Hes gonna go from 37k to 800k really fast. He needs more videos on his channel tho for people to see more and more of his work and that he continues to keep the quality coming
Another thing with them is for standard trucks you can put the tcase in low and 2wd and it’s much easier backing up trailers since the reverse gears are very tall in 2nd and 3rd gens
Other than reliability, this is the best thing about manual locking hubs. Makes tugging out bushes pretty easy. It's silly for a 4x4 work truck to have automatic hubs.
Good video, I think the biggest pro is that it completely eliminates the problem of a front driveshaft failing and consequently coming through the floor of your truck and taking out everything else in its path.
There is only one advantage to the way the trucks are stock: shifting into 4x4 without getting out of the truck. That's it. When you have manual locking hubs, and you anticipate you will need it, just lock them in, and now you have the same product, but you can still unlock them when the front axle isn't needed for pulling. When the stock bearings fail, they can cause damage because they literally fall apart in some cases, and let's face it, not everyone pays that much attention to the u-joints, and when they're always spinning, they wear out 100 times faster than when they only spin on demand. There are 5 of them, and only one of those is easy. The double cardan joint is a chore, and so are the stub axle ones. Unless you have free time and do all the work yourself, replacing those will add up over time to easily justify the $2k. It's also better, not just on 'steering feel', but on steering components. Less friction on numerous components, better fuel economy, less danger, stronger, serviceable parts, it's hands down a no contest. One more thing: you can use low gear on hard dry pavement to move heavy trailers in rough spots without stressing anything but the chain.
TOTALLY WORTH THE MONEY!! Ever since I installed them in my 2006 MegaCab I haven't had a U-joint fail, wheel bearing fail, and my front diff is still like new! It's also better on fuel which is easier on the entire driveline.
@@Adrian64yt wait until front driveshaft explodes and takes everything out in it's path. Son just finished one that cost over $11000 to fix between shaft, transfer case, rung rear pinion and cut main wiring harness plus about came through the floor driving down the interstate at 70 mph and about wrecked him. $2000 is way cheaper!
Get a set now, but to late, front u-joint went out going down the road. Drive shaft then destroyed my T case, ripped out the break lines, fuel lines main wiring harness and took out the front and rear drive shaft and put 2 holes in the floor.
One other thing to consider (maybe someone already said it) is a slight improvement in braking distance since there is less weight/mass to stop spinning. Love the channel keep it up.
@@JustDiesels that’s awesome to here bro I saw on your Instagram, but I’m sure if you uploaded a lot more on yt you’d blow up, I love your videos and the effort you put into them
My bosses 2018 F350 has locking hubs from the factory, manual and auto abilities. I didn’t know this was a thing that wasn’t on trucks these days haha. My OBS Ford has them, my super duty axle swap has them with the addition of vacuum control with manual so I can have some creature comfort. Sounds like you need a Cummins in a Ford truck and you have it good.
@@thefunkilledu For western washington on my 94, manual is fine for the amount I used four wheel drive, but boy is it nice when you need it. What is the main wear point in the auto hub? Is it something that with a more agressive service or like boat trailer wheel bearing grease (good luck getting it off your bare hands, but works great with a little applied around the seals, not as the primary bearing grease) The manual hubs on my truck have always been suprisingly buttery smooth no matter how many days below freezing... I have been living abroad in denmark for many years now, a rare 4x4 turbo diesel parked in front of the apartment once, the US market was left out.. Oh well, gas is over 8 bucks a gallon here, looking forward to US prices next month :p
If I hadn’t seen unit bearings fail with little to no warning; I probably wouldn’t have installed my Yukon kit. I commute to work in another state and will soon be on a 6 day schedule. It just makes sense for me because I love the old 2nd Gen and don’t ever plan to sell her. Great video with an objective viewpoint btw. My steering feels much better btw. No discernible mileage increase
Great info. You comment that you can't see the hubs ever paying for themselves. Consider this, a few years ago I was deer hunting 650 miles away from home and my front drive shaft was making a little noise while in 4wd. I parked on a flat spot and got out and shook my driveline with no evidence on sloppy U joints. I considered pulling my front drive line before headed home but don't recommend driving across Wyoming at the end of Nov in a without having 4wd available. Needless to say about 40 miles from home my front double cardan joint seized at 70 mph and grenaded my transfer case. I here to tell you that I think the $4k I spent replacing the transfer would have been better spent on the free hubs.
