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Manual locking hubs

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airheadpilot

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The automatic locking front hubs on my 1987 GMC Suburban 2500 4wd are toast. I wanted to replace them with manual lockers anyway. Does anyone have favorites (I've heard Warns are popular)? Can anyone recommend a vendor to go to?

Thanks!

Andrew in Belmont, CA
 
warns are popular, mile markers ive heard are good... but my stock spicer hubs still work fine after 160,000mi and wheelin with my 36" TSLs for a few years.
 
Unfortunately, my stock hubs are partly missing. Taking the hub apart to put on a new brake disc, I discovered that the PO had removed the actuation dogs that make the automatic hubs do their thing. Not sure why, but it had clearly been mucked with. Since new locking hubs are in order, I'd rather go with manuals than autos.

Thanks for the tip!

Andrew
 
yes i have manuals, i was talking about manuals, sorry for not clarifying. i hate auto hubs! like i said my stock spicer MANUAL hubs are great but ive never heard anything bad about warn or mile marker.
 
Milemarker manual hubs here. They have worked every time I neede them to. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/burb.gif
 
I ran my original automatic hubs for 289,000 miles without a problem. They worked perfectly everytime. They're nice for someone who isn't a four-wheeling nut, but just needs basic four wheel drive for the deer lease or something. The only bad thing about them is that they have about one-thousand parts, so servicing bearings/hubs became a full day event and a PITA to boot. They sure were convenient though.

I run manual Warn premiums now, and they are much easier to work with in terms of servicing bearings, etc. I don't miss the automatic engagement at all, and I have 40,000 miles on my current set of Warns.
 
Thanks for all the great tips! Another question: Warns and Mile Markers appear to be competitively priced. However, near as I can tell from the respective online catalogs, Warns require a conversion kit to go from the stock auto hubs to their manual hubs. According to the Mile Marker catalog, their hubs do not appear to require a conversion kit, which would make them cheaper than the Warns. Is this correct?

I need to finish installing a new front brake rotor on the behemoth this week, and then load it up for the trip to Burning Man next week!

Thanks!

Andrew in Belmont, CA /forums/images/graemlins/burb.gif
 
When I replaced the auto-hubs to warn manual hubs on my 90 suburban I did not need a conversion kit. Everything was a bolt-on.
 
Ditto, no conversion needed witht he Warns.
 
yah, when I converted my 86 to Warn Premium I ordered the conversion kit. It came with 2 spindle nuts and the lock washer that goes between them for each side. Same as the stock ones. I guess after calling Warn that some Chevy's had 3 bolt automatic hubs with thicker spindle nuts that interfere with the Warn hubs so you need to replace the nuts with the style found stock on 6 bolt autos. All the trucks I have had came with 6 bolt autos to begin with. /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
 
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