. I'm calling Yukon on Monday, and I'm going to tear them all down again and start from zero....if no one else has had this issue, there must be something wrong in there that I did. Stay tuned, answer to follow.... I'm also going to switch hub sides...three or four folks suggested that already, so I'm going to follow that advice.

 

[bp71k5]

The saga continues: Happened twice on the way home from the last trip of the season. Then, out of the blue, it happened on the way to pick up a new steering column from a buddy after I got home. Prior to that, it had always been after a good period of time being locked that it would happen, and then only once. Now it seems to be happening more frequently, and even after the hubs haven't been recently locked. I am completely sure each time that they were all the way rotated to "unlock", but I am not sure I heard the internals pop back out. I'd have to turn the engine off and wait for the wind to stop to hear that. And I know that I drove a couple hundred miles with them fully unlocked to get home. Meaning they were unlocked. Went to get the column, and the driver's side locked. While I was driving on the freeway, I felt the vibration getting worse. It's not the stub rubbing the inside of the dial. I'm determined to figure this out...there's got to be a reason it keeps happening. I'm calling Yukon on Monday, and I'm going to tear them all down again and start from zero....if no one else has had this issue, there must be something wrong in there that I did. Stay tuned, answer to follow.... I'm also going to switch hub sides...three or four folks suggested that already, so I'm going to follow that advice.

I had the issue, but it was the stub shafts rubbing a little.

 

[anwat]

I had the issue, but it was the stub shafts rubbing a little.

You saw some sort of telltale sign of this, though, right? Like a swirl in the grease or scratches or something? Was there any sort of pattern to when they would lock on their own? One side or both?

 

[bp71k5]

You saw some sort of telltale sign of this, though, right? Like a swirl in the grease or scratches or something? Was there any sort of pattern to when they would lock on their own? One side or both?

It’s been a while but I remember one side locked after a bit of driving. I can’t remember if both sides did it. It was using the 35-spline stub shafts and the warn hubs. Just had to shave the tip of the stub down a slight bit.