What are the Common problems with a 94' Explorer LTD?

[c.nate]

Oops.

 

[c.nate]

Yeah! Auto hubs! I'm never switching. Great for when you're in a snowstorm or other situation, where you refuse to go outside the truck, and you can't get the g/f or wife to either.

I'm in Bath. Just bought a '94 XLT 4X4 and was told I need front hubs. Do you know of anywhere local that will repack and cleanup my old hubs?

 

[Brock94]

I have to agree, in general...if you drive with your hubs locked on DRY pavement, you ARE going to get binding in the front driveline, esp. in turns...which means you will get more wear and stress on the front u-joints and hubs...

Not true. If the transfer case is in 2WD with the hubs locked there will not be binding in the front driveline. Binding will occur only if the transfer case is in 4WD with hubs locked on dry pavement.

Keeping hubs locked with the t-case in 2WD will just make the front driveline spin decreasing fuel efficiency but will not damage or bind the system.

I spend some time in northern New Hampshire and a lot of people keep the front hubs locked all winter but switch the t-case in and out of 4WD depending on conditions.

 

[Brock94]

I'm in Bath. Just bought a '94 XLT 4X4 and was told I need front hubs. Do you know of anywhere local that will repack and cleanup my old hubs?

Can't answer your question, but you should know what you're getting into so you don't spend too much. There are three little "teeth" on a cam mechanism inside the autohubs that break off easily if the vehicle is under load when you try to switch to 4WD-- or if you accelerate hard after turning 4WD on, but before the hubs have locked. Usually only one side will break at a time. The catch is that you can't buy the cam piece by itself from Ford-- They'll want to sell you the whole hub for $300+ each plus labor.

The manual hub conversion is an easy DIY project and will give you much stronger hubs for under $200. There are plenty of discussions here if you do a search for manual hubs.

I have kept my autohubs for now because I just don't use 4WD that much, but I did break one of them last winter and was stuck until I found a replacement for $100 at a junk yard. Since then I bought a pair of extras from someone on this site for $20 after they did the conversion and I keep the extras in the back of the truck in case (changing the hubs isn't much harder than changing the tire).

One of the moderators here, Kris Guilbeaux (sp?) rebuilds autohubs and sells them at a reasonable price-- I haven't tried them, but the word is he puts in a redesigned cam that is a lot stronger.

Hope this helps-- and saves you from spending too much on the fix.

 

[Rhett]

Not true. If the transfer case is in 2WD with the hubs locked there will not be binding in the front driveline. Binding will occur only if the transfer case is in 4WD with hubs locked on dry pavement.

That's what I said. Or that's what I meant.