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How tough is a D60?

Thanks for the input K85 Octane, and I don't see any reason that couldn't be the cause. I took the hubs down to the second snap ring, and the ends of the stub shafts don't appear damaged or worn, nor did I see any evidence of them hitting the dial. There was almost no grease in the hub, though. Maybe greasing up will help, or maybe it will just make more friction and move that dial, either way, I'll just keep an eye on it and see if it moves again. I think I'm going to switch that diff to be open most of the time, since it's a true limited slip even switched off, I don't really see a reason to have it locked all the time, even in the dirt. It will turn better and hopefully save a little wear and tear on the front steering and suspension components.
 
anwat said:
Thanks for the input K85 Octane, and I don't see any reason that couldn't be the cause. I took the hubs down to the second snap ring, and the ends of the stub shafts don't appear damaged or worn, nor did I see any evidence of them hitting the dial. There was almost no grease in the hub, though. Maybe greasing up will help, or maybe it will just make more friction and move that dial, either way, I'll just keep an eye on it and see if it moves again. I think I'm going to switch that diff to be open most of the time, since it's a true limited slip even switched off, I don't really see a reason to have it locked all the time, even in the dirt. It will turn better and hopefully save a little wear and tear on the front steering and suspension components.
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Grease will prevent the hub from locking from the rotational forces while driving.
 
Warn 35 spline hubs don't appear to be actually designed for 35 spline shafts. The dial is a cup that a 30 spline shaft fits into where a 35 spline shaft will hit. The warn 35 spline hub came mostly from their rear axle program that went away a long time ago. They put a set screw in the dial because sometimes the double splined shaft in the rear kit would work it's way out and hit the hub dial and lock or unlock. I think they had some problems with bent axles causing some shaft wobble that may have done the same thing. Hence the set screw.
On the front the problem is that there is a lot of tolerance stack up in the spindle, hub, end forging, housing assembly and stub shaft. If it all goes right, the stub does not hit the locking hub dial. If it goes wrong it can hit the dial and lock or un lock the hub. A lot of them went wrong (and still do if you use that combo) and the fix is to just cut/grind some material off the end of the stub and/or use a thicker bearing race on the inner wheel bearing to move the wheel hub assembly out. This seems to be confined to Warn premium 35 spline hubs only. You'll notice we don't really push the premium 35 spline hubs but do carry the 30 spline version. This is part of the reason. Excellent hubs but the 35 spline version can cause problems. We like the Yukons for 35 spline.

There's no similar well known problem with the Yukons so I would start with checking assembly and lubrication and monitoring it from there.

And switching the locker to run normally "open" (in limited slip mode) will likely help too.

As for unlocking hubs, the big key is that you need to shift the front wheels to neutral first always. Unlock the locker or lockers and either drive forward enough that you can free up the drivetrain to let the front easily shift to neutral or do the forward and back thing to achieve the same goal. I like to try to anticipate when we need to unlock hubs and slip the front to neutral while I'm still moving toward that location. It doesn't always work that way but you look like you know what you're doing when you pull it off.
 
Update on this issue. Another couple of trips and a fair number of miles, no self-locking hub issues. It appears to have been a lack of lubrication that was creating the problem. Just in case anyone has this issue in the future, that's what fixed it for me.
 
Or so I thought. Went out and did the Bradshaw Trail this week, unlocked the hubs before jumping on the freeway, and about 60 miles later, after stopping for gas, started to feel/hear a vibration. Got worse with more speed, it sort of felt like I was driving on those wake-up serrations they put on the edge of the road. So I got off, and sure enough, the passenger's side hub was locked. I unlocked it, the noise and vibration went away. Drove the 150 miles back home with no more problems.
Today, I took apart the hub, and guess what? Most of the grease had dried up, and what was left wasn't very slippery. Cleaned it up, regreased, and will keep an eye on it. The driver's side was a little dried up, so I wiped it down and regreased it, also. Wondering if maybe I'm using the wrong grease that can't handle the heat? I'm using Mobil One wheel bearing and chassis grease. Only thing I can think is it's friction that's gradually turning the hub back into the locked position.
 
I guess I missed this thread the first time around - do you have any marks on the inside of the dial like the stub shaft is rubbing?
 
No on the stub shaft rubbing, at least enough to make a mark. It visually doesn't look like it extends that far out, either. The grease is swirled in the center of the hub, though, which is what led me to believe it is friction....is it possible I'm packing too much grease in there? I'm really not packing, just kind of smearing it around on the outside after it's assembled and the lockrings are on. The grease inside the hub, and the wheel bearings are all fine. It only looks caked up on the far outside of the axle. Maybe the seal is letting dust in. We didn't see any water on this trip, so it wasn't contaminated with that.. Seems there should be some sort of detent in the ring on both sides but I don't feel or see anything. I can say that once the front driveshaft is engaged, there's no turning the hubs. You can back up, turn, pull forward, put it in neutral, whatever you want, those hubs will not rotate until the T-case gets shifted to N.
Both times it's happened have been on the way home from off-road trips. I keep thinking that should be significant, but then I remember, that's the only time I lock the hubs, so not really. This trip, I unlocked them, and drove all of 100 yards before I was on the freeway. It was about 50 miles to the first gas station, where I topped off on air and gas (at 4.18 a gallon, I might add) and within a couple of miles I started hearing the noise. I'm going to get a tube of that grease, if it happens again, or if it starts looking dried out, I'll wipe it out and try it instead. I did notice dust sticking to the seam between the axle and the hub, telling me there was some sort of oil leaking out, even if it wasn't much, maybe that silty dust was able to work in there.
 
Don't need much with that grease. I even use it in my bearingless Yukon U-joints. Does the trick.
All of this sounds really weird. Have you considered swapping the locking hubs? Really just for shiggles.
 
