i just bought this truck a week ago for towing and today my passenger hub decided it no longer wants to unlock. i took it apart and it's filled with metal chucks and shards of the wave spring. the drivers side is working fine...so my question is can i take the auto locking hubs out part number AC3Z-3B396-A (auto hub) and replace them with the manual hubs part number BC3Z-3B396-B (manual hub). this is the newest truck ive ever owned so ive never had auto hubs before. if i replace the autos with the manuals will the selector switch on the dash still work as designed by locking in the transfer case or will the fact that it was designed to have auto hubs screw up the system because i replaced them with the manual lockers?

basically i just want to swap the hubs to manuals and change absolutely nothing else. will the esof still work properly? and i know i will have to get out and lock the hubs in manually and i am fine with that.

 

If you change to manual hubs you will have to get out and lock the hubs to get into 4 wheel drive and then switch the dash switch to lock the transfercase. If you are going to manual hubs I would recommend aftermarkets like WARN or super winch or along those line. Way better built then stock. Love my WARN's.

 

Do the even make aftermarket hubs for the 05' and newer hub style?

 

I think it should still shift the t-case. You just need to plug the vacuum lines maybe?? I think I've read that before.

 

I did a search and found no aftermarket hubs of any kind for a 2006 or newer. its not going to be abused so im fairly confident the stock ones should hold i just don't have a lot of confidence in the auto hubs...always had manuals and never had one fail. truck has 140k on it. how long do the autos usually last under normal usage?

 

My 06's worked but were having issues and I had 70k on that truck. Current one has manual shift with manual hubs. Wouldn't mind the auto/manual hub back but had the t-case shift motor fail twice on me as in it was fried and needed a new one. So I wanted that shifter.

 

Forgot to add the 06's hubs were sticking really bad, as in hars to manually rotate to "LOCK" when I bought it with 26k/mi on it. First owner probably never turned them. I turn mine at least once a month and shift into 4x4.

 

So essentially its hit or miss with the auto hubs...so theoretically i should be able to swap to the manual hubs and everything should work just fine minus having the auto locking feature.

 

I think so but I believe you'll need to plug the vacuum lines as guys complain their air conditioning will default to defrost with a vacuum leak. But I'm not sure if the defrost switch applies to all years or just some. Thats my take on it from what I have read on here over the years.

 

That is my understanding also. But as stated earlier, I don't think there are any aftermarket hubs available for '05 and up. Paying for Ford hubs will be pricey. I would look on ebay or maybe local salvage yard.