I have a puzzling problem with the front end and am not too sure where to start. I have a Dana 60 with automatic locking hubs. When I put the truck in 4 wheel drive, 1- the transfer to diff works fine, no unusal noise. 2- when the truck is put in fwd the right axle shaft will turn but not the hub (guessing a hub problem), the left axle shaft does not turn at all...(????). A quick note: with the transfer disengaged, I can turn the fwd drive shaft with my hand and both the left and right axle shafts will do their thing. But when I move the shaft with any force or engage the transfer either by hand or with the vehicle in motion, the left will not turn. Any idea where I should/can start before breaking into anything or taking it to a mech????

 

Sounds like the right auto hub is broken.the left one is not turning because of the open diff.

 

>I have a puzzling problem with the front end and am not too
>sure where to start. I have a Dana 60 with automatic
>locking hubs. When I put the truck in 4 wheel drive, 1- the
>transfer to diff works fine, no unusal noise. 2- when the
>truck is put in fwd the right axle shaft will turn but not
>the hub (guessing a hub problem), the left axle shaft does
>not turn at all...(????). A quick note: with the transfer
>disengaged, I can turn the fwd drive shaft with my hand and
>both the left and right axle shafts will do their thing.
>But when I move the shaft with any force or engage the
>transfer either by hand or with the vehicle in motion, the
>left will not turn. Any idea where I should/can start
>before breaking into anything or taking it to a mech????

I would say that you do indeed have a bad hub.The hubs on this series of Ford trucks relies on the turning motion of the axles to lock the hubs.The reason the right axle turns and not the left is because you have an open diff.The way this works basically is that both axles will apply equal force to both wheels until either you lose traction or in your case you lose the connection to the wheel assy.(*&%$#% up hub),then all of the power is sent to the wheel/axle with the least amount of resistance.You can probably turn the axle/hub assys. by hand because there is some resistance left in the hub and your engine just overpowers the locking mechanism in the hub when it applies the force.

These trucks are known to blow the automatic hubs that are factory supplied.The factory manual hubs are more durable.I know that on the older F-150 trucks that Warn,Superwinch,and Milemarker offer manual hub conversions.One of them should offer manual hubs for the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks.I personally like Warn products.The other options available are factory auto hubs again or factory manual hubs.I don't know what parts you'll need if you go factory Ford manual hubs.

BTW,they aren't all that bad to install if you have some mechanical inclination and the right instructions.

Hope this helps .

 

Well I would have never thought. It is completely oposite of where I had imagined the problem to lie. It also is reasuring that the problem is in fact the hub. I have been in there before with my 150 (it too had automatic locking hubs). This is my first time at this site and my sincere appreciation for the help that I have recieved on this first day. Very impressive avenue of communication. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE SUGGESTIONS. I can almost guarantee that if you were too drive by my garrage tomorrow, you will find me somewhere near the right front tire of my truck covered in grease and bleeding from messing with the lock ring. Thanks again.......Rob

 

Welcome to the site terhune1. There is a vast amount of knowledge here- as you have found out. We hope you come back and share some of yours as well.

 

>Very impressive avenue of communication. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE SUGGESTIONS.

The guys here are simply amazing, aren't they!

>...covered in grease and bleeding from messing with the lock ring.

Oh, the painful memories that THAT brought back!

Welcome to FTE!

 

Well fokes, Here is the deal that I found out when I jumped into the right hub this morning. 1- There appeared to be an over amount of grease in the hub (the manual warns to not "pack" the hub as to it will damage it). So, I removed all of the grease and free'd up the moving parts on the hub body as well as the Cam Assy. I did find that the cam assy was in the hub BACKWARDS! I don't know how that is possible as I couldn't duplicate it. But that is the way it came out. I reasembled the hub (per the exploaded diagram) with minimal grease (used hi temp grease). After assembly complete, I had my son stand in front of the vehicle to see if both shafts would engage when 4x4 was applied. (I found it is a whole lot easier to have someone else help you here, cause putting the truck in gear and trying to move outside while "you" look, not only lets the truck drive away without you, but you look pretty silly trying to get back in to get it stopped. Anyway, it was sluggish but after 30 to 40 feet, they would both engage and I had all wheel drive. The more I messed with it, the easier and less time/distance it took for both axles to become engaged.
I really don't think that this fixed the problem 100%, but the results are better than they were yesterday. I am going to take her for a long ride tomorrow with the 4x4 in (both hi and low transfer) and see if this "exersising" makes it engage any better.
My resulting lessons learned will end up with the purchase of a manual locking hub assy as recommended above. It not only is more reliable, but the diagram I have shows 3 parts, not 11.
So there you have my day. I need to go finish wire brushing the grease from my hands and change the bandaids on my fingers.
Thanks again for the help and ideas. I appreaciae every bit of it. Rob

 

Here is an update on the Warn hubs that you all recommended I look in to. I went to their web 'www.gowarn.com' and this is what I found. YES,,, there is a conversion for the '97 from auto to manual locking hubs. There are two. #war11690, Hub,M256 1 ton for $153.95 and the Hublock Premium 1 ton set (#war38826) for $178.95. You do have to also purchase a conversion kit, 3.5" INT MT Auto to Manual (#war32721), it goes for $61.95. They have a dealer location link and I can get them in the local area. Pretty awesome. Should be running on all fours sooner that not..........Thought you might want to know.........Rob

 

If the conversion kit is anything like the one for half ton fords of the same period it doesn't include a lot.But,you have to have it.The premium hubs IMO are worth the extra$$$.

 

 

:-) Greetings all,
Been out and about a bit and just finally got this problem wrapped and back on all 4's again. Here is the deal on the front axle transformation from auto to manual. If you recall, I went off looking for Warn hubs for the change over. When I compared them with another brand....Superwinch 1 ton premiums, I found that there is NO plastic parts with the superwinch, unlike the Warn hubs;;;and there is NO conversion kit required either. So I ended up with the Superwinch. The entire process took a total of 30 minutes for both hubs to be replaced. It took longer to remove the factory automatic hubs than it did to install the manual ones. There is only two retaining clips; one for the axle shaft and the other larger for the outer casing. Six allen screws secure the cap and away you go. Peace of cake. There isn't even grease to worry about. The instructions call for a squirt or two of 10W30. I would definately recommend this for anyone with the same frustrations I had with the automatic hubs. There is no backing up to disengage. Just a flip of a switch......... I am trilled and thought I would pass it on..............Rob