I recently bought a 1999 Ranger XLT 4WD. It only has 65K miles on it, but there are a lot of "issues" with it. First off, I had to replace one front wheel hub, which wasn't so bad of a job after I found out that a new hub only cost $80 from Rock Auto. A dealer told me it would take one hour to change, but it took me one day. Haha. Doing that also fixed the ABS. Then, I had problems with the 4WD to deal with. After learning a lot on this forum about PVH (pulsed vacuum hub-locks), I found out that you can convert PVH to "manual" very easily and cheaply using parts bought at ACE Hardware. I bought a package of two "Wall Mount Door Stops" (ACE #5295019) and two compression springs (ACE #155, 3/4" diameter x 2-1/8" long x .062" wire). Remove the outer cap of the PVH by pushing in and turning slightly CCW. Remove the rubber diaphragm and 3-piece "clicker assembly" and save for possible future use. Install the door stop with the 1-7/8" diameter towards the "spline ring" that needs to be pushed inwards to lock the hub. I left the plastic adhesive cover on the door stop. Then insert the spring into the recess of the door stop and re-install the outer cap of the PVH housing by pushing in and turning CW. I marked the position of the cap and the housing with a stripe of white paint to show the fully installed position. I presume that you could reverse the door stop and the spring to put the hub in 2WD. In that case, the spring would be against the end of the axle and the door stop would be inside the cap. I don't know if there would be a problem because the end of the spring would have to rotate against the end of the axle. My truck works wonderfully in 4WD now. You still use the switch on the dash to engage the transfer case into 2WD/4WD High/4WD Low. They say it doesn't hurt at all to leave the hubs locked (except reduced fuel mileage) so you can stop worrying about the troublesome PVHs once you make this conversion. As a newbee, I am not allowed to post pictures with this post. Later on, if anyone wants to see pictures, I will post them.

 

I'd like to see the pictures! I have a question...I'm about to put manual hubs on, do I plug the vacuume line or just leave it?

 

Did you buy manual hub-locks which will replace the original PVH hub-locks, or are you planning to convert your PVH hub-locks to manual? I converted mine for a total cost of about $7. If you have an ACE Hardware in your area, you can buy the parts that I used. I left the vacuum lines connected because they will have absolutely no effect once the hub-locks are converted to manual. I had left my hubs locked all winter, but I was still using the rotary switch on the dash to engage 2WD, 4WD High, and 4WD Low. The other day I turned the "door stop and spring" around to unlock the hubs. I need to inspect them to see if there are any issues after doing that. For sure, there is no 4WD after unlocking the hubs. What makes this cheap conversion possible is the easy way in which the "hub cap" is removed by pushing in and rotating it a few degrees. I may be able to post pictures now, so I will see about doing that in my next post.

 

I just received manual hubs in the mail. I read something online about popping out the cent of the plastic "hub" and being able to lock the hubs that way but, I though, "how would that keep dirt & grime from entering the hub area?"

So, I ordered the Rugged manual locking hubs and they came yesterday.

Was going to work on it tonight...I'm not sure what to do with the "failed" vacuumed line though?

 

Some people have plugged the vacuum lines, others have left them alone.

I installed the the AVM/Rugged Ridge manual hubs a few years ago and didn't do anything with the vacuum lines. I haven't had any problems. On the other hand, I haven't heard of any issues with plugging them, either.

The reason I didn't plug the lines is because I was wondering: what happens when the PVH solenoid tries to pull air through the lines from the hubs? Think of a vacuum cleaner when you block or kink the hose....

 

Here are the pictures of my low cost hub-lock conversion described above.






There is NO NEED to remove the entire PVH assembly from the hub when making this conversion. All you need to do is remove the vented cap, and the diaphragm and "clicker assembly" will come out, which are the parts that are not needed. The "doorstop" pushes the spline ring flush with the end of the axle, and that is what mechanically connects the axle to the hub.




Incidentally, I left my vacuum lines "as is" so that the truck would still think it was locking the hubs via vacuum, but I am sure they could just as well be plugged without causing any problems. I invert the "doorstop and spring" around to unlock the hubs. Since the vented cap comes off quickly and easily with use of fingers alone, I can manually change the hub-locks in about one minute total for both sides, including the time to remove and replace the chrome hub caps which keep dirt out of the hub-lock area.

 

Okay....I replaced the hubs with Rugged manual hubs. I left the vacuume lines in place, even though I think they're shot (dry rotted).
Had a 5 inch snow storm yesterday, used them while plowing...worked like it was brand new!! The entire repair/replacement took less time then it took to remove the wheel!
Took me 3 weeks to make a dicision to go ahead and about 20 seconds to make the repair! I've taken procrastination to a new level...lol

 

Glad to hear that your Rugged manual hub-locks installed easily, and work well. Were you able to remove the PVH units without damaging them? Do the Rugged hub-locks just "push-on" and self-grip like the PVH units do? Are you still using the chrome-plated hub caps? The chrome-plated hub caps have to be removed each time you change the Rugged manual hub-locks, right? I have talked to some people who are having no problem with the original equipment PVH units, so they obviously can be made to work properly, but since there is no guarantee that both left and right PVH units are correctly locking and unlocking (since there is no feedback signal), I prefer to run manual hub-locks. Some guys just leave the hubs locked because later model Rangers and Explorers do not have an un-lock feature (or so I am told). Either way, the transfer case has to be switched between 2WD/ 4WD Hi/ 4WD Lo. As I understand it, the vacuum to power the PVH comes from the intake manifold, and must have an electric valve and some kind of logic control to provide the vacuum pulses. That is a lot of "baggage" that has to work perfectly in order for the PVH units to work.

 

The old hubs came off easily without damaging them. The new manual hubs turn left and right to engage or disengage. Right now, I'm running w/o caps but, when the season changes, I won't need to switch to 4x, I'll put the caps on. The new hubs are chrome so, it really isn't bad looking. Most people haven't noticed the change.
I'm told you could run all year with them locked but, fuel mileage suffers greatly. I've heard on these threads that people have cut round holes in the chrome caps to allow their use with the hubs but, I think I'll just keep the caps off during plow season?!
The truck runs great! I run a small Sno-way plow and its a beast thru anything when things are working right. Now, that winters over...I can concentrate on getting all the little things done.

 

Glad to hear that everything is fine. With regard to fuel mileage, mine averages around 15 - 17 mpg. I was hoping for at least 20 mpg on the highway, but I can't get it. Other people I have talked to complain of low gas mileage. I guess that Ford V6 is a "gas tiger". Here is the original sticker from my truck. They weren't promising good gas mileage then, and I'm not getting it either. I looked at a new 2015 Toyota Tacoma to see if the gas mileage was better. I expected to see 30 mpg, but was stunned to see exactly the same range as the Ranger, 16 city/20 hwy. I walked away feeling very satisfied with my Ranger after all.





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