I grew tired of the unreliable automatic hubs on my 95 F-150 and installed a set of Superwinch Manual Locking Hubs about 2 months ago. I have been having some problems lately though. About 2 weeks ago I was hearing a clicking noise from the left front of the truck at low speeds, it got progressively worse, so I took off the cover of the hub assembly and the nice new fully greased hub parts were now covered in a watery rust. I am sure all this water came from my trip to the pine barrons when my front hubs were submerged for about an hour, i guess the cold weather is why I am having trouble now. I took the assembly apart and cleaned it all with carb cleaner to remove the rust and packed it all good with grease. Before reinstalling the cover I noticed that the large O ring on the cover was quite shredded, maybe it wasnt seated properly when i installed the hub. I plan to replace the o-ring, but didnt have time at this point, so i put the cover back on and the noise was gone. I didnt bother checking the right side because I figured that this side only leaked because of that O-ring and I didnt hear any noise on the other side anyways. This was a bad idea. Today I am driving like I always do when i hear a loud strange noise from the right front of the truck, and the right side of the truck dipped down and the truck veered off the road. (luckily into an empty field). I thought i had a tire blowout. After getting out of the truck i saw that everything looked fine, when i tried to move the truck, the right front wheel appeared to be seized. After removing the first hub cover bold and seeling that rust colored water drip out, I was kicking myself. The hub however survived this, but the wheel bearings did not, they exploded, and the metal on the back of the spindle nut was blue when I removed it, so it got quite hot in there. Now, the o-ring on this hub cover was intact, so is it possible that the water is entering through the dial portion of the hub? How can I test this, or furthermore prevent it? Has anyone else had this problem? I am scared to take my truck off the road now, I dont want to take these hubs apart anymore.
-John

 

I don't think hubs are meant to be waterproof when submerged. I think that you are supposed to change the differential fluid and regrease the axles if they have been submerged.

 

Ford also uses a rinky-dink seal on the backside near where
the universal joint is that seals around the drive axle. It definitly is not going to seal submerged. It's more like a
a slinger than a seal.

 

 

Yeah...that seal on the back of the spindle...had probs and did exactly what you said minus the wheel seizing. You might want to check that bearing in the spindel. That is what went out on mine after many times of the "SOS" and lets just say that is what centers your axle shaft in the hub and if it goes...you will be testing the warranity of the hubs! While you are in there I would replace the seal and give it a good once over with the brake cleaner and repack grease. This problem only really happened to me on one wheel though...so I guess you can have a good seal. Hope I helped!


Dan "Mudinford" MacDonald