I just pulled mine apart and the driver side hub lock is full of dirt mud and dried grease so bad the bearing was siezed. The locker dial still turns to I tried the guzzle cleaning but the bearing in the hub disintegrated on removal.

1) What issues should I look for now that I know there is a problem?
2) Can I run without the hub lock installed for a few days while I wait for parts if I just avoid 4WD?

I might buy manual lockers but I could sure use someones leftover ESOF hub for parts to see if I can fix this one too...


The good, the bad and the ugly


The disintegrated bearing

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Shouldn't be a problem to run with out em for a few days, just watch for any extra water sittin in there.

Is there any way to wire brush off some of the rust, if even in the main body. That is one pc with the bearings and they are pricey to replace, so if you can get that going it would be a bonus.
Check if the outer rubber o-ring was on that rusty side. Obviously you had water in there for a while so you have to figure how it got there.
If you can clean the esof hub, get more of the rust off with a good wire wheel cleaning I would see if you can find some of those bearings somewhere that deals strictly with bearings. Should be no problem to replace just the bearing race, just might be time restrictive. Even if you visit a local wreckers and see if you can buy one that is wrecked and save the bearing from might work also.
And then in future, for the short time it takes a yearly maint schedule will help in the long run.
I have a water crossing to get to a fishing hole, so I take mine apart twice a year and check everything over. That even includes the needle bearings in the main hud.

 

Thanks wallz! Good idea on getting the bearing at a bearing house. It looks like Mile Marker lockers are on sale at Summit for $94 so I'll grab a set of those and tinker with fixin the ESOF hub so the little lady won't have to lock hubs in.

No rain in the forecast so it's good to know the hub locker can be off for a few days in 2WD.

I could still use the spare parts since the white nylon ring is also broken in pieces from the stub shaft and bearing dancing aroung in there.

Anyone have an ESOF hub available for parts?

 

Should be lots around with all the aftermarked hubs being bought.

 

So, I have a similar problem. My hubs won't turn- they're seemingly frozen. Any ideas how to get them unstuck?

 

Try starting with a search of "stuck hub" and also check out guzzles site. It will walk you through how to fix it. Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Autolock Hub Lubrication Maintenance Web Page

 

thanks, found this thread with the search but missed the other link...

 

If your dial are hard to turn I have found that soaking the top in tranny fluid helps to free them up. Others have suggested putting a small hole in the dial and spraying inside with lube and sealing with a screw.
If you have a lot of corrosion around your dial you can probably kiss them good by tho, because the stuff looks like pot metal and you may never get them to work properly.

 

just pm'd u i have one with a frozen dial but good internals you can have if you want it.....

 

jasonadsky- sorry for butting into your thread but i appreciate the advice. this is my first excursion and there are the typical minor used truck things to figure out. i'm mechanically inclined, but not real experienced in automotive repair. hope i don't find myself out of my league with this purchase as i really enjoyed driving it 400 miles home!

 

Not a problem -Jer. This forum is a GREAT resource. I did not plan on doing my front end work but was empowered by the knowledge that is shared here. I don't doubt I can do much more than I planned on this EX with the support of the good people on this forum.

Congrats on your new purchase too! I'm only into mine about 600 miles and am planning to keep it for as long as possible because I already absolutely LOVE it!

 

Jeronl:

With the pictures and instructions it sure does make things less intimidating. Back when I went to tackle my first ever plug change on the v-10 and hearing all the plug spitting issues I was leary of doing this on my own. With fte the job went well and was not so bad, along with most else that I have done on the X.