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warn locking hubs not locking


muddin76

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I have a 96 ranger 4x4. The manual warn locking hubs lock when I jack up the front end and spin the tire, its locked, but today I got stuck because my fornt wheels would not pull at all. It was like I was only in 2 wheel drive, I had low range power but only rear wheels moving. Later on down the road I went to 4hi and could feel the front pull to the left a bit then it freed up again. Its like when the front end is under pressure it frees the wheels, but when I jack up the front end and lock the hubs the front drive shaft is turning & when put into 4 wheel, I cant turn the wheels by hand, the transfer case has the front end locked in.Wont lock while driving but in the air it works. Is it possible to spin locking hubs? I hear about auto hubs having trouble , but never hear of manual hub trouble, or could this be something else ?
 
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Evan

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I guess it would be possible to "spin" a manual hub, if you rounded off the aluminum splines on the inside of the hub. But that would take a lot of force and almost always split the casing apart.

I have had manual hubs behave strangely before, and to fix them I took apart the hub and cleaned/regreased everything.

You can take the hubs apart and verify that everything is working ok. You'll need rags, brake parts cleaner, and a basic tool set.

It could also be a problem with your transfer case....
 

alaskan155

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maybe engagment spring is worn out, remember seeing a spring last time i remove manual hubs(off dana 44 though)
 

Evan

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maybe engagment spring is worn out, remember seeing a spring last time i remove manual hubs(off dana 44 though)

There are two springs in a D35 Warn hub, but they generally don't wear out. What can happen however is the outer collar can get dirty, iced up, or dig into the splines of the housing, and the outer spring doesn't have enough power to engage the hub. When you twist a hub to lock it in, you don't have direct mechanical control of the components. You're compressing the outer spring which is supposed to press on the outer collar and move it inward. Then when you unlock the hub, the load is taken off that outer spring and a smaller, inner spring forces the collar outward to an unlocked position.

This is how I remember it anyway. But the best thing to do it take both hubs off and check them out.
 

muddin76

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Warn manual locking hubs, wont hold...

I have a 96 ranger 4x4. The manual warn locking hubs lock when I jack up the front end and spin the tire, its locked, but today I got stuck because my fornt wheels would not pull at all. It was like I was only in 2 wheel drive, I had low range power but only rear wheels moving. Later on down the road I went to 4hi and could feel the front pull to the left a bit then it freed up again. Its like when the front end is under pressure it frees the wheels, but when I jack up the front end and lock the hubs the front drive shaft is turning & when put into 4 wheel, I cant turn the wheels by hand, the transfer case has the front end locked in.Wont lock while driving but in the air it works. Is it possible to spin locking hubs? I hear about auto hubs having trouble , but never hear of manual hub trouble, or could this be something else ?
 

mkpecor

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take the hubs apart and clean them with brake cleaner and regrease all the moveing parts and see if that helps, remember to much grease is not good.
 

MAKG

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How can you possibly put too much grease in a manual hub?

They aren't very hard to disassemble, and that will show if there are any hangup issues or somesuch.

However, FIRST, lock both the hubs, put the transfer case in 2WD, and raise the front of the vehicle (onto jackstands). Climb under the truck and turn the front driveshaft by hand. Does one or both front wheels turn? If so, the hubs (and front differential) are fine.
 

Evan

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How can you possibly put too much grease in a manual hub?

Maybe if you really globbed grease in there (fill entire hub to brim), it would cause enough resistance to stop the outer spring from pushing the collar in and engaging. You'd almost have to try to overgrease, and even then your chances wouldn't be good.
 

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