4x4 Manual Hub Knob

[wildbill23c]

Well I can finally give an update. I just managed to get off work early today to run over to the pick-a-part.

SCORE. Grabbed myself 5 knobs. 1 of them was red which I just put on the ole B2. The other 4 are Black. 2 of them say warn on them, the other 2 are blank. However, they all interchange into the D28 manual hub casing. All of these hubs were randomly taken off vehicles. So FYI the explorers with manual hubs have the exact same hubs as the B2 and the early rangers at least, except those say Warn on them. I tried them all on the B2 and all of them fit exactly the same.

So now I no longer have to use a pair of pliers to lock in the hubs LOL.

I grabbed every manual hub knob I could find. The hubs on the full size broncos are NOT the same size if anyone was wondering. Regardless of if they are plastic or metal, they DO NOT work on the Bronco 2, Explorer, or Ranger.

 

[Andy D]

Half the chrome has peeled off the stock front hubs. Fugly but they work fine, so they contribute to the Rat's general rattiness.

Are there any metal Warn manual hubs sized to fit a D 35 ? . When the auto hubs went on my Willys , I cleaned up a pair of Warns to replace them. Nice stuff. " Course that was 30 yrs ago

 

[wildbill23c]

Half the chrome has peeled off the stock front hubs. Fugly but they work fine, so they contribute to the Rat's general rattiness.

Are there any metal Warn manual hubs sized to fit a D 35 ? . When the auto hubs went on my Willys , I cleaned up a pair of Warns to replace them. Nice stuff. " Course that was 30 yrs ago

Hub knobs I found on all trucks over there were all plastic, didn't matter if it was an RBV or an F-250. The hub knobs on my 1988 Ford F-250 were plastic as well. The 2 knobs I got that still say Warn on them are plastic as well.

I'm sure if you pay the ridiculous price to get a set of premium Warn hubs they still come with the steel locking knobs, otherwise the standard cheap ones are all plastic, and most likely all made in the same manufacturing facility and just different labels placed on them on different days .

 

[FritzTKatt]

I haven't seen my old girl in over a year now, but to the best of my recollection they are plastic still... warn pn 37780

 

[4x4junkie]

^^LOL, I'm not looking for handouts just ideas for finding just the part I need. Problem is a new set of lock-in hubs I believe is worth more than the truck itself LOL.

Any truck that runs & drives is worth way more than the cost of a set of hubs.

However good things often do come to those who wait (as you found in scoring your 5 knobs).

I seem to recall someone reporting Superwinch RBV hubs had metal dials, but I can't remember for sure. Regardless I wouldn't make bets on them being as strong as the Warn 37780 (Jeep) hubs.

 

[wildbill23c]

Any truck that runs & drives is worth way more than the cost of a set of hubs.

However good things often do come to those who wait (as you found in scoring your 5 knobs).

I seem to recall someone reporting Superwinch RBV hubs had metal dials, but I can't remember for sure. Regardless I wouldn't make bets on them being as strong as the Warn 37780 (Jeep) hubs.

Drive it till the wheels fall off is about all I'm doing, its not worth sinking $300 in hubs into a 30 year old pile of junk that nobody wants, and the scrap yards don't pay anything for. I sure as hell won't replace the hubs especially since they work just fine. Considering the 4WD might be used once a year if its lucky, hubs aren't exactly that important. When and if the hubs fail its going to the scrapper, whichever happens first, transmission or engine failure will quickly send it to the scrap yard.

Those knobs didn't cost me anything...ok well the ridiculous cost of gas in the 70 mile round trip plus the time walking around the yard finding them...plus I was car shopping at the same time . Sadly there are B2's and Rangers that are sitting in that yard that are in a lot better condition interior and exterior wise than mine, but obviously must have been an engine or transmission failure that put them out of service I would assume, otherwise why would someone just junk it if they didn't want it?

Anyhow I have 4 more hub knobs "in stock" .