1 manual and 1 auto hub

[kenwheeler]

My sons new truck is going to be a 94. Good thing he learned how to drive a stick before my 87 tranny went out, not his fault. The Ranger he's getting has 1 manual and 1 auto hub. I'm guessing the previous owner had one go bad and replaced it with whatever was available. Is this ok? Should I replace one or the other? If so, which one or does it matter? I'm old school and like the manual hubs but what's best for the 94.

 

[Bennybooster]

Manual is the way to go, autos are weak

 

[shane96ranger]

If it were mine, I'd make them both manual. Auto's suck.

 

[ajmiller]

i agree, manual is the best way to go. heard many bad things about the auto hubs

 

[legoms013]

All I have ever heard is how bad the autohubs were, but before I switched to manual hubs they never let me down, not once. Even worked fine with a powertrax lock-rite.

Definitely go with replacing the one auto with a manual as they are more reliable and much stronger. I'd order another manual hub but wait until the auto hub grenades. No use in not getting any use out of the auto hub while it still has good life in it. Have the manual though for when it goes south.

 

[Bennybooster]

I grenaded my autos after only having my truck for about 3 months on bald stock tires and I wasnt wheeling near as hard as I do on my Jeep hubs

 

[racsan]

i tried that once myself (one auto hub, one manual hub) doesnt work very well, i had a manual hub break and i still had my old auto's so i put one on and tried it. if you left the manual hub in unlock and dont use the 4wd all is good. but when you try and use the 4wd things go wrong, i had locked the manual side, hadnt put the t/c in 4wd yet and the manual side was trying to spin the auto side axleshaft backwards while the hub itself was going forwards, made a loud constant ratcheting sound. ended up having both of the old auto hubs back on until i could afford another set of manual hubs. at least i have a spare manual hub now. i prefer the manual hubs for several reasons, one being i can have 2wd low and back a trailer in using low range but without the front end binding up when turning sharp on a hard surface. auto hubs are pretty pricey to replace anyways. my mile marker hubs were about 180 through autozone. i only broke one from being dumb and trying to back into a snowpile in a parking lot, the rear tires were on snow as the rear bumper started to push, the front axle was on clean pavement. guess the weak link was the hub. just glad i didnt spit out spider gears or twist off a stub shaft.

 

[Grey_04]

i'd just replace everything with a fresh set of manual hubs and keep the lonely manual you have now as a spare in case you blow another one which is a possibility if your hard core with it.

 

[shane96ranger]

i agree, manual is the best way to go. heard many bad things about the auto hubs

All it took was one experience with my truck. They didn't engage while I was creeping up a steep snowy hill. I thought me and my truck were goners. I only got them to engage once, and that was when I was going 15-20mph. I have Warn's on it now.

 

[kenwheeler]

point taken, thanks for the advi, sh#t can the auto, spare the current manual and replace with a fresh set of manuals.

 

[Boggin]

i blew my autos within the 3-4 days of owning it, and my tires were only 235/75s and it was on a wet grassy hill. manual all the way