Manual locking Hubs for little or no off road time

[Christobal65]

I have seen that EVERYONE reccomends upgrading to warn hub locks for off-road use but my question is should it be done on a explorer that rarely sees any conditions that require 4x4? Could the hubs lock themselves under 4x2 opperation? or should i just do it so i can say i have WARN parts on my Explorer?

 

[CodePoet]

I would still do it if your autos are shot...the autos will eventually wear out. The manuals will not just locke themselves when they are in the unlocked position. This will mean you have to get out to actually engage them. The upside is that new autos are much more expensive than a set of WARN hubs

Later
cp

 

[Robb]

If your auto-hubs are still working, I would just leave them on.

 

[CodePoet]

agree...

cp

 

[Christobal65]

and how can i be 100% sure they are engaging and disengageing properly?

 

[CodePoet]

One of the biggest signs that they are broke is that they click while your driving. If they do and you take them appart you'll see broken parts (parts of a plastic cam) falling out. Do a search to find more warning signs that your hubs are gone.

Good luck
cp

 

[Christobal65]

One of the biggest signs that they are broke is that they click while your driving. If they do and you take them appart you'll see broken parts (parts of a plastic cam) falling out. Do a search to find more warning signs that your hubs are gone.

Good luck
cp

Thanks i will have to talk to my buddy who hooked me up with a brake job how the hubs looked when they did the fronts

 

[DeRocha]

If you rarely see off road action then keep the autos until they break; then switch to manual hubs. Like everyone else stated a set of 2 manual hubs and installation kit will cost less than 1 auto hub. I have autos on my '93 which currently sees moderate off-road action 3-4 times per year. They have worked fine, but I'm aware they could self destruct at any time. A set of manual hubs are my next upgrade...