manual hub conversion with junkyard parts

[Kirby N.]

Save yourself some more cash and take that stupid motor off and clean it. 10 bucks for the special Torx bits with the holes in them and an hour and you are back in buisiness. I did mine and my dads back in the day. You just take them apart and clean the bushes/ contacts and throw it back together. Do a search on it.

I am going to go ahead and disagree with everyone on the lame "I am not going to upgrade my drivetrain because it will make the rest of my drivetrain fail" argument. You guys are in this sport right? Welcome to the biggest perpetual issue you will face in 4 wheeling. Once you upgrade something, it will only point out that something else needs to be upgraded. Welcome to the sport. You will deal with this the entire time you are in the buisiness of making your 4x4 more capable.

2 of my biggest reasons to upgrade the Hubs:

1- Your stock hubs are weaker than your other stock front axle parts by a significant margin.

2- Your shafts/ joints can be strengethed significantly in a variety of ways. Full circle clips, tacking the caps, etc.


Did you know your stock Dana 35 shafts have the same ujoints as the Dana 44 solid axles everone is converting to (including me)? The shafts are not as high of spline count as the 44 (27 compared to 30), but I think the ujoints/ shaft ears are where you would find the weak spot.

I broke a few hubs and a lockright in my Dana 35 front axle. I never had problems with my shafts or ujoints. I ran 34" Biased ply TSLs and wheeled the piss out of it. It had a James Duff 3.5" Variable Rate Coil lift with 1.25" spacers and extended arms. It worked really well. The last time it broke it upset me pretty huge. I wish I would have heard about these hubs it would have saved me alot of money and time and I would probably be wheeling it with the TTB still. Ok, I like to build suspension so I would probably still have done the SAS, but it definately would have prolonged it.

On my Dana 44 I run 37s on the stock axle shafts and joints. I only found the point of toasting ujoints when I ran a detroit locker and I had the wheel turned while I was on a steep down hill in reverse and on the gas. I broke a Dana 44 hub first, then down the trail I broke both ujoints and a the detroit. After that I pulled the detroit and welded the ujoint caps. No more problems.

All of that to say, change those pesky stupid under designed hubs to the Jeep stronger ones and your hubs will probably still be the weak link. Larry would probably be best to chime in here. He runs 38" TSLs and detroits on a Dana 35 with the upgraded hubs. He wheels it a ton, and it stays together.

The hubs are a step closer to a more capable, dependable front axle. Why would you make a lame excuse and not do it?

 

[DeRocha]

...
The hubs are a step closer to a more capable, dependable front axle. Why would you make a lame excuse and not do it?

Because:
Many people reeding this thread have stock vehicles and drive mainly on-road. They are not planning on upgrading their vehicle beyond stock. If people are looking for strength upgrades they would search as you have and determine the best way to upgrade their vehicle. That being said it is still an easy task to swap out a broken hub on the trail. I have pulled plenty of D35 axles in the garage and the job can be a pita even with the proper tools. Trying to repair a busted Axle on an explorer on the trail would suck.

 

[Kirby N.]

Did you ignore the rest of my post?

I assume that someone could make the call on which hubs to buy based on cost/use and whether the extra cash is going to worth the investment for thier use. I don't think the ease of swap is a good reason not to upgrade. Do you know what I did when I broke hubs and front end stuff? Shifted it into 2x4 (or disco'd the front shaft if I needed low), unlocked the hubs and winched out. Work on your front end from the convience of your garage. If you break a u joint- big deal there are like 3,000 of spare shafts with ujoint in them in the local pick and pull and it never hurts to repack those Dana 35 wheel bearings. 45 minutes per side. Tops. There isn't even a c-clip to worry about.

Do you know what is an easier task then swapping hubs on the trail? Not breaking hubs on the trail. From my experience I still think the upgraded hubs will be the weakest link in the front end, but that is irrelivant. If you are wheeling it hard enough to break a hub (a task that takes some significant stress) then you are probably wheeling it hard enough that you could stand to upgrade some drivetrain components. Start with those weak, ill engineered hubs.

I am only trying to save people from my headaches.

 

[Josh]

I got a complete set of the standard warn hubs and conversion kit for 60 bucks That is a rare find for sure. I now have them as a spare set. I already have warn manuals on now.

 

[Tbars4]

...kirby n...it sounds like you are taking a really good thread and posting your own personal rant...:scratch:

 

[Kirby N.]

...kirby n...it sounds like you are taking a really good thread and posting your own personal rant...:scratch:

I am trying to help the guy. Isn't that what this is for?

 

[DeRocha]

Did you ignore the rest of my post?

No... I was at work and didn't have the time to address every point in your post. We are all here to help each other and to gain knowledge and information on our vehicles. You are looking at this solution from one perspective (to build a bullet proof highly capable trail rig). You have already gone down the road of broken manual HUBs with your highly modified vehicle. You wheel your Explorer hard and have the tools, know how, and experience to get home when stuff blows up. But lets face it, many members on this site don't take their Explorers off road and when they do their pretty much in stock form. Many of these people don't posses alot of mechanical knowledge or experience so breaking an axle can be Expensive. I realize you've stated your axles held up under lots of abuse, but many of these people are wheeling 1st gens with the original U-joints that are time bombs waiting to go. As such busting an axle shaft could mean some expensive repair bills if they can't do the work themselves.

