Best Locking Hubs???

[12thMan]

Just starting on a high end Coyote Build with son. What is the best set of locking hubs? I wanted Dynatrac but don’t think they are avail?

Yukon? All input appreciated.

 

[bknbronco]

what axle? For many that run a 44 i think the cheepo plastic WARN hubs are considered pretty darn strong. The metal ones may look better but the internals are identical. I just spent over 5 grand building up my 44 and i still just went with the plastic knobed WARN lockouts.

 

[sykanr0ng]

For strength the two best are the OEM Dana-Spicer hubs and the Yukon hubs which closely follow the Dana-Spicer design.

The Warn hubs and other aftermarket hubs trade away strength for ease of use.

 

[SteveL]

If your worried about strength wheeling use drive flanges wheeling and get a cheap set of hubs for the street. Milemarker makes a set same as warn premium but cheaper. I've got a set of milemarker ultimates for when I swap in the arb and new axles but good luck finding a set of those. They discontinued em 15-20 years ago.

 

[fordfan]

If your worried about strength wheeling use drive flanges wheeling and get a cheap set of hubs for the street. Milemarker makes a set same as warn premium but cheaper. I've got a set of milemarker ultimates for when I swap in the arb and new axles but good luck finding a set of those. They discontinued em 15-20 years ago.

What Steve said^... A Warn dealer and driveline specialist told me that the Milemarker Premium were the best hub ever built for the D44, and that's suprising coming from a Warn guy! I understand that the new top quality Yukons are basically the same hub as the MM..

 

[Nothing Special]

.... i think the cheepo plastic WARN hubs are considered pretty darn strong. The metal ones may look better but the internals are identical....

Not the case, or at least not all the time. I bought a set of Warn Standard hubs (the plastic ones) for the Dana 50 TTB in my '97 F-250HD (same hubs as for a Dana 60) and they only took 1/4 turn to lock/unlock and were spring loaded to the "Lock" position, held in "unlock" by a detent. I had a lot of trouble with the right one slipping out of the detent and locking itself, so I switched to Warn Premiums which still take almost a full turn to lock / unlock and are not spring loaded ingto any position.

I don't know about strength, the Standards may or may not be equivalent to the Premiums. But the internals were completely different, at least for that axle.

 

[phred]

I run the mile marker premiums on all my trucks. Strong, easy to use and service.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sprdv1]

For strength the two best are the OEM Dana-Spicer hubs and the Yukon hubs which closely follow the Dana-Spicer design.

The Warn hubs and other aftermarket hubs trade away strength for ease of use.

big fan of the OEM ones, strong..

 

[Broncobowsher]

OEM is good. but they can be fussy. I still like the Mile Marker Premium. although I thought they discontinued them? The pre-select springs are what make it a winner in my book.

If you really want solid, drive slugs from something that was running an NP203. But there is no "locking" as they are only "locked". I kept one in my spares. If I ever blew a Mile Marker (never did) I knew I could put that in and it would go.

 

[SteveL]

The milemarker ultimates part #101 are the good ones that are durable than the stock hubs or the warms. The milemarker premiums they sell now seem the same as a warn premium to me only the mm are cheaper. Jbg and bc sold the mm 101s when they were available. The design is the same as a warn premium but it was made of better steel so the internals dont bend and or crack like the warns.

 

[DirtDonk]

The actual locking mechanism of a Warn #9790 Standard and a Warn #20990 Premium are virtually identical. Only the outer knob mechanism and the interface point of the inner locking mechanism are changed between the two.
At least that's how it used to be, and I'm not aware of any changes in the last few years.
My relatively new-ish #9790's look just like I remember them being back in the day.

Most other aftermarket brands are a slight variation of the same mechanism. Differences in dimensions, in materials, and probably enough "design" bits to keep from stepping on a Warn patent. Unless they just use the patented parts too.
And then again, only if Warn re-upped the patent, as it's been WAY over the normal patent protection duration if that's still a thing? About twenty years or so maybe? Not sure how that all works, so maybe someone else can fill in that blank.
But the design has been around for probably near 50 years now. And factory Ford OE parts for 40 of those years.

One nice thing about the stock Spicer units (other than being of strong steel construction) is that if the outer knob is ever knocked off, or falls out or fails for some reason, the default position is "LOCKED" for the inner workings. The opposite for at least most of the aftermarket units. The Selectro models may have had the same default.
This used to be a big concern, what with skinny wheels and tires and hubs sticking way out in harm's way. With so many using wider wheels and tires that help to protect the hub, and with so few actually getting off the pavement, this is not really such a big deal anymore.

