2001 F250- the vacuum hoses rotted long ago so 5 years ago mechanic installed superwinch manual hubs- they have been working fine- after this latest storm- I can get one side into the "free" position- but not the other. When I pull it out- it just binded up and what not- I removed it for now but the axle still turns when I spin the wheel- Looks like there is still some type of clip way in there..... If I take the entire hub out- should the tire still spin or am I missing something?

 

anyone? ideas?

 

If you remove the entire hub the wheel should rotate freely from the stub shaft. Can you manually rotate the u-joint while holding the wheel and get them to rotate separately/ vice versa?

Not being able to see it, either there's a part of the hub still installed or the bearings are having problems.

 

will try and take a pic- I removed what I thought was the entire hub-
If I look in- I can see axle end- when i jack it up and spin front tire- the entire thing rotates- (Wheel and axle)- When I look deeper in- there looks to be a clip still way inside- (almost like it's hooking the wheel up to axle...) maybe it's part of the hub?

 

Sounds like the hub has failed in the locked position, I had the same thing happen when I had the Superwinch hubs, they where garbage I had to pack them full of grease to keep them from rattling and the failed in a year, I replaced them with Mile Marker 449s and they are much better quality.

 

thanks- if it failed in locked position and I remove the hub- How do I free it? what is still making the axle turn?

 

There is a snap ring that holds the inner part of the hub in.

 

thanks- any suggestions on how to get it out?

 

You pop the snap ring out with a flat screwdriver and it slides right out.

 

I bought MM 449s and the engagment spring in one over rotated so I could not unlock the hub. I replaced them with Warn Premium hubs an have had no issues. I regret buying the less expensive MM hubs. I should have just spent the money on Warn. Hope this helps save people some money.

 

Get a good heavy duty snap ring pliers. I ended up getting mine at an industrial supply shop. I went with Warns. They really should be serviced once a year.

 

I have never had that problem, that can happen if they aren't installed properly.

 

If you remove the locking hub in the center then the axle should spin independently of the wheel (hub). If it does not there might be some binding in there.

I had an issue where mine did the same thing after a grinding noise I was hearing. Long story short the inner needle bearing of the hub grenaded and spit the needles out jamming themselves between the wheel hub and axle stub thereby "locking" the axle to the wheel. That is a worst case scenario and I'm not saying that is your problem but if the axle doesn't spin independently I would pull the wheel hub assembly out to make sure that something isn't stuck in there and that the needle bearing has grease in it.

Just my .02

 

so if one hub is removed and the other is locked- Should it still go into 4wd?? I tried to select it but now it doesn't lock into 4wd. Anything i can do temporarily to get it to lock? Easier to just put a new hub in there? Also- Do the front manual hubs need to be the same manufacturer?