manual locking hubs

[Justin Fleming]

gentleman I was redoing a front end on a truck I just got. when taking apart the manual hubs something did not seem right. What I noticed is there was no C clip installed and also there was a large spring in there. I thought the large spring was from the auto locking hubs and did not get installed with new manual hubs. They had the spring behind the slide in cartridge on one side and then on the other side it was stuff behind the end cap.

Can anyone set me straight on this... they are pro-comp locking hubs for what its worth.

 

[Justin Fleming]

must be issues with the site as I cant upload the photo. It looks up just after I hit upload and the screen goes white....

 

[Justin Fleming]

photo

here is the photo of parts found inside...I feel like the spring does not belong and a C-clip is missing...

 

[nvrenuf]

IMO, you are correct. Ditch the big spring and find a clip for the stub axle.

 

[Bent77]

Agreed. I know some people run without the C clip, but i would personally get another one back in there before heavy use.

 

[Justin Fleming]

Does the c clip go out at the end of the axle or is it down inside behind the cartridge

 

[nvrenuf]

The small clip goes at the end, there should be a groove about a 1/4" from the end. If the groove isn't sticking out from the cartridge, use a pry bar in the knuckle to push the axle outward.

 

[Fordum]

Actually the spring is supposed to be in there, but for a different make hub. Since I'm sure your truck did not come with Warn Premiums, it looks like someone replaced the hubs and left part of the old hubs in there.

Its part of a fairly well known brand, which eludes me at the moment. My '79 Ford had them stock, with the Ford name stamped on them.
I hated them. They failed to engage on a regular basis. I tried every trick I knew to make them work.
That spring was what did the engaging. I tried replacing the grease with Vaseline, then just light oil.
Nothing kept me from having to disassemble them from time to time in mud and working the engaging block out to make them work.

One day, I was looking at one of them torn down, and started looking at that spring. It has a large end and a small end. The factory manual, plus some other manuals all said that the large end goes out.
But, it would fit either way. And if you put the large end out, it would scrub on the splines inside the hub and bind. That kept it from developing full strength to push out the locking slug.

I put the springs in large end in first, and they never failed again except one time I took it to the Ford place for some warranty work, and they put the springs back in the way the manual says.

 

[Fordum]

Aha, it was Spicer hubs I was thinking about.

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=310889

See the pic on post 6. That spring should look familiar.

And you said they were pro-comp, which I did not notice until I reread the post. But look at the pic on post 2, or the pics at the end of this posting,

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=311106

You can see that the pro-comps are almost certainly re-branded Warns.

 

[campfire]

The small clip goes at the end, there should be a groove about a 1/4" from the end. If the groove isn't sticking out from the cartridge, use a pry bar in the knuckle to push the axle outward.

FWIW, there is at least one truck out there (mine) that does not have the groove in the right place. So you may or may not be able to use the stub-shaft snap-ring.

Pictures here.