I'd have to say that the stock Spicers and their Yukon counterparts would seem to be the stronger models to me. Never used the MM premiums on a Bronco myself but do have them on my F350 and they don't seem any different in design from the others except for being larger and with some steel in them (instead of mostly aluminum). Same "2-piece" design, same locking mechanism, same type of knob.
I much prefer the action of the stock ones, as the MM Supreme (I think that's the model I have) knobs are just as hard on my fingers as the Warn Premiums are.
The old Selectros with the whole outer knob turning, that eventually morphed into MileMarkers were well thought of and highly sought after for a long time. I don't remember the model #101 you guys speak of specifically. Is that the Selectro, or one of the other ones?

Don't remember warrantying more than one or two sets of those over the years. But a week didn't go by that we didn't warranty or sell several new sets to replace a broken Warn, MileMarker, Superwinch, the private labels like Cepek and whatever the others were out there.
Probably fewer Superwinch hubs than just about anything else, but it's hard to say if it was due to higher quality, or just to there being more Warns in use than Superwinch.

Anyway, I'm a fan of the stock ones. Never had any experience with them being finicky, but I've said before that was probably my use in a very mild climate, and my tendency to have them apart for bearing maintenance more often than most.
I can't say brand new Spicers (should they have been available) would not be every bit as expensive, if not more so, than the new Yukon Hardcore hubs. At $335 a pair, it seems appropriate for that style of part and volume of expected sales. Selectros are in the same $300+ (up to $600!) price range.
Hard to argue with the pricing of the others, especially if you don't intend to use your Bronco hard in 4-wheel drive.

Since the finish on the knobs is peeling off of my MM hubs (likely they were the chrome ones instead of stainless then!) I'll probably paint the "pink" knobs back to red and put the stock ones back in.
Or save up my money and buy some Yukons.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

The milemarker ultimates part #101 are the good ones that are durable than the stock hubs or the warms.

I started to ask in my last post Steve, but what do the 101's look like? Got pics?
I'm sure I should remember them, but can't picture them in my mind.

Thanks

Paul

 

[sykanr0ng]

I'll probably paint the "pink" knobs back to red and put the stock ones back in.
Or save up my money and buy some Yukons.

Paul

Bronco Graveyard sells new replacement Dana-Spicer knobs.
BC Broncos sells CNC machined aluminum knobs.

 

[SteveL]

The ultimatesvlooked just like the others with a stainless knob. They operate the same as the warn premium and others they were just made up of better materials. They're noticeably heavier than the others when you pick one up. I got the set I have from northern auto parts for $100. When I called to order more there were none left and couldn't find em anywhere.

 

[Crush]

I have the cepek version. They are the same as warn and mm. They even have the same part number on the bottom of them

 

[DirtDonk]

Bronco Graveyard sells new replacement Dana-Spicer knobs.
BC Broncos sells CNC machined aluminum knobs.

Yep, thanks. We've got them too, but only for the Bronco/F150 size. I've got those covered, but was needing some of the larger ones for the Dana 60 on my F350.
I thought about checking to see if the larger ones are reproduced as well, but haven't done that yet.

Paul

 

[Nothing Special]

.... Most other aftermarket brands are a slight variation of the same mechanism. Differences in dimensions, in materials, and probably enough "design" bits to keep from stepping on a Warn patent. Unless they just use the patented parts too.
And then again, only if Warn re-upped the patent, as it's been WAY over the normal patent protection duration if that's still a thing? About twenty years or so maybe? Not sure how that all works, so maybe someone else can fill in that blank....

You can't "re-up" a patent like you can a copyright. When a patent expires, it expires, and anyone can copy the design after that. The only thing the inventor can do is improve the product and patent the improvement. But even then the original design is available.

And patents used to expire 17 years after date of issue. I think they now expire 20 years after date of application. But either way (or even if I'm off in the details), Paul's "about twenty years or so" is right on.

 

[DirtDonk]

Thanks for the details. Cool to know.

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

Yep, thanks. We've got them too, but only for the Bronco/F150 size.
l

Always check WH site when looking...

 

[sprdv1]

You can't "re-up" a patent like you can a copyright. When a patent expires, it expires, and anyone can copy the design after that. The only thing the inventor can do is improve the product and patent the improvement. But even then the original design is available.

And patents used to expire 17 years after date of issue. I think they now expire 20 years after date of application. But either way (or even if I'm off in the details), Paul's "about twenty years or so" is right on.

I recall reading that one time.. sux, but it is what it is..