Manual Hub reliability

[ryf]

So, I figured after a week of reading threads, all of them pointing in different directions, I'd start a poll.

I figure its best to compare WARN, and Milemarker, since they are the ones most people can get their hands on affordably.

Which manual hub have you broken on Dana 35 IFS axles????

 

[Burns]

i havent broke mine and have had them about a year

warn

 

[ryf]

shame I was limited to 5 options
good to know!

 

[unclemeat]

I have stock manual hubs and never broken them.

 

[ryf]

are those Warns rebadged uncle?

the warns and the milemarkers cost the same to me locally, and after reading 100 pages that they both break at some point, and both are lifetime warranty, I got to wondering more. I'm running on borrowed time with my autos, I got a deal from a scrap yard (not junk yard) I frequent on 2 hubs that work (deal=$40 for 2). I don't expect they'll hold up forever, but they'll probably make it to spring, at which point it will be warm enough to do the swap. I'm probably going warn, only since it appears the general opinion is they are better, but I figure why not make a poll, get some facts correlated in one place to help make the decision for me and others plain as day when the time comes.

The only reason I didn't want the SAS guys in on it, they have done the swap to beat the tar out of the truck off-road, and the more extreme you get your truck the more stuff is likely to break, and it hasn't got relevance to stock autohub replacement. SO I limited the poll to The IFS D35 to keep a control on what we are talking about.

 

[GJarrett]

I have stock manual hubs and never broken them.

I didn't know that stock manual hubs existed.

 

[ryf]

yep they do, but I know they were rebadged Spicers or Warns, cant remember. They are pretty rare, I believe it was a "dealer installed" option.

 

[mrboyle]

The "stock" manual hubs were rebadged Warn's. As far as reliability, Warns seem to be a little bit stronger than the MM units, but neither is indistructable. One thing to remember is that water is your hubs worst enemy! The inner seal on the hub isn't the best design and will allow water to get into the hub/wheel bearings. This typically only happens when the hub is submerged under water, but checking them periodically after any water crossing or mud running is recommended.

 

[Rick]

I didn't know that stock manual hubs existed.

Yep that was part of the stripped down version of the Explorer, Manual Hubs, Manual Transfer Case and Tranny. Now known to Ranger guys as the FX4

 

[RockRanger]

Both my rangers have had stock manual hubs. They were more common on the older dana 28 rangers then on the nwer dana 35 ones. I blew up one dana 28 hub but never had a problem blowing up dana 35hubs on my ranger. I know RangerX has broken several warns and we had one brake on a member on the rubicon this year. RangerX runs 37"s and a locker up front so that might have something to do with it. I have no experiance with milemarkers so i cant comment on there performance.

 

[glfredrick]

Both of my sons work for a local 4x4 shop that sells both the Warns and the MileMarkers... They are seeing a 10:1 warranty on the MM's versus the Warns (the Warns break less often!). After looking at both hubs, I decided that the MM's LOOK better, but I chose the Warns because of what they showed me about breakage. So far, so good... I've got about 2 years on them, wheeled hard, with no breakage.

The MM's that broke often "swelled up" along the sides before breaking. Sometimes to the point where the wheel could not be pulled off the truck without taking the hub with it. The only cure for that is to smash the hub out of the wheel, destroying it in the process. The Warns, when breaking, mostly dynamite themselves into oblivion.

This is just what I've seen and done, so take it as IMO stuff...

 

[retiredsparky]

superwinch now has hubs for the 1st gen. just installed mine, will reply in the future with any problems. (summit racing, 194.00 w/kit)

 

[Nick_Good]

superwinch now has hubs for the 1st gen. just installed mine, will reply in the future with any problems. (summit racing, 194.00 w/kit)

I saw those in the summit catalog and am considering them. Does anybody have any personal experience with the Superwinch hubs?
Nick Good