Why stay with hub bearings?

[Irun]

A buddy recently picked up a TJ and is plotting out his build plan for 33" tires. I've managed to keep him on track for building it correctly and minimizing money wasted. The one exception is him wanting lockout hubs. After talking him through the options, and pros and cons, he still wants to go the route of a small hub kit, largely because he wants to keep the stock bolt pattern. His justification for wanting lockout hubs is that's what he used to on older 4x4s. I've tried to dissuade him from going that route, until he has a reason too. Not because there is anything wrong with the hub kit, other than cost and complexity, but rather because the stock hub bearings are cheap and reliable. What else can I pass onto him that can help convey good reasons to stay with the hub bearings? FWIW, he is very open to listening, I just need more good data points to give him.

 

[John Cooper]

A buddy recently picked up a TJ and is plotting out his build plan for 33" tires. I've managed to keep him on track for building it correctly and minimizing money wasted. The one exception is him wanting lockout hubs. After talking him through the options, and pros and cons, he still wants to go the route of a small hub kit, largely because he wants to keep the stock bolt pattern. His justification for wanting lockout hubs is that's what he used to on older 4x4s. I've tried to dissuade him from going that route, until he has a reason too. Not because there is anything wrong with the hub kit, other than cost and complexity, but rather because the stock hub bearings are cheap and reliable. What else can I pass onto him that can help convey good reasons to stay with the hub bearings? FWIW, he is very open to listening, I just need more good data points to give him.

Tell him this is what happens when you forget to lock them in....... yes I can laugh at myself......

 

[Rickyd]

Repacking bearings gets old fast if driven through even puddles deep enough to hit hub height. The stub shaft bearing was always the worst for me. The stub shaft would get scored and that adds even more fun replacing it.

What I wound up doing was welding a spindle locknut to a plumbing cap and tapping the end for a grease zerk so I could remove the hub, screw it on and hit it until fresh grease came out around the stub shaft seal in the c.

Get the bearing preload wrong? Then you spin an inner race and ruin a spindle.

Ask your friend how much they feel like crawling around doing preventative maintenance that should be going to other things.

 

[mrblaine]

A buddy recently picked up a TJ and is plotting out his build plan for 33" tires. I've managed to keep him on track for building it correctly and minimizing money wasted. The one exception is him wanting lockout hubs. After talking him through the options, and pros and cons, he still wants to go the route of a small hub kit, largely because he wants to keep the stock bolt pattern. His justification for wanting lockout hubs is that's what he used to on older 4x4s. I've tried to dissuade him from going that route, until he has a reason too. Not because there is anything wrong with the hub kit, other than cost and complexity, but rather because the stock hub bearings are cheap and reliable. What else can I pass onto him that can help convey good reasons to stay with the hub bearings? FWIW, he is very open to listening, I just need more good data points to give him.

The common kit now is the Yukon WU-07. Warn locking hubs are no longer included in favor of the AVM steel body versions. The jury is out as to what will break first, the hub or other bits. If the hub doesn't break, the other bits get expensive with a quickness that will make your eyes water. With a spindle being in the 300ish neighborhood for the last one we bought, it also typically means you're replacing a stub, bearings, u-joint and probably more. Little driver error now means you might expect a 3-800 dollar repair just for parts on one side. At that point, it almost makes sense to buy another whole kit just to have on the shelf for spares.

 

[CharlesHS]

This picture is from the Philippines while exploring the back country.
Here is the Philippines the weather can change quickly from a sunny day to heavy rain changing the dirt trail to gooey mud.
This is my 1993 Toyota LandCruiser P/U 4x4 3.5L diesel that I own overseas...
Whenever I drive the dirt trails exploring "I LOCK THE HUBS" just for the reason John shows above.
This LC is great for exploring the back country.

 

[Sam410]

This picture is from the Philippines while exploring the back country.
Here is the Philippines the weather can change quickly from a sunny day to heavy rain changing the dirt trail to gooey mud.
This is my 1993 Toyota LandCruiser P/U 4x4 3.5L diesel that I own overseas...
Whenever I drive the dirt trails exploring "I LOCK THE HUBS" just for the reason John shows above.
This LC is great for exploring the back country.

View attachment 600897

Sweet rig! I always wish we got these in the states... not sure id be a jeep guy if we did!

 

[CharlesHS]

Sweet rig! I always wish we got these in the states... not sure id be a jeep guy if we did!

I purchased the LC 8 years ago and enjoy driving overseas in the back country.
This LC is built far more heavy duty than the TJ.

 

[Rickyd]

I purchased the LC 8 years ago and enjoy driving overseas in the back country.
This LC is built far more heavy duty than the TJ.

Phillipines is a left hand drive country?

 

[CharlesHS]

Phillipines is a left hand drive country?

YES...

