I'm finally getting around to replacing my stock Ford hubs with Warn Premiums.

When I first got this truck it just had it's front-end "rebuilt" (new wheel-bearings, axle u-joints, etc) but they had trouble taking the manual locking hubs off and trouble putting them back on they told me. When I would drive around the city there would be some "whirring" sounds, I'd step out and find one hub almost locked, the other free.. sometimes one would be almost free, the other one locked... I couldn't keep track of all the variations they would find themselves in. Eventually I was able to click them into free and they would stay there.

Recently we had some snow and I found myself needing 4 wheel drive. They seemed to lock just fine but after awhile they would make a "whirring" sound and then be in free again. Now they won't stay in lock at all once you try to drive it in 4 wheel drive. Driving around in 2 wheel drive is fine now.

My question is, what potential damage could have been done? Should I be buying new wheel-bearings to install again when I put in the new Warn Premium Hubs? Are there any other parts that could have been damaged that need to be replaced?

I don't have the luxury of working on my truck at my apartment so I have get all my parts together before I go and work at a shared garage.

Pics just because:

 

The new hubs are pretty simple and not crazy expensive. The OE hubs have quite a few parts... and are also stronger.

You have a difficult situation in terms of access to service space. That said, there is no substitute for visual inspection. Take it apart and see what is going on. Service parts that may be required are usually/often in stock.

My suggestion would be to get the correct seal kit (only), take it apart and inspect. You can likely get anything else you need pretty fast. Including hubs.

Also, a factory service manual is a big help... worth buying on paper or disc.

In my situation, I took my OE hubs apart, cleaned them up, lubed them and all was well. Same for the rest of the front wheel hub parts. Your situation may be different.

 

And even though they've supposedly improved the instructions over the years, just in case it's hard to see, you need to remove and leave out the old spring at the back of the stock lockout. The new Warn hubs (and all other aftermarket hubs of the same design for that matter) do NOT use the big spring. They have their own inside the little aluminum slug.

While the problem with the old lockouts likely did not hurt your wheel bearings, this is absolutely the time to re-pack and re-adjust them. And like Blue and White said, at the very least inspect them so you know whether you need to replace them or not.
If they were serviced regularly (less than every 25k miles) and adjusted properly (many don't know how to do it, so it's always a question when you were not the last one to touch them) the wheel bearings can last the life of the truck.
If done incorrectly however, they can die an early and ugly death.

So if you don't have one yet, you can buy or rent (or borrow) the proper 4-prong bearing adjusting nut socket to get the job done. Often called a "hub nut wrench" or a "hub socket" or some variation on that theme, they're a must-have in the tool box of any vintage light-duty truck owner.

Since you don't have a good place to work, is re-packing the wheel bearings even an option for you? They're a bit strange to do the first time (mostly due to the lockouts though) but once you've done them they can be re-done in half an hour per side. And that's if you take your time. The first time might take you all day to do both however.
And that's if you don't find anything wrong!

Paul

 

There is some good advise above, not much we can tell you until you take them apart to see what is going on. Luckily they are pretty easy to remove for inspection. Also you might want to consider taking it to a 4x4 shop and have them look at it. If it’s nothing serious they might be able to repair it pretty quick and cheap.