Hetdiesel

Hey im looking to put in the free spin hubs on my 2004.5 it has the 4wd as a lever on the floor and was not sure how hard or of it is worth it.
ya see i only really use the 4 wheel drive in the winter and i can see i would save fuel and money on u joints. i have seen the danatrac kit in the back of diesel power and it says is like $2000. let me know how you experiences and purchaces went thanks.

rjm022

had my dyna tracs on my 04.5 for 2 years now. kit cost has gone up since i bought mine. it took me and a buddy about ten hours to install- but we did a lot of other front end work too. i picked up 1.25mpg with the lock out hubs. a lot of debate on this site whether it is worth spending the money on doing the lock out hubs. i would do it again in a heart beat. less wear and tear on the front end,truck drives better-less maintenance too.
three kits on the market now 1)dyna trac 2)ems off road 3) solid axle.

Hetdiesel

thats good to hear i plan on doing the hubs with my ball joints and u-joints and i heard ball joints are a problem when you take them out so a guess ill find some of them to put in and also i seen the bracket you bolt on you frame for the steering box looks to be a good investment.

NDanecker

I installed the steering box brace. It felt like it tightened things up but no way to really measure. Might just be in my head also.....

Purchased the free wheel kit from EMS Offroad. Haven't installed yet. Plan to do that and ball joints also. Just been too busy lately.

EMS Offroad is a great company. They were VERY helpful with answering questions, getting the parts together and shipping out..track number....etc. I also read/heard good things about them. Buy with confidence that they'll stand behind their product.

Now if I could just schedule a day to install these **** things!

Danderson

The increased cost of the Dynatrac ($2395) includes the Dynaloc hubs which stickout about 3/4" less and are much stronger. They've gotta be making out pretty good at that price though. Shutting down all that rotational mass and gaining easy access to the BJ's is a plus.

carl48

the 2wd low reverse is worth every penny of it and the dynalock dynatrac kit has real bearings and parts in it

dwiningernm

I had the EMS kit installed at Christmas. Also replaced the u-joints and ball joints at the same time. This was done at about 40K miles and the upper ball joints were already loose. I really suggest this kit but unless you have all the tools and a good place to do it, I personally didn't want to take it on. The guys had to mod the antilock brake attachment slightly but it all works fine. EMS is a good bunch to work with I do agree. I believe the biggest advantage to this system is simply that it shouldn't let you down all at once like the current hubs can and after replace a couple of the OE hubs this system is paid for. Not to mention that you can go larger tires without as much worry if you choose to.

To the other question, I've had the PSE steering brace on for a while now and it does seem to help. This one is super simple to install.

levigarrett76

i have put 45000 miles on my ems kit...been flawless! I would highly recommend it...the dynatrac is way overpriced. With my dually kit and 35 spline outers the hubs are perfectly flush with the lug cover...looks factory

THe 2wd low is priceless. It took me about 4 hours to do the install...very easy and straight forward, but i am used to working on axles with my rockcrawling background

ddestruel

[QUOTE=levigarrett76;2423587]i have put 45000 miles on my ems kit...been flawless! I would highly recommend it...the dynatrac is way overpriced. With my dually kit and 35 spline outers the hubs are perfectly flush with the lug cover...looks factory

THe 2wd low is priceless. It took me about 4 hours to do the install...very easy and straight forward, but i am used to working on axles with my rockcrawling background

[\QUOTE]



Yep best money i EVER Spent. i should have done it before my sparty or my SB clutch.


I had the nightmare unit bearing story on my 02 just outside of warranty. lost one in nevada on a saturday night. between the towing bill for my truck, the bill for towing my loaded GN , the hotel for two nights, food for two days, cost of the mechanic installing the new one and the cost of having one express shipped out of salt lake city I could have bought a Dynatrac kit plu spent two solid days in a whorehouse (not that i would but you get my point). I will never trust a design that i can not service and inspect before a long road trip.

premature 40k mile failure without warning is unacceptable to me. my 03 did it once within warranty and then again right towards the end of the warranty. i said screw it and invested in the spindle and hub kit vs waiting for another unti bearing to fail

levigarrett76

I agree...the piece of mind is worth it. There no real good way to inspect a unit bearing...All you can do is hope you hear a noise or feel it in the steering when it starts going out...and hope it doesnt leave you stranded!

When i hit 60000 miles im going to clean and repack my bearings...that will be 50,000 miles on the kit...i will report on how everything looks. Should be just fine

rootercycles

I put the EMS kit on mine last winter in my garage. There are advantages to using the dynatrac and I have posted them in another forum. This was the best upgrade I've done to my rig yet...

turbo hoss

has any one installed the solid axel kit? And has any one had problems with the axel seals leaking after the install

bradler

I have the Dynatrack but i hear the solid axle has some good features like the abs speed sensor and tone ring are sealed. The AAM 9.25 has some pretty good seals, they actually grip the axle shaft and rotate inside themselves instead of the seal lip riding on the axle shaft. If your carefull putting them back in and clean out the axle tubes good should be fine, i've had mine out twice now for hubs then ball joints and they haven't leaked a drop (knocking on wood).

rootercycles

When I put the EMS kit on my truck, there was considerable "sub-assembly". They may have changed this since, but the Dynatrac and the Solid Axle kits have assembled most everything so its more of a plug and play.

levigarrett76

no leaks here either