 

[ColoJeep]

This picture is from the Philippines while exploring the back country.
Here is the Philippines the weather can change quickly from a sunny day to heavy rain changing the dirt trail to gooey mud.
This is my 1993 Toyota LandCruiser P/U 4x4 3.5L diesel that I own overseas...
Whenever I drive the dirt trails exploring "I LOCK THE HUBS" just for the reason John shows above.
This LC is great for exploring the back country.

View attachment 600897

I would love 1 of these here , only with a gas engine.

 

[MikeE024]

Tell him this is what happens when you forget to lock them in....... yes I can laugh at myself......

View attachment 600886

This photo will deter just about any idea, good or bad.

 

[rasband]

At least one good reason to use them is to kill the live axle. Depending on the build/setup it could dramatically improve on-road behavior.

Personally, I am not sure I would take much of a stance on which way they want to go unless there's some intended use case that is glaringly problematic with lockouts.

 

[MikeE024]

At least one good reason to use them is to kill the live axle. Depending on the build/setup it could dramatically improve on-road behavior.

Personally, I am not sure I would take much of a stance on which way they want to go unless there's some intended use case that is glaringly problematic with lockouts.

Yea you can shut the front off and drive back to camp/town to fix something that snapped or even drive it home.

You have 2Low available if you want it.

 

[Mr. Bills]

A buddy . . . is plotting out his build plan. . . .
I've managed to keep him on track for building it correctly and minimizing money wasted. . . .
What . . . can I pass onto him that can help convey good reasons to stay with the [factory] hub bearings?

I can't think of a reason to avoid manual hubs other than budget. However, my preference is the YA-WU-08 kit with 5x5.5 "CJ" lug pattern.
I have experienced no issues since installation in January 2019.

 

[jjvw]

.... What else can I pass onto him that can help convey good reasons to stay with the hub bearings? FWIW, he is very open to listening, I just need more good data points to give him.

My memory is a bit foggy from when I installed the Warn small hub kit a few years ago and how it compares to the comparable Yukon kit. These hub kits add a small amount of track width to the axle. Warn adds about an inch per side. Yukon adds a different amount.

This is something to consider if and when selecting wheels. In my case, I changed to 17" JK wheels with a 6" backspacing at the same time. The front has 1" conversion adapters and the rear has 2" conversion adapters resulting in an effective 4" backspacing on both ends.

The wheels and spacers also need a center hole large enough for the hub body to pass through.

 

[deserteagle56]

The main reason I would like to install one of the free-spin kits is to prevent all the wear on the front driveline components. My 2006 doesn't have all that many miles on it but I've had to rebuild the front driveshaft two times already. 85% of the mileage my Jeep accumulates I don't need 4wd, yet that front driveshaft is spinning uselessly. And yes, 2Lo would be handy to have.

Took a trip this past Tuesday to explore a canyon...~190 miles round trip. I needed the clearance the Jeep provided (washouts and boulders) but nowhere did I need 4wd. Found a mountain lion kill...young bighorn sheep!

I'm old...and have been driving vehicles with front locking hubs for the past 60 years. Currently I have two other vehicles, including a Dodge/Cummins, that run them and I have absolutely no problem getting out of the vehicle and locking the hubs if it appears 4wd might be needed.

 

[SRCustom]

I had been considering manual hubs--wanted them bad, in fact--until I read the threads here. It seems the newest kits are of questionable quality compared to the previous Warns, which you can't get anymore...

RE: https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/questions-about-yukon-free-spin-kit.77649/

 

[Woodrow]

A buddy recently picked up a TJ and is plotting out his build plan for 33" tires. I've managed to keep him on track for building it correctly and minimizing money wasted. The one exception is him wanting lockout hubs. After talking him through the options, and pros and cons, he still wants to go the route of a small hub kit, largely because he wants to keep the stock bolt pattern. His justification for wanting lockout hubs is that's what he used to on older 4x4s. I've tried to dissuade him from going that route, until he has a reason too. Not because there is anything wrong with the hub kit, other than cost and complexity, but rather because the stock hub bearings are cheap and reliable. What else can I pass onto him that can help convey good reasons to stay with the hub bearings? FWIW, he is very open to listening, I just need more good data points to give him.

I‘Ve learned that people will do what they want and mostly they cannot be dissuaded unless maybe you happen to belong to the group they identify with. So there’s that.

But for myself, the added cost, complexity and therefore fragility, as well as maintenance make this a no brainer- stay with the stock hub bearings. Arguments about mileage seem silly for the minimal benefits and cost of the mod. Front drivetrain wear is a relative non-issue since its not under load the majority of the time. You might even argue that circulation of the fluid has some advantage over the top half of everything sitting above the oil for prolonged periods. The exception would be front driveline vibes you can’t get rid of in any other reasonable way.

Thanks for the impetus to think this through again but your friend will probably just get the locking hubs.