Swapping them side to side or swapping them with something else? I don't have another pair of 1 ton hubs around, I just graduated to the big axles with this truck. But if this happens again, it may be worth it before I wreck something more expensive. In digging through the paperwork that came with the truck, it looks like I have some sort of locking spindle nut from Stage 8 on there. I've used their stuff before and know it's top quality, but I'm wondering if that may be pushing the entire hub assembly out just a bit.
When all else fails, I usually read the instructions. So I reread the installation instructions and noticed two things: They recommend that high pressure grease is used, and liberally, in every step. Second, they talk about the cam assembly has to press in and pop out freely, which mine does not. It takes a little to push it in, but it barely pops back out, Maybe the spring is bad...I'm going to call Yukon tomorrow and see what they say. I agree that with all the D60s running Yukon hubs, this is the first I've heard about this issue, leading me to believe it's something I have done or not done that's causing it.
 
I don’t care what the instructions say, I would not coat any locking hub parts in heavy grease. In my experience, heavy grease causes the parts to want to stick to one another and not move freely.

Deeper in the hub in and around the bearings I pile it on, tons of grease, but outboard of the lock nuts I keep the heavy grease to a minimum and coat the locking hub parts in something light like a lithium grease or gear oil. This keeps them moving freely and helps fight surface rust.

I bet if you swap the locking hubs side to side your problem continues and stays on the original side.
 
Not familiar with the Yukon hubs, but if they work like I think they do, I may have a suggestion. There is an old style hub that everyone loves because it tends to fail in the locked position. Cannot remember the name this morning, but the Yukon is supposed to be a copy. Has a big honking spring behind a locking slug. You push the slug in past the gear piece on the end of the axle with a cam formed on the back side of the dial through a cage like assembly.
When you release it, the spring pushes the slug out until it engages the gear.

My '79 Ford had those rebranded under the Ford name. I hated them. Especially the left hand one. Anytime I needed to lock them, I had to "spin" the dial and hear a clunk. If I didn't, I had to unlock and lock it again until I did, otherwise, I had no 4wd.
Ford worked on them a couple of times, said it was too much grease, but they still were not reliable.
I repacked my wheel bearings one day, and the dreaded left hand hub started working great. I just figured I had gotten the amount of grease right.
I had a strange extended warranty. Even though most of it had run out, parts were still good. So, when my front axle U-Joint went bad, I took it to Ford and they replaced it for free.
Right away, the hub quit working right.
Rather than take it back, I pulled the cap off and was going to clean and re-grease it.
With the cap completely off, the chunk would not pop out. I pushed on the fingers, released them, and the chunk moved out some, but seemed to be dragging.
I ran a couple of small picks in, and was able to hook the chunk. It slid out along the inside splines just fine. But the spring did not follow it.

I pulled the chunk out, and when I touched the spring, it tried to hit me in the face. Had plenty of power, was just hung on something. Took me a few minutes, and I consulted the shop manual I had on the truck.
The spring was tapered. It was in the hub with the large end out. The shop manual showed that it was supposed to be with the large end out.
But, when you slid it in, the large end rubbed the inside splines of the hub. If you turned it around, it rubbed going in, but then had full power with no binding since the small end did not rub.
But, the shop official Ford shop manual, and all the Ford mechanics I asked all said big end out.
If you put the little end in, it rested on the locking nut, I think. Looked like it was a perfect fit. But, there was a formed washer over the end of the wheel bearing, and if you put the big end in, it fit right inside that washer like it was made for it.
Plus, the back side of the chunk had a step machined around the outside edge for the big end of the spring. But there was another wide groove around the inside hole of the back that the small end fit in. So it looked like it would fit either way.

After only a little thought, I put the big end in, and never looked back. Never had any more trouble with those hubs. I did have to pull the other side off and turn that spring around too.
Just something to check.
Of course, that would not explain why the hub is trying to engage by its self. But, again, referring to my old hubs, the dial was plastic. There was a small depression at the end of the cam that the fingers of the cage snapped into when it was unlocked. I notice that they got worn and would not give that little click when you turned them to unlock.
Also, if that spring is hanging up, and not keeping the fingers pushed into those depressions, they might vibrate out, and then if the spring released, its a sloped surface that the spring tension would tend to cause it to slide towards lock.
 
Just looked up some pics of Yukon hubs. They are a modified version of the hubs I had. Cannot tell if the spring is tapered or not. But you might try putting it in both ways to see if there is any drag.
Plus I would look close at the back side of the dial to see if there are any little notches that those two fingers can snap in. There should be.
 
@Fordum Yukons are a copy and mix of 2 Spicer designs (D60 and big hub D44).
 
Yep, Spicer, that was what I could not remember. Mine had Ford molded on the dial, but they were pure Spicer. And really sucked if you put the springs in the way the factory said.
 
Thanks for the detailed rundown....and believe it or not, it makes sense. I suspect its the spring, but couldn't really say why. Only thing, these don't have a cone shaped spring, it's symmetrical. That being said, I think the spring doesn't have enough tension, or, like you said, its getting hung up on something. And like I mentioned, all the hubs I've ever used, there's a little bit of a detent, or at least something that lets you know you're all the way to the end of the rotation. I didn't feel anything on these, on either side. So I'm headed out to look for the notches on the back side of the dial... But I'm thinking there's not enough spring pressure to keep the thing unlocked, and as I drive the friction from the grease or something is slowly turning that dial to the locked position. I've got a better idea of how they work now so I can look for what may be wrong while I'm in there. Either way, I'm calling Yukon tomorrow and I'll report back what I can find. Thank you guys for the help...so nice to have this kind of experience and knowledge at you fingertips. I guess there is some good in the computer age!
 
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