Been said a couple of times in the comments but I agree. Free wheeling hubs / manual hubs have to main advantages - "turning off" front drive to your front CVs and allowing low range "two wheel drive". The first is great if you bust a front axle for whatever reason and have to limp home, cause you can just unlock the front wheels and it'll stop spinning around whilst broken (saving damage to brake lines / other nearby components), the second is unbelievably helpful when backing up a steep hill or driveway without binding up your drivetrain in 4WD low.
Axel is bad enough but what about the front drive shaft have you seen that carnage. If not just look through any of the Cummins forums. That's why I just installed mine. I keep my driveshaft greased but it still scares me. My son just saw one in the shop where driveshaft locked up and broke took out transfer case, wiring harness,part of floor pan and rung rear pinion while driving down the interstate and about wrecked him in the process. I got my spintek hubs delivered for $1700 and they can be rebuilt for around $60 a side with timken bearings from any auto parts store. By the time you rebuild a front driveshaft and replace ujoints and wheel bearings your at around $800 and if you have big offset rims you'll be replacing wheel bearings about every 30000 miles at least I was using timken or skf. Nice thing with the spintek kit is you can unbolt it just like a wheel bearings take off the outer hub and rebuild it on the work bench if needed. To me it was an easy decision.
I put the Spyntec hubs on my 2012 RAM 2500 CTD and no regerts, mileage improved and overall better response with steering, after about 7500 miles, I pulled the caps off to check the grease and the grease looked like the day that when I put them on, honestly it not that hard of a job to do the hub kit, so worth the money.
Unreal quality as always, man. I don't own one of these trucks nor could I really care less about the hubs, but there's no doubt I enjoy watching your content nonetheless. Keep it up.
Got a spyntec kit (think that was the name) about 10 years ago with mile marker hubs. Have over 100k miles on them and have only ever had to change one bearing. Only paid around $1700 at the time. Would do again. Love the channel!!
@@jamesvaldez4093 Probably every other summer, but to be honest, it doesn’t usually get driven over about 8k miles a year. It’s a good kit. Has held up well. Bitch to press out the old hubs huh??
@@3rd_gen_j Awesome!! I put about 5,000 miles a year on mine so I end up doing most of the maintenance by time rather than miles. It seems to be a really good kit and so far I've had to lock them twice and no problems. Yea that part was a pain in the ass!!! Lol. Are you using a specific grease to repack?
I had a Spyntec kit installed in my 97 a few months ago when the unit bearings failed. Steering feel was the first thing I noticed, much improved. Strength was main reason I went with these hubs since I often drive loaded and rough roads.
When I was a kid in the 70s the only way four-wheel-drive came was with locking hubs. Getting out and locking up your front driveline was normal. There was no other option. I think it’s funny to see you young guys having to use what basically is 50 year old technology to upgrade your trucks. I also think it’s great that what was old is now new again! The hubs to have back then were called Warn. I’m not sure if they’re still around?
Servicing freewheeling hubs IS something you can do yourself. Regreasing them is no harder than regreasing bearings. Just adds time to the wheelbearing service. But if you plan to keep your 4wd and want it to last, get them. People spend a couple grand on an alloy bullbar mostly so their Hilux or Cruiser looks cool with the bonus of a little extra protection, but these hubs WILL make your 4x4 last longer.
I just added spintek free spin hub kit to my 2010 2500 Cummins. The kit was $1700 shipped. The bearings and seals to rebuild run around $45 a side with timken bearings and can be bought at any auto parts store. The time you figure in rebuilding front drive shaft,unit bearings which are weaker and with offset rims fail even quicker and u joints wearing quicker and gas mileage and the major reason look at the forums and see the damage if the front drive shaft explodes. I assure you these hubs are a lot cheaper than a transfer case,front drive shaft,repair to wiring harness, transmission,and in some instances floor pan and rear pinion. Adds up to several thousands of dollars. To me the piece of mind driving down the interstate at 70 mph not worrying about the disaster that could happen is priceless. Plus with my g56 transmission with dual disk clutch trying to back my 25' gooseneck trailer into tight spots it is handy to have low range but in 4 low it was binding and couldn't turn sharp especially on pavement. It makes it nice having 2 low with hubs out. For me it was a no brainier.
I’ve had the Dynatrac kit with Dyna-hubs for a few years now. One of the best changes I’ve ever made on my truck. The driving difference is amazing, so much less rolling resistance not spinning all those parts. The fuel mileage is better but strength and serviceability are so much better.
