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Popping locking hubs

Boss Hugg

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So I learned something at OCBR this year.

I've been listening to my Spartan locker pop with every move of the steering wheel for "years" now, ever since I installed it a few years back.

Friday morning, Buckhorn North would deny me. On a certain rutted hill climb, which had also cost me an axle u joint at the first prerun I went to, the right front wheel quit pulling, and 3 wheel drive is just not enough to get up the hill.

So the guys I was with decided to swap my RF locking hub because mine just wasn't working. After I got back to the parking lot, I started investigating why. Fitz24 asked if there were two snap ring grooves on the stub shaft. I had no idea why. I've never even noticed the inner groove. Then it dawned on me.

For a couple years, I've been leaving the screws in the caps loose because I don't have the orings to seal them and when I tighten them up, it won't let the gears engage and lock the hub. It finally dawns on me that the inner gear was too far out to properly engage with the outer gear. I was using the outer snap ring groove as shown in the attached pic, so the out gear had to be able to move further out in the hub to engage, and that's not really possible. So all these years, I've been barely engaging the gears in the hubs and that's where all the popping has come from. So after cleaning up and reinstalling MY hub, I bumped the inner gear in on the shaft and placed the snapring in the inner groove, and voila! Solid engagement. I only heard one pop Friday evening and all day Saturday.

Hope someone gets good use out of this.
 

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DirtDonk

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Good to hear. Thanks for the report and fix (at least for some) for the popping.

Paul
 

Rustytruck

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What spindles are you using? The ford 5 bolt for disc brakes' the ford 6 bolt for drum brakes or the Chevy 6 bolt for disc brakes.
 

Rustytruck

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That explained why you need the inner snap ring. Popping out under load didnt hurt the drive dogs? Lucky Might want to carry some drive slugs from a chevy full time dana 44 especially if your playing on trails the need full 4 wheel lock up as a go, no go situation.
 
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Boss Hugg

Boss Hugg

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That explained why you need the inner snap ring. Popping out under load didnt hurt the drive dogs? Lucky Might want to carry some drive slugs from a chevy full time dana 44 especially if your playing on trails the need full 4 wheel lock up as a go, no go situation.

Was kinda thinking the same way. Just swap them in when I pull the swaybars off and put the crawling tires on. Which makes it sound like I have to build a rig just to go offroading.
 

Rustytruck

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They don't just pop in when you have lockers you will have to jack the axle some to get a little wiggle play to line up the splines. But if your swapping tires you have the jack out anyway.
 
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Boss Hugg

Boss Hugg

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Curtesy of Sprdv1. About 50 feet below where I snapped the u joint a few years ago. At that time, I was still open rear diff.
 

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Boss Hugg

Boss Hugg

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That's a great picture. :)

LOL. They were watching to see if both shafts were turning with the rear end out of gear. Trying to figure out whether my Spartan was broke or something else. Turns out NOTHING was broke, just wasn't put together correct.

It was weird letting it dig with them standing there.
 

JWMcCrary

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And this applies to running stock Ford hubs correct? I ran stock type axles with Warn hubs for years and no snap rings and never had a problem.
 
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Boss Hugg

Boss Hugg

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And this applies to running stock Ford hubs correct? I ran stock type axles with Warn hubs for years and no snap rings and never had a problem.

yes, and you reminded me that I just moved to 4130 WH shafts, but still ford hubs.
 
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Boss Hugg

Boss Hugg

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I doubt they would not have been the first bodied buried in those woods.

The last thing I remember, I said, "Hey ya'll! Watch this!." Now all I know is i'm crazy and lost my mind. IDK what you're talkin about.
 

Yeller

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Great tech. I wouldn't worry about changing to slugs to wheel, the factory units you are running are very robust. Have one available for a spare on the trailer maybe but change them no and in my opinion no need to carry in the bronco the risk is very low.
 

JWMcCrary

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Going to add this here. Anybody going to Warn hubs over the stock Ford hubs is taking a step backwards.
 
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Boss Hugg

Boss Hugg

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Going to add this here. Anybody going to Warn hubs over the stock Ford hubs is taking a step backwards.

Nate said he does it just so he don't break axles. And I wasn't in the mood to ask if he was still on stock axles...
 

Yeller

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Going to add this here. Anybody going to Warn hubs over the stock Ford hubs is taking a step backwards.


EXACTLY! What design do you think Yukon copied for their extreme duty lock out? Hint, it wasn't Warn.


Nate said he does it just so he don't break axles. And I wasn't in the mood to ask if he was still on stock axles...

Works to a point, but if running a Detroit you still run the risk of breaking the disengaging dogs on the drives.

Trail repair get you home tech tip: the locker can be disassembled, cleaned up and put back together and it will lock, it just won't disengage and will behave like a spool.
 

sykanr0ng

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The only reason I can see to switch from Spicer (Ford) hubs to Yukon hubs is if you put in RCV axles which need the 30 spline.
If only someone would make the slider for the Spicer hubs in 30 spline.
 
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