No flames please about this one, I am a believer in auto locking hubs, call me lazy, but if I had to get out of the truck to engage my 4wd, I would never use it. Now that being said, one of my auto hubs just gave out. I heard tons of noise coming from one wheel when driving in 2wd, I pulled out the hub, and found little bits of metal all over the inside of the hub, I pulled the hub and cleaned it all out including bearings, etc. I pulled apart the auto hub and found a ring gear inside shattered into a million pieces and a nylon ring melted. Off to the junkyards I found a supposedly good auto locking hub form an 89' bronco (I have a 94), it looked exactly the same as mine (5 bolt cap exposed gear type), I put it in my truck it fit fine and seemed to work, but sometimes when you drive in 2WD it sounds like a can of marbles rattling around in my hub, I pulled the entire auto hub apart, looks fine, greased it LIGHTLY with the lightest weight grease I could find, everything moves freely, still does it. When you slow down (not reverse, only slowing down) like below 10mph, the truck kind of jumps and the hub releases, and everything gets quiet, until it feels like reengaging again. I have given up on this hub, and gotten a hold of a new stock auto locking hub, the only issue is it is the NEWER 3 bolt enclosed style one, no spring under the cap, or exposed gears. I called a dealer and they said the 5 bolt style I had was no longer available and it was directly replaced by the 3 bolt style one. The dealer told me that 3 part numbers had to be ordered, one is the auto lock hub itself, one is the cosmetic 3 bolt cap, and the other is a little hardware bag with the screws to hold the cap on, the snap rings to hold the hub in, and the o rings to keep water out. Now is anything else required to convert to a 3 bolt cap type hub? There is a plate with 4 prongs in between the two axle nuts that hold the hub on that a fork on the old 5 bolt auto lock hub engages with, but the newer 3 bolt does not seem to use. Also has anyone had any experience with these two hubs, is one more reliable/stronger than the other (I know manual hubs are the strongest, but that wasn't the question)?? Are there any other conversion issues, and does it make a difference if one hub uses a 3 bolt, and the other uses a 5 bolt??
Thanks in Advance
Brian

 

you must really like replaceing the same part over and over again. when you did a search on this forum im sure you noticed all of the threads about replace the crap auto hubs with manual ones. why because you only buy them once and if they break most have lifetime warranties so you get new ones free . also never go to a wrecking yard for a part like that and 2 never buy something like this from a dealer unless every other parts store you called doesnt carry the parts anymore. I dont know where you live but you can leave manual hubs locked in all the time if you wish but even auto hubs are semi locked in and use up more gas then if you had manuals unlocked. I dont think you will get to many responses regarding this because everyone is feed up with autos and going manual.
but good luck anyway

 

SO you mean to say with manual hubs, you can leave them in the locked position all of the time, and other than a slight fuel penalty (how much worse can it possibly get), you can ride around the streets with the hubs locked and front axles turning??? I thought at high speed this was very bad for the axles/transfer case. I do a LOT of highway driving, and hardly any off road, but when the weather turns sour, I like the ability to press a button and have instant traction.

Brian

 

What kburns is saying is that with manual hubs, you can still use your push button to engage/disengage the tranfer case on the fly. So if you know the weather is going to be nasty, just lock up your hubs before you head out.

I just recently swapped out my autos on my 94 which didn't want to disengage anymore for a set of Warn Premiums. Yes, I do need to hop out and turn the hubs, but once they are locked I can switch in and out of 4x4 with the dash switch. Also I don't have to screw around backing up 40 ft to "hopefully" unlock the autos, plus if I ever do get stuck in 2wd, I know I can still lock up 4x4, something you can't do with auto hubs. Plus even the high end manual hubs are still way cheaper than replacing auto hubs (and as its been mentioned, the premium manuals have lifetime warranties, you won't get that with autos)

 

Now you know why most of us made the switch to manual hubs. When I go out and snow is falling, I just lock my hubs before I get in the truck. If I don't need 4WD, no problem, if I do, still no problem.
Auto locking hubs, now there is a problem.

 

I dont agree with leaving hubs engaged. Mine(03-350-4x4-6.0) pops and overstears with them locked

 

When doing a search in advance auto i saw automatic hubs from warn, curious (diDnt look at the model#) are these for our trucks TR

 

Yes.....Warn makes manual hub locks for Broncos. They sell two types.....premimum and regular.
I put on a set of Warn Premiums last fall and was very impressed with them over the Winter. I think I paid like $85 from either JBG or eBay......I forget now.

 

You only leave them locked when you feel there is some probability that you will need them. Prevents you from having to stop and engage them if you lose traction. If properly installed and maintained the only negative is a hit on your fuel mileage. If your hubs are popping and causing steering problems, something is wrong.

 

I thought I had made it clear enough in my original post that I did not want this thread to turn into a "me too" with the manual hubs vs auto hubs. In the original post, I clearly stated that I was *uninterested* in switching to manual hubs, and was trying to get some insight into the design changes between the different versions of the auto hubs. So far all of the replied mimic the older versions of this thread (exactly what I was trying to avoid), and every reply basically states "I had auto locking hubs and I switched to manual hubs, and now I don't have any more problems." So far no one seems to have read the original post, and has done nothing except reply to the topic.
Brian

 

This is because the auto hubs are such a known weak point that most just go manual and never look back.
The autos are over priced under engineered POS's that WILL let you down when you NEED them most.

 

The # of bolts is irrelevant in the 3 bolt case since they hold only the cosmetic cap. I don't know which one is better or worse, only know that mine (3 biolts) was broken.

 

Illuzion, we ALL read the original post, what we are saying is that the Auto locking hubs are failure prone and unreliable. In your original post you state to "call you lazy" yet you seem to want to invest money (auto hubs are EXPENSIVE as well) and a lot more time in working on something that will let you down again (and again), at the worst possible moment. Good luck and have fun, I'm outa here.

 

Here's a suggestion for you. Since you're lazy, go to the dealer and have them replace the auto hubs for you. Then they'll work great. Sure, it'll cost probably $1000 to do it, but at least you won't have to get out of the truck when it's cold.

 

I would like my truck to function as it did from the factory with auto locking hubs. I have no desire to switch to manual hubs. I am simply trying to figure out the differences between the old vs new auto locking hubs, mainly what has to be changed, in terms of spacers and wheel bearing retainer nuts, etc, and which is the better design. I posted to this board with the hopes of a "expert" reply on the subject, from what I have heard so far no one here really has any knowledge of how these hubs actually work, and you could have just said that in the first place.
Brian