Put the Yukon kit on my 2012 dually. Cummins, Auto, 4.10 truck. Picked up about 2mpg highway, less in town. Steering is lighter with them unlocked. Did it because I got tired of worrying about when one of the unit bearings was going to crap out next. I have owned several Ram heavy duty trucks. The crummy service life of the unit bearings on them would be my #1 complaint. By the time you figure out its going bad ( humming, grinding sounds) your tires are already starting to get chewed up. I have had the kit on my Ram for 3 years. Zero issues. If you keep up on the maintenance of the bearings themselves (grease as called for) you will likely never have issues withem. The same is not even possible with unit bearings as they are not serviceable. Would do it again without hesitation.
Ran the numbers for my truck. 1 mpg saving for 100000 miles comes to $6740.00 at a $3.50 fuel price. Found the bearings online for $2000.00 . My truck will put on 100K miles in 1 year.. saving me about $400 per month. In a business plan, that's huge.
I have the DynaTrack locking hubs on my 05 2500 Diesel been 14 years since i put them on and never looked back. Improved millage around town about 3+ mpg, and on long tow trips at 60mph 10k Trailer loaded 22 to 26mg on hyway. plus i only change my transfer case fluid every couple of years because its not spinning all the time.
I pull my front driveshaft for long trips. My truck has more power, smoother, better steering, and better mileage when I do. I can remove my driveline in 10 minutes and it’s definitely better.
I have a set on my 02 dodge. I like them a lot!! I am a Ford guy first so I am used to getting out an locking them so that was not a problem for me. Mine are by Ram Man out ot Ft. Worth, Texas. I like the channel
I have a 2000 Tacoma with Warn conversion. With that being said you absolutely need it installed. There's only one con.... and it is called laziness. I have been in mud, running water, ocean and sand. It took me all but 1 minute to lock both front hubs. Granted I got a little dirty but that what owning a truck is all about. Now the benefits. My mileage went up. Wear and tear on the front end was close to non existant. But best of all was knowing that if the front diff failed... for some stupid reason.... just unlock and drive home. Yes this is a Ram diesel channel. I know. But I own a 3rd gen and a 4th gen and both see off road along with towing and are me and my wife's daily commute. Contact the Ram man. His prices went up but is well worth it.
I have them on a 07 5.9 truck with a g56 manual and I absolutely love them. I put them on 10 years ago and have not messed with them since. They still work perfect as well. I got mine through EMS off road.
I just lost my front differential 45 min into my 1000 mile return trip home towing a 5th wheel. …wishing I had a free spin kit years ago to save that wear and tear on the diff. The diff nearly caught fire as it boiled the gear oil out from the shaft seals, cover seal, and even the fill plug. I was STUCK on the side of the road until I found a way to remove the front drive axles and separate the unit bearing from the axle shaft. I didn’t have the socket for the castle nut to try to remove the unit bearing from the end of the stub shaft and had to pound out the u-joints to be able to put the unit bearing and stub shaft back in minus the axle shafts to be able to get the truck home in 2WD
I got tired of replacing axle u joints so I bought a spyn tec kit for my truck. It makes it easier to back a trailer using low range and it does help with milage. Every fall I repack the bearings. Used to be standard equipment on Dodge trucks as far back as I can remember. I don't know why they don't have it as an option for the fuel economy alone.
I was looking at the free spin kits before I bought my superduty. I was looking at a few dodges first and pricing those kits. To me it's worth it in long run. The not having to worry about the wear and tear from them turning all the time. Then you have a little better steering feel and beefy bearing.
That's great that some people get such a long life out of the SKF hubs... but that's not usually the case. I carry an extra set of SKFs in the truck with me in case I need to replace them on the road... and an extra front driveshaft. I'm on my 3rd front driveshaft, 3rd set of SKF hubs and 3rd set of U-joints in 100,000, and the driver's side hub is starting to move again. I've already spent $2k in the last 100k miles on parts... that doesn't include what I've lost in fuel savings. Free spin hubs will always be the way to go if you plan on keeping your truck more than a couple years.
Lol i grew up with all our 4x4's having lock in/lock out hubs. I can't stand auto hubs too much wear and tear. Yes its so convenient but when you get out of your truck you also get a good look and do a walk around and even walk ahead to get a feel for how the ground is like if your going through someone's yard or in a pasture. The big 3 should have let the buyer choose which hub to have ever since the early 80's (I think when they all started going to auto hubs)
The issue I found, at least in Colorado, is not one shop near me would install them on my truck for liability reasons. I found one shop 3 hours away in Colorado Springs that would do it but with a 300% markup on parts. Glad I left CO.
