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stupid auto hubs

blazinzuk

blazinzuk

Buzzbox voodoo
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Left my house this morning to go to my clubs annual hangover run. We got off the road and the snow was pretty good the only rigs not struggling were locked front and rear. Well just about 150 yards off the road we hit a drift. I was third in line bashing pretty hard and had to stop. I guess my stupid auto locking hubs thought that meant the day was over. LAME!

Anyone had luck with them?
 
the only luck ive had was i gave mine away to some guy who didnt know no better!
 
blazinzuk said:
Left my house this morning to go to my clubs annual hangover run. We got off the road and the snow was pretty good the only rigs not struggling were locked front and rear. Well just about 150 yards off the road we hit a drift. I was third in line bashing pretty hard and had to stop. I guess my stupid auto locking hubs thought that meant the day was over. LAME!

Anyone had luck with them?
Click to expand...

Well I didn't have them for long, but I took some apparts and I don't think they would work well in cold, they need to be clean and lubed and they probably work well in a clean moderate climate, not too cold, not too warm, not too dry, not too wet.
And I don't think they like mud.
But hey you don't need to get out and lock, unlock the hubs.:thumb:
 
They are the first thing I scrap. I have serviced sets for people I know, but I always recommend trashing them.
 
the auto hubs on my explorer gave out during a good snow so then I only had 4 wheel drive in reverse.:rolleyes: Sweet, nothing like snow bashing in reverse.

Replaced with warn lockouts now its better than it ever was.

Now fulltime hubs I can handle, I still swap them out but they at least work.
 
The very first mod I did to my Blazer..dumped the autos for some Warn Gold Premiums.
 
My old auto hubs deserved some expletives. I don't talk like that though ;) They sounded like a dyeing animal when "engaged", and didn't always disengage. I *almost* lost 2 front flange bolts from driving 65 mph with them still engaged, but they only dropped onto the skidplate :)

Warn Premiums. They look good, and are entirely functional. Can't go wrong!

Clay
 
imiceman44 said:
Well I didn't have them for long, but I took some apparts and I don't think they would work well in cold, they need to be clean and lubed and they probably work well in a clean moderate climate, not too cold, not too warm, not too dry, not too wet.
And I don't think they like mud.
But hey you don't need to get out and lock, unlock the hubs.:thumb:
Click to expand...

Lol

so there good for everything but off roading, eh?:thumb:
 
There Good for a DD rig with moderate tires . I'd like to find a set for a Dana 50/60 so I can toss them on The 91 Burb for when Patty starts DD'ing it so she doesn't have to worry about locking and unlocking the hubs. just pull the lever back and go
 
62 fat guy said:
Lol

so there good for everything but off roading, eh?:thumb:
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Precisely.
Anf by the way I prefer the Spicer locking hubs myself, it's true the Warns are smoother to engage but they also are made of pot metal or aluminum, can't remember which and they break easily.
Never had a Spicer break.
I have a couple of sets, I grab them everytime I find them at PNP.
I also have some selectro hubs just because they are so nice looking and easy to turn even with gloves on.
:waytogo:
 
You poor folks don't know what automatic hubs are until you have owned a set of Warn Lock-O-Matics.......
I have a set on my old rusting away Jeep. They look like brass insert Warns, but with the extra name in the brass.

They had a six sided steel block that went on the axle. It had a large needle bearing in a cage that lay on each of the six flats.
The cage had some plastic friction blocks that rode on a sleeve on the axle tube.
There was a heavy steel "ring" about 2 inches deep and an inch thick that made up the body of the hub.
The needle bearings lay inside it.

When you were driving and the axle was not turning, all was well and the hubs were unlocked. The bearings lay on the flats not touching the inside of the ring.
When the axle started turning more than the wheel, the cage held the bearings back and they rode up off the flats until they jammed into the underside of the ring, locking the block to the ring and thus turning the wheel.

No gears, no solid lock, just smooth steel jammed into smooth steel.

This would work wonderfully until you really got into the bad stuff, and then it would start to slip with loud bangs that never damaged anything, just left you with no front wheel drive. `

The only redeeming quality, was that the end of the block on the axle was a steep tapered spline which mated with a splined socket in the outside of the hub.
When you turned the hub, the splines went together bypassing all the automatic foolishness.
There were no springs involved, so if the splines did not lineup, you had to rock the wheel or axle. But, when the did lock, they were locked. No slippage, and the whole hub was solid steel.

That is the only reason I kept using them. They did work if you just needed a little help in a hole, and once you locked them, they were reliable.

I started to replace them once, but the new ones had a spring plate that did the actual engaging. You could turn the hub, and it would compress the springs.
Then, when the splines lined up, it would engage.
Except I pulled a friend out when the grease got hard and the springs were not strong enough.
So I stuck with the positive drive.

I would not have minded them so bad if they broke, but they would work fine just long enough to drag you into some really bad stuff and then sit and laugh while you waded out to turn them.

And then they were ready to do it all over again..
 
I perfer mile marker hubs..I know sum people that have broken several sets but have had great success with the mm's...
 
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J I have seen those hubs you speak of. Worked on em too. I will replace my current autos with whatever I can scrounge up
 
I like spicers for plain reliability but the warns are nice and easy to turn and look pretty good on almost any thing.
 
boz42 said:
They are the first thing I scrap. I have serviced sets for people I know, but I always recommend trashing them.
Click to expand...
Same here.

Except for this '91 K5 I currently have.

I have done no modifications to it except for factory stuff to get it running and driving good again. This rig is the longest I've ever left automatic hubs on anything. :doah:
 
blazin' j said:
Zuk, u have 30 or 35 spline hubs???
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Yah as has been said this is for a 10 bolt.

Oddly enough on Horton I have on side that is 35 spline and one that is 31 spline. Due to a broken 35 spline hub and outer, the spare was the 31 spline stuff
 
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