Those don't stick out hardly at all Raspy. I saw a 3rd Gen HD on the road one day and the hubs stuck out really bad. From behind I was like, "***" that looks terrible.

 

I have Dynatracks. I laid a straight edge from the wheel edges across the hub and it is a straight shot on my truck. It may be due to the offset of my Moto's but mine don't look weird nor do they stick out further than the wheel. I also picked up almost 3mpgs with the Dynatracks on highway cruise.

 

The thing about locking the hubs is that you can always lock them when you first get in the truck, IF you anticipate needing 4wd later that day. You may lose a touch of gas mileage for that one day, but for all of the other days you don't need 4wd at all, you are saving wear and gas. In my past manual hub'd vehicles, I can't remember ever having to "get out and lock". I always locked before anticipating I needed it. SO much wear and tear savings, mileage gains, etc.

In prior vehicles, for example, when I saw snow forecast for later that day, I locked my hubs in the morning on the way to work. If I didn't need 4wd, no big deal.

On a similar note, I ordered my truck specifically WITHOUT the twist-dial 4wd - I wanted a stout, reliable, manual transfer case lever to pull to engage 4wd. The simplicity and reliability of manual transfer case, manual hubs, etc, in my opinion, is the way real 4wd vehicles should come. Save "pushbutton AWD" for Subaru or similar.

Just my 2 cents

 

Absolutely right. Exactly my thinking as well.

I want to be able to reach down there, pull it into 4WD manually and feel the detent. When I get ready to go to the mountains I engage the hubs before I leave. Then everything is all lubed up and ready when it's time. As the road gets slippery I just pull it in at whatever speed I'm going and I feel it engage. Save the electric motor for the Escalades and Hondas, give me the manual lever.

John

 

The ironic thing is that the only time I've heard of a problem with a 3rd gen going into or coming out of 4wd, it was with the manual shifter.

 

Subaru doesn't have a push button [here in the US]. They're AWD all the time. Overseas, they have 4WD (w/a low range too) with a manual transfer lever and maybe electric too, but I don't know.

There have been a few posters that had issues with their electric 4WD. I'm glad I have a manual transfer lever.

 

Interesting- They All Sound pretty nice and get the Job Done- with that being Said Solid Axle Provides the Most Finish Work of them all in the assembly process- which in Turn you pay a couple hundred more for.
I was intererested on how much of the finish work solid Axle Provides VS EMS & Dyantrac and how much work time /labor does it save on the installation.

 

Took me about 4 hours to install my ems kit. over 100,xxxkm on it and my milage is getting better all of the time. And i didnt have to break the bank on the kit either. Also EMS Has very good customer service. Its like any place, If you want to be rude,they have the right to treat you the same way. I had one problem with my kit and EMS sent me the new part, No charge. So im my books i recomend there product.

 

must not live where there is snow and road salt. electric selenoids love to freeze up or jsut quit working over time

 

Well I live where there is snow and salt and I have to agree with the fellow who says that he has only heard of the manual shift transfer case having shifting problems. How does snow and salt affect the solinoid as every thing is sealed away from the envirement anyhow. I will admit that when I bought mine I was upset that if I orderd a SLT Laramie to get Leather I had to have a electric shift transfer case but if I was to reorder I would specify one.
Jim O

 

I did live in Salt Lake and that's where I purchased the truck. I only lived there for about a year after it was bought though.

Still, lots of others do live in those climates and you very rarely hear of a problem with the electronic shift T-cases. I think they did a good job of weatherproofing all the electronics. Like Jim said above, I originally wanted the manual shift too but after using the electronic and not hearing of any problems I would probably choose to go elect. again.

 

I have not seen one convincing argument that Dyna trac or solid axle is worth the extra $1000+. I beleive they look better...

It sounds like EMS has all the bases covered. I have my truck on blocks now. I just put $400 into new hub-bearings, but I haven't installed them yet. For an extra $600 I can have the EMS kit. If I drive 30k, and get 3mpg better, then they'd pay off, and if the bearings last 180k, then they match up to the oem longevity. This is a ponderous situation.

 

Can we justify most of our mods? Hub replacement cost and mileage improvement are at least some help.

 

excellent point. I had to Justify a 4k paint job recently, nothing really justifies that, but dang it looks sweet.

I am wondering about the EMS Rotors, are they factory sized? I'm wondering because I'd like to put the EBC slotted rotors on instead.

Also, out of all seven pages, I'm still fairly unclear how serviceable the EMS kit is.