Even the guys with auto transmissions having to backup a hill, how be less stressful on the converter and clutches and wouldn’t have that stress on the front end turning on hard ground
I easily get 1 mile per gallon improvement with unlocked hubs. The break even point $$$ is somewhere less than 120,000 miles, being conservative in my calculations at $3 a gallon. I drive high miles on my trucks, so it is a trade off that I can justify, especially with all the positives you detailed. Nice video!
I’m almost 60. We called them locking hubs. It's just plain tong in the first place to have full time 4 wheel drive. When I was in high school early 80s as far as I know every 4x4 had locking hubs.
I have about 40k on my Yukon free hub spin kit (07 megacab). Though I'm sure there is a fuel benefit, I really haven't seen it. I haven't had to grease my front driveshaft nearly as much (PIA to do). I immediately noticed tight turning was different. More free. Before, it seemed to bind a bit, as the truck tweaked (opposing tires went up, others went down). Limited slip could have contributed there. Anyway, the biggest bonus that I really like is 2WD low. Keep the hubs unlocked and put the truck in 4WD low. Low gearing on any surface. Really handy around the yard or in a campground. Would I do it again? Yes, but I'd wait for the unit hubs to be worn out first. Like the fact these are serviceable as well. Nice Timken bearings. Bought at Geno's when they were on sale.
Put the kit from EMS Offroad on an 03 2500 around 6 or 7 years ago. Probably close to 80k miles and no issues. Truck went from 12.5 mpg to 16.5 mpg. Way better steering feel. Had the front driveshaft let loose before doing this. What a mess that was. No more issues since doing this.
I just put on a Yukon kit for my 2008 Ram 2500, I like the heavy duty setup much better than the problematic unit bearings. It drives so much nicer with it unlocked. Best update for the truck yet! Next is a dual disk clutch. I'll have to watch your other videos and see how you setup your truck for overlanding.
I had a sudden wheel hub assembly failure on my 2017 Ram 2500 with about 120,000 miles. My front wheel almost came off as I was driving on an interstate with trucks around me. The repairs to all the adjacent damaged areas cost about $7,000. Serviceable hub bearings seem like a good idea.
You make the money when you sell it if you can find a guy that is really in to trucks with locking hubs and it makes it’s so nice to put in low range to back up a large trailer !
I installed the Yukon and it was money well spent. I see 1-2 MPG improvement and just installed a 52 gallon diesel tank which is great in terms of range. I might go with Dynatrac if I had to do it again since they don't stick out as much. I had issues with the ABS sensors fitting on the Yukon as they don't clearance for the cabling which took a little trimming.
I’ve owned several dodges and just recently got a Ford super duty and I love the locking hubs, I wouldn’t go back, I grew up with locking hubs and repacking bearings so that ain’t a issue for me
Great video and great points! I would add that if you've ever seen a cardan joint explode and destroy your trans or engine and/or wiring you would think it's worth a lot more to have them. That said, it would be a lot cheaper to make sure your front driveshaft is in good working order... LOL BTW i like the front light in the grill
Looking to travel with my 08 and truck camper. Basically any type of front end failure will mean not being able to move and calling a wrecker $$$. I have been there! "Driving across several states" with a bad front differential or u joint is peace of mind for me.
To me, they'd be worth $800~1K. With the number of miles I drive (few) there's no way they're worth $2K+. And the big advantage for us would be the ability to have 2 wheel low for backing heavy trailers, especially with am manual.
Yeah, about the only time I lock my front hubs is when it's snowing/slippery road conditions or I'm on the back roads knowing I might go into sticky/steep conditions then I can pop the T case in and out of 4x4 when I need it, otherwise I always run them unlocked. Best part is they come stock on the w250's! No extra cost there ;)
I have Yukons on my 2nd gen nv4500. Way nicer on the highway and even trails in 2w. Easier to turn in tight slow areas. If you grease them once a year they will last forever minus seals. Way easier with a trailer. If your know your going in a rough area lock them before. I think there easier to take apart because you can do your brakes without trying to fight that stupid unit bearing out. It all just unbolts. I noticed better fuel economy by maybe 1 or 2 mpg. You don’t have to stress if you break an axel. It uses all ford parts so there readily available.
You can get Yukon on sale for $1270, that changes the math wrt justifying the cost. For me it does not make sense going down the highway at 70 miles spinning the front axels. More important, I want something solid for my overland rig, so I am installing Yukon, new u joints