Does anyone know where i could find a set of these for my 92 truck. Not sure if they make them or not but i'm hoping they do because i'm sick of getting out to lock my hubs in...

 

Look around the trash barrels of any previous owner of an early to mid eighties Chevy ton 4x4 with Dana 60 front-end.


Those automatic-locking hubs are so ridiculously un-reliable that I honestly suspect WARN to have paid GM to use them on those trucks.


I know that I have replaced countless sets of the autos with good old WARN manuals.

I have never known anyone that actually needed 4x4 to have anything good to say about automatic hubs.


I don't recommend them for any purpose; put a set on and you may as well remove the front shaft.

 

Dean

Good lord don't do it. The beauty of these things are the manual hubs. "You don't need no stinkin auto hubs" LOL On of the reasons I hate the new trucks is the fact they all use auto hubs. I've had my truck since new here in Pa. We get a little snow once in a while around here. LOL Yeah just a little. I have never seen the need nor do I ever want auto hubs. Manuals also give you more options also. You can use the low range in the transfer case and not be in 4x4. Great for goin across a field or backin a trailer. I even looked into tryin to take one of the new trucks and make them manual. Doesn't work to well.

Why do you even want them? I don't get out of the truck to lock the hubs when I run into mud or snow. All ya have to do is a bit of plannin.

Leave the auto hubs to the socker moms. LOL(sorry couldn't resist)

 

Leave them Locked.

Mine have been locked in for a month now and will stay locked in for another 4-5 months. If I don't need 4X4 I shift the t-case into 2WD.

I've been doing this for years. No Problems.

 

well i always heard that running your hubs all the time over heats them and burns them out, anyone to argue different so that i wont be scared to run them locked in all the time

 

in my old 87 dodge with auto hubs i swapped to the posilock cable (for the godawful front axle disconnect) and a set of premium warns for the dana 44 and it was one of the best things i ever did for that rig. kept them locked all winter in alaska, for 2 winters straight, with no issues. just made sure the bearings were greased proper and the hubs sealed up correctly and forgot about it.

 

I had auto hubs in a K5 and they were unreliable and then over heated and blew up taking the wheel bearing with it and almost caused me to crash at highway speeds. I swapped them out for manual hubs because that way I knew they were unlocked the auto ones didn't always unlock or 1 would lock when turning tightly really annoying. Not trying to scare you away from them just saying I have had bad experiences with them and prefer manual hubs.

 

I'm not sure about over heating them but if something binds up between the the transfer case and the axles it will cause more issues if the hubs are locked. I had a front drive shaft u joint break going down the interstate the drive shaft locked up against the trans and the exhaust. The hubs were locked and since the drive shaft locked up so did the front axle. I broke the everything from the hub to the transfer case u joint. That seems like a rare issue but it is just a thought.

 

For years, Dodge 4x4 front-ends, and many others, were un-lockable, being the same as having the hubs locked all the time.

The only drawback was extra wear on expensive parts and the characteristic lurching when turning at slow speeds.

Anything with a NP203 transfer-case would have had solid/un-lockable hubs.

Almost all of the later trucks have no means of un-locking the hubs, just that silly vacuum slider gizmo that un-splines a section of axle; it all still turns.

The big advantage of manual hubs is their ability to dis-engage everything from transfer-case yoke to stub-axle and let that stuff hang loose, just going along for the ride; then, when you need it locked, turn the handle and you know it will engage, no guessing.

 

I wouldn't worry about keeping them locked in, I do it all the time. Just make sure everything is lubricated properly. What you don't want to do is keep it in 4hi all the time, that will cause wear and funny steering.

I've got the full time 4X4 or "unlockable hubs" on the M880. I like it for what it is, farm truck.