When I upgraded to manual hubs I read the Ranger Station's article on the Jeep Dana35 hubs and thought about using them. Since my Explorer is also my daily driver I went with the standard manual hubs (29071) because:

• I didn't want a busted axle (no matter how unlikely)
• They use a roller bearing vs copper bushing

The std hubs use a roller bearing for the stub axle shaft to ride on when they are unlocked, whereas the stronger axles use a copper bushing. Since the stronger hubs were designed for a rear axle I would surmise the intent was the rear hubs would be locked most of the time thus keeping the wear on the copper bushing to a minimum.

 

[Kirby N.]

Enough said. Good explaination. Thanks for the better explaination. I can see your point now.

 

[rookieshooter]

I have the Jeep rear 8.8 hubs on my B2 since the first day I drove back in Aug 07 after a full revamping of about everything that could be revamped. Now with that said this this truck has a stump pulling 302 with 33s. All components in the engine including the Edelbrock heads are designed for low RPM torque. The truck has seen trails about everyday and, mostly dirt, mud and some snow. I do not baby this truck. Just today it was loaded with Hickory firewood, and this is a heavy dense wood which really weighed the little truck down. It climbs these WV mountains with ease no matter how loaded down.
The Jeep hubs work fine. I have also not had any drive train problems to date. But I'm sure they will come. I've done the welding thing to the caps and also modified the washer that has the ill fitted tab that ford designed.

Before welding up and fitting properly.

Shaping after welding more metal to tab.

Much better fit.

Now I understand that many may not have the tools and knowledge to do this. But it's nothing that can't be learned if you want.
I have to agree with Kirby that there is a wide margin of strength between the stronger Jeep hubs and rest of drivetrain. For example, lets say that on a stock hub it breaks at a certain level. Now you install those Jeep hubs, which by the way are even heavier to hold then the stock one. I have both. Now lets say you install the Jeep hubs and you pass the level that the stock hubs broke. This does not mean that some part of the drivetrain will break just a little past that level. There is a wide margin. So now your in the field and you can enjoy the day with less headache.
So with the experience I have with these hubs, I'd say good investment.

 

[Kirby N.]

I used a set of auto hub nuts along with the lock nut from a manual kit to fix the nut backing off issue. Here is the thread:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81816&highlight=hub

 

[Josh]

I torqued mine to around 180 ftlbs. They have been tight for a couple of years. I read that on another thread here.

 

[Tbars4]

...here is an update with the current prices from 4wheelparts...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1867081&postcount=457

 

[Stumpy2fingers]

So I have been trying to do my hubs now. Auto to manual hubs. I bought the kit . Cost me 323$ Candain. The question I have is what size socket do I need to get the final nut off. I am going insane trying to do it. But on the plus side I know how they come aprt easily now. Please help with any and all info. stumped24@hotmail.com if you wanna send me info on this please.

 

[DeRocha]

The Auto hubs require a special 2 3/8" axle hub socket, but since you're swapping in manuals (no sense in waisting $ on a tool you're only going to use once) you can just use some large water pliers. The HUB nut is only held in place with a few lbs of torque and should back off easily once you have removed the locking key..

 

[Feonix1123]

I have a 93 sploder sport 5 speed

I wanted to get away from my auto hubs. So i went to my local junk yard found on 2 diff years 93 and a 92 the hubs and both lock washers and the nut. Bought it for $40 bucks i went online they wanted over 150 for the kit but hey im happy cause i have my man locks now. But my truck is still most stock but my f150 coil seats and and 33x12.5 on 15x8 rim. as well as my rear shackles. But yes its really not hard instead if you really want to spend that much money on hubs. I figure hubs come and go so i have 3 spears LOL.. Its real easy to install the hubs just make sure you have all the tools and dont forget that little pin on the auto Thats what took me the longest. Good Luck

 

[sqhurt]

where can you get this conversion kit for $50 bucks at? I tried to take my shift motor apart the other day an them torx bolts not coming out an broke of in one, but turned it to 4h by hand an drove to see if it worked an i got some very loud clanging an grindin so like to switch over to manual hubs but can find the kit for 50 that there speaking of.. thanks in advance

 

[Tbars4]

...see post #32 ...

 

[sqhurt]

...see post #32 ...

I must not be seeing somthing or going to it right, thats site says there $177 for the standard, have they gone up in price?

 

[Tbars4]

...The hub conversion kit as shown in that link was $9.69 (per side) out the door...A warn kit is about $60...The price you mentioned is for new hubs only, not the conversion kit...

...You can also find the hubs cheaper at a junk yard as stated in the title of this thread...

 

[sqhurt]

...The hub conversion kit as shown in that link was $9.69 (per side) out the door...A warn kit is about $60...The price you mentioned is for new hubs only, not the conversion kit...

...You can also find the hubs cheaper at a junk yard as stated in the title of this thread...

hey tbars... thanks for ur replies an helping me but woow am i still every lost lol... im new to al this had my exploder for bout two years now an just figure id give a shot on fixin the 4x4 for this winter... the kit ur pointing out is the packing with the metal rings? right? now if i get them dont i need the hub where u turn it into 4x4 im sooo lost here but i appreciate your help man