Okay bud, here is the first half of the massage I sent you.....Hey, I have a camper that my dad gave to me. It weights 9800 lbs. According to the Virginia title, the GVWR for this 95 F150 is 10,000 lbs. According to the sticker on the door, it is 6250 lbs. What is your opinion on pulling my camper anyway? According to the current West Virginia title, the truck weights 4000 lbs.

 

Here is the second half of the message I sent you....My next question is, can I swap my 302 with a 351W? I know back a few years, you could swap just about everything between the two. I'm just not for sure, once they went to EFI. I'm not sure that all the wiring would be the same. I've seen both in 2 different trucks. To look at them side by side, they look the same. I've looked up a 5.8L for my truck, and they list one with the AIR in head, and another with the AIR in manifold. If I can very easily swap the engines, would it matter which one I bought to put in my truck? I know that my 5.0L has the AIR in the heads. My whole intention, if you haven't guessed by now, is to have more power to pull my camper. A friend had a 95 with a 302. His camper weighed more than mine. His truck was a short bed, mine is the long wheel base. He said it could have stood to have a little more power, but it handled it alright.


Since I sent you these messages, I got info from another source, that since my engine is mass air, it would be a simple swap if I got a complete engine from another mass air truck. I found something, and I will share it with you, after you respond to this. This post is getting rather long.

 

Sorry for the time away, a lot going on, and the weather hasn't really let me go anywhere on my days off, 5 weeks and all will clear up.

Haven't forgotten about you

 

Thanks buddy

 

Quick test for your auto hubs. Put transfer case in 2wd, reach down to the front drive shaft and spin it. If you hear the hubs click and the drive shaft stops spinning, your hubs are locking in. If you are able to freely spin the drive shaft for multiple revolutions then you have one or more hubs not engaging.

 

Thank you. I've been wondering about how to check the hubs.

 

Thanks again 88LX5.0H. I just performed the test, and it confirms that I have one or both hubs malfunctioning.

 

Hey Dixie. How are ya. As a gentleman just told me recently, I just tested my automatic hubs by putting it in 2wd, and spinning the front drive shaft. I spun it several times and the hubs never did lock. I did order a used set of superwinch lockout hubs off of Ebey. I am just waiting for the conversion kit to come in. I know they are not as good as Ford OEM or Warn, but when you are strapped for cash, I guess you have to take what you can get. Anyway, while I am waiting on the conversion kit, is there any maintenance or repair that can be done to the automatic hubs?

 

Get rid of the auto hubs and donʻt think about it.

With the new manual hubs, you can drive with them locked (transfercase in 2hi) and when you really need 4 wheel drive,

you can engage the transfercase into 4hi(lo). Many drivers do this in adverse weather conditions or off-road.

Depending on your truckʻs original hub design, you may not need the conversion kit.

 

In addition to this, I meant to ask another question. My truck has a condition where, after I put it in 4 Lo, when I put the transmission in N. to shift back into 4 Hi, the gears in the transfer case continue spinning. I actually have to turn the truck off, to stop the output of the tranny, in order to shift the transfer case. With the hubs being faulty, would that cause that condition?

 

I'm good thank you, and hope you are too. For maintenance on the auto hubs, I like to make sure that all the parts move freely by throwing them against some other metal bits in the scrap pile. But seriously, if you want to take a look then yes they do come apart. There's quite a few pieces in there but be careful not to over lube them. One of the problems people run into is that they pack the things full of grease and then the sliding collar can't move to engage the splines. Clean 'em up and sell them to someone who is interested.

By the way... the conversion kit is just the older style spindle nuts and lock ring. JBG doesn't charge much for them at all, but other places want almost the same amount of money as they do for the hubs themselves! I run the MileMarker premium stainless hubs from him, got them as a kit with the conversion parts and everything for less than $100.

These guys: 1980-96 Mile Marker Stainless Supreme Hub Conversion Kit

JBG is a good source for conversion parts like this, stop by and check them out.

 

No the hubs wouldn't have anything to do with that. And that is not out of the ordinary for a truck to do that. Just "shift it like you mean it", one smooth swift action and it will go. Or if you don't feel comfortable with doing that, just keep doing what you are doing. I know it's a pain, but it is guaranteed NOT to tear anything up!

 

Okay. In the process of removing the automatic hubs. I am a mechanic by trade, but I have never removed automatic hubs before. How in the world do you get into that confined space to remove the snap ring. Instead of using a flat snap ring, there is a round snap ring in an inside diameter. I can't use my snap ring pliers as the ring tightens outward. I tried a couple of pocket screw drivers, but, there just isn't enough space to get a good angle at it.

 

Patience and persistence, patience and persistence!

 

I use a pick/o-ring removal tool.