new warn hubs

[TBlaz8]

i had new warn premuim hubs installed on my Full size Jimmy, they were down at a well known 4wheele drive place in California. after a drive i tent to get heat coming of the outside of the hubs, this means friction, and friction is not good, i checked the hubs and they r both on free, do i have a problem or is this normal?

 

[k20]

some heat is normal since the disk brakes heat will bleed into the hubs.

 

[AZ79K5Project]

i had new warn premuim hubs installed on my Full size Jimmy, they were down at a well known 4wheele drive place in California. after a drive i tent to get heat coming of the outside of the hubs, this means friction, and friction is not good, i checked the hubs and they r both on free, do i have a problem or is this normal?

The replacement of hubs wouldn't increase heat. What did these hubs replace? I am assuming they are replacing manual hubs. Did they repack the wheel bearings or do anything else?

 

[TBlaz8]

The replacement of hubs wouldn't increase heat. What did these hubs replace? I am assuming they are replacing manual hubs. Did they repack the wheel bearings or do anything else?

they replaced automatic locking hubs, on my 89 full size jimmy, and i have drum brakes.

 

[txfiremank5]

they replaced automatic locking hubs, on my 89 full size jimmy, and i have drum brakes.

Your 89 would have disc's up front, where the locking hubs are. How much heat are you getting? Too hot to even touch ... or just warm?

 

[MuddinManny]

i had new warn premuim hubs installed on my Full size Jimmy, they were down at a well known 4wheele drive place in California. after a drive i tent to get heat coming of the outside of the hubs, this means friction, and friction is not good, i checked the hubs and they r both on free, do i have a problem or is this normal?

Take a torx screw driver, or an allen head depending on what you have and remove the cover. See if they packed the hubs with grease. If so, that is the source of your heat. The extra grease in the manual hubs will promote failure so get as much of it out as possible. You can also call the shop that did it and ask if they packed it, but I'd pull them and take a look.

Manny

 

[dremu]

i had new warn premuim hubs installed on my Full size Jimmy, they were down at a well known 4wheele drive place in California. after a drive i tent to get heat coming of the outside of the hubs, this means friction, and friction is not good, i checked the hubs and they r both on free, do i have a problem or is this normal?

Curious as to where you took it -- notice I'm local

If it was 4WD Specialties here in Concord, they're pretty clueful.

If it was, say, 4WPW in Oakland ... mwuhahaha.

-- A

 

[TBlaz8]

Curious as to where you took it -- notice I'm local

If it was 4WD Specialties here in Concord, they're pretty clueful.

If it was, say, 4WPW in Oakland ... mwuhahaha.

-- A

It was 4WD Specialties in concord, i live in orinda so it was close, i can touch it, its not that hot, but hotter then it should be, ill take the cover and look for to much grease, thnx for the help.

 

[dremu]

It was 4WD Specialties in concord, i live in orinda so it was close, i can touch it, its not that hot, but hotter then it should be, ill take the cover and look for to much grease, thnx for the help.

Ah, they've seemed okay, though I've only bought parts from them. Anyway, point being they should know how to do it.

Some heat, as pointed out, is to be expected... could be that you've got a dragging caliper making the rotor hot ... heck, could be just due to a heavy left foot.

The "cover", btw, is the hub itself, so you're gonna be doing most of the work of the hub swap ... I hope you didn't pay too much

-- A

 

[87BrnRsd]

Take a torx screw driver, or an allen head depending on what you have and remove the cover. See if they packed the hubs with grease. If so, that is the source of your heat. The extra grease in the manual hubs will promote failure so get as much of it out as possible. You can also call the shop that did it and ask if they packed it, but I'd pull them and take a look.

Manny

I disagree. Not only does the grease in the hubs serve to lubricate things but it also acts as a barrier against water. Whenever I replace wheel bearings or hubs, I always pack them full of grease. I basically try to put as much grease in them as possible so as not to let any water in. I have never had one fail because I packed it full. However, 4-lo+high centered on rocks+locked front end+heavy right foot=blown up warn hub.

TBlaze8-The hubs getting hot may be due to the wheel bearings going south. Have you checked them? Installing hubs is a very easy and simple job. As long as you have some allen wrenches and some dental picks you can easily do it yourself. A hub swap on a wheel shouldnt take more than about 10 minutes. I hope you didnt pay any more than $20 for someone to do this.Anyways, check your wheel bearings to make sure they arent going south. And whatever you do.....make sure to pack the wheel bearings COMPLETLEY full with grease when you re-install them. Oh...and why dont you call or drive to the place who installed the hubs and ask them whats going on since they did the work??
-Harrison

 

[goldwing2000]

See if they packed the hubs with grease. If so, that is the source of your heat. The extra grease in the manual hubs will promote failure so get as much of it out as possible.

How in the world can too much grease in a hub cause heat and failure?? It's exactly the opposite! Especially with a manual hub. Not enough grease will cause excess wear, friction, rust and failure.

Too much grease can impede the operation of an automatic hub but never a manual one. That's just crazy talk.

 

[txfiremank5]

How in the world can too much grease in a hub cause heat and failure?? It's exactly the opposite! Especially with a manual hub. Not enough grease will cause excess wear, friction, rust and failure.

Too much grease can impede the operation of an automatic hub but never a manual one. That's just crazy talk.

Horse pockey..

Warn clearly states not to pack grease into the manual hubs. Grease should only be "packed" into areas or items that get hot due to extreme friction, like wheel bearings etc. Wheel bearings, yes, pack them full .. manual hubs, no. At the bottom of this warn install doc, you can see where they say it, under SERVICE INSTRUCTIONS:

 

[goldwing2000]

Ok, I'll concede the function issue, just because I don't use Warn hubs and have never installed a set of them. All of my opinions are based on factory Spicer hubs.

HOWEVER...

It still doesn't say anything about excess heat, though, and that was the topic of the thread.

So horse puckey back atcha!!

 

[txfiremank5]

It still doesn't say anything about excess heat, though, and that was the topic of the thread.

So horse puckey back atcha!!

I think what Manny was saying is that the grease all packed into the hubs will just hold heat generated from places like the wheel bearings. So, you will notice excessive heat on the hub... I believe it would be called excessive since it's more than should be expected. There is not enough friction inside the manual hubs to break the grease down, so it just sits there, and soaks up heat. I think when he said failure, he ment that Warn hubs can fail, or stop working correctly if packed with grease.

I'm not sure that tblaz has Warns, he said they replaced his auto hubs, he didn't say with what. But, even most auto hub specs say to apply a light coat, I can't remember ever seeing where it says to pack them.

 

[txfiremank5]

My bad.. the title says new Warn hubs. So, excessive grease can be an issue, if it's in there, and can cause the heat felt on the outside of the hub.

 

[goldwing2000]

I don't buy it. An empty hub wouldn't get any hotter or stay any cooler than a full one. It's not like you get air flow through there or anything.

I think there's a deeper issue.

FWIW, I don't pack my hubs with grease. I just apply a liberal coating. I was just playing devil's advocate because I still can't see how it would cause a problem with an otherwise working hub.

Unless you pack SO much grease in there with such force that the parts can't even move. But that would just be silly.

 

[txfiremank5]

So, you tell everyone else to pack it full, while you claim to only use a liberal coating? WTF?

It's not always the amount of grease that is needed. It's the proper type or viscocity for the job. Plain and simple, too much grease can cause overheating, just like too little can. I looked for something that would explain it better than I could... but this was all I found for now. I'm not 100% sure on the application they'r using it for.. but it touches on the basic points of proper grease applications etc. At least enough to show you where I'm coming from.

http://progressivedistributor.com/mro/archives/MRO%20Coach/Geyer/GeyerON06.htm

I'm not saying don't grease stuff.. I'm just saying make sure you grease according to the manuf. specs, they have them for a reason. Yes you can probably get away with doing your own thing for a long while.. but ultimately it will probably suffer permature failure due to improper maintanace.

 

[AZ79K5Project]

I couldn't find the answer to the question: Is it too hot to touch or just warm? Like k20 already said, there will be heat transfer from the disc brakes to all whole assembly. This will be significant if you were in heavy traffic and heavy braking.

I would guess the heat issue was always there but never noticed. Once you have new parts, you check that area out a little more and take note of things.

Lift it up, spin the tires. Listen for anything unusual. Look for any play by pushing and pulling the tire to the side. Make sure the truck is well supported first.

The installation of the hubs should not affect anything. Everything should stay open, no additional stress on the hub assembly unless they were locked.

 

[txfiremank5]

I agree with AZ79 that it is more likely another issue like a locked up caliper. The drag from that will heat up the entire assembly. I've just been a little side tracked by someone who wants to play devils advocate.

But to answer, he said it was hot, but not too hot to touch. But that would still be pretty pare with a caliper. The drag could be minimal, and still generate a lot of heat, but still be ok to touch.

 

[goldwing2000]

So, you tell everyone else to pack it full, while you claim to only use a liberal coating? WTF?

It's not always the amount of grease that is needed. It's the proper type or viscocity for the job. Plain and simple, too much grease can cause overheating, just like too little can. I looked for something that would explain it better than I could... but this was all I found for now. I'm not 100% sure on the application they'r using it for.. but it touches on the basic points of proper grease applications etc. At least enough to show you where I'm coming from.

http://progressivedistributor.com/mro/archives/MRO%20Coach/Geyer/GeyerON06.htm

I'm not saying don't grease stuff.. I'm just saying make sure you grease according to the manuf. specs, they have them for a reason. Yes you can probably get away with doing your own thing for a long while.. but ultimately it will probably suffer permature failure due to improper maintanace.

I never told anybody to pack it full. 87BrnRsd did. I simply said I didn't see how doing so would cause either heat or failure.

And yeah... OF COURSE use the right kind of grease. I don't think anybody in their right mind would use Crisco on wheel bearings, for instance. You have to use some common sense when maintaining one's vehicle.