welding auto hubs write up

[85rx7_93ranger]

ok guys ive done this on 3 different RBV's now and they have all worked great!!

if you have the shitty auto hubs and they stopped working its almost 100% of the time a stripped out cam gear because ethey are plastic...WTF ford! so here are your options:
1. get new auto hubs...hard as hell to find and spendy as shit
2. convert to manuals..great option but also costs about 200$
3.weld auto hubs..it will get you thru the winter if your in a pinch, its free if you have a welder or know someone, and takes about 15 minutes.

heres what you do.

1.take the hubs off.
2.look inside and see a ring(along the inner wall just above the gears) holding all the guts in. remove that ring with screw drives or snap ring plier.
3.remove the small snap ring inside the drive gear (all the way down at the bottom of the hub dead center).
4. remove all the guts.
5. keep the outer gear and the inner gear and trash everything else.
6. now place that out gear and the farthest outside point of the inside gear(see pic)
7. carefully weld gears together(dont overheat it! it will crack)

8.Now let that cool and go to the truck and look at the spindles, there will be a plastic cam gear with a spring around the ouside(hard to miss this plastic heap of crap)
9.there will be a c clip on the axle shaft and a washer behind that..remove those two things.
10.slide off the plastic cam device(thing with spring around outside of it)
11.replace washer and c-clip on axle.
12.after cooled, put your welded gears back into the case( larger diameter gear goes in first) and then put your hubs back on and bolt your wheel on.
ENJOY your unbreakable hubs
when you do this it will be like having manual hubs in "lock" all the time, you can still be in 2wd but your fron driveshaft and joints will always be spinning....ive noticed a 1-3 mpg loss on the highway.

 

[IndianScout]

will this cause any damage to the front axle or xfer case if you left it like this?

 

[85rx7_93ranger]

its exactly the same as leaving your manual hubs in "lock" all the time, ive had my ranger liike this for a year now with no problems. i adventually did switch to manual warn hubs but this works great till you can get the money for the warns..

say if you have a bad u-joint or somethign up front and need to drive the truck without the front u-joints spinning you can easily take the wheels off and pull the welded gears out of the hubs(they slide out like nothing) and then put the empty hubs back on.

 

[IndianScout]

great to know, nice write up, my drivers side is starting to click, I've already changed the right side to manual, hell I'll just weld them up..

 

[85rx7_93ranger]

ya i honestly think ford has made some shitty designs in the past but this "platic cam auto hub" bullshit takes the cake, even when they work all it takes it a small rock or stump to get in the way of your tire and snap goes plastic! haha

 

[Destroyer000]

works Great! i did the same thing to my mud truck a Long time ago.

 

[85rx7_93ranger]

aww your weld is nicer than mine lol

hahaha but ya it is an awesome quick free modd for wheelers or play toys, even works great for a DD to get you thru the winter or until u can get a set of new hubs

 

[Shran]

Are you still running a D28? If so I have three sets of hubs I have had listed in the classified section forever. Don't have the other conversion parts though, unfortunately.

 

[88BII got it for $250]

Ok... Ill give you this much, thats cool man. But! I would never do this, I would first do the waren manual hub conversion.. but like I said, its cool...

 

[85rx7_93ranger]

i have D35s, ill never buy a D28 RBV they suck lol. ya if you have the money at the time i would deffinatly do the warn manual swap first. but like i say ive done both and think the welded way is great for temporary 4x4 usage until you can either afford or sometimes even find the warns can be hard...just something to think about

 

[85rx7_93ranger]

say someone has a RBV thats mud truck only and they trailer it to hardcore mud events and stuff well at that stuff hubs break all the time
so instead of spending a bunch of money always buying working hubs just go out and get a few sets of non working hubs form people(even for free) and weld them up like this and then keep em in the tool box for later I do the same with my rx7 rear ends haha i always keep a spare welded diff and third member on hand for swap and go