Been thinking... some of you might remember my last hub thread. Well, it sure looked possible, but I couldn't get the machinist to do anything. He thought it was probably possible, but he didn't want to be liable. I understand, but it's sad that that's what it comes to nowadays. Guys like me who just want to screw around with an idea but don't have the means to are stuck! Anyways, been working on a friend's '95 OBS and it's looking like hubs are on the docket for attention. The OBS hubs are great... they require two bearings and a seal to rebuild (and any nuts and washers in there) and last a lot longer. I know I can get either a Dynatrac or SpynTec free-spin hub kit but they're $2000 and $1500 respectively. So here's what I was thinking... what about OBS hubs on a Super-Duty? Yes, bolt patterns are an issue, but I did some math and the metric pattern of the Super Dutys are slightly larger than the standard pattern of the OBS trucks. I'm assuming the the OD of the center pieces are also slightly smaller on the OBS trucks than the Super Duties. For those of us with aftermarket rims where the lugs have conical seats, that's not an issue. The wheels float to make room for the center caps anyways. What if I went and drilled new stud holes between the old holes for a metric pattern on the existing OBS assembly? I saw a guy do that with Super Duty rear hubs when he wanted to convert his OBS to rear disk brakes. I don't know if the rotors and everything work out, but I know they're not bigger on the OBS trucks like the '05 to '07 Super Dutys were compared to my '99. As far as the spacing goes for the brakes, I'm thinking it might be pretty easy. I made a late-model hub work on my early '99 by spacing the caliper bracket out with washers. Since the later hub is about 1/8" farther out than the early hubs, it caused the rotors to rub on the caliper brackets. The washers spaced it out so it cleared so I'm sure I could do something similar if necessary. Now, another thing I have to wonder is will the OBS bolt right up? I know I'll probably have to use the outer axle shafts from the OBS truck. I'm pretty sure that the hubs on the F-250 and F-350 Super Dutys were the same regardless of D50 or D60. Will it be a different bolt pattern between the OBS and Super Duty? I'm sure you all can see what I've got in mind and I don't think I need to mention much else. What are your thoughts? Anybody have any experience with this?

 

I paid $100 for a lifetime hub. Whats the point now as the price has come down...Back in 2003 or so lots of guys were interested in the bearings.. Not now..As far as the early 99's just use 2000 bearings and rotors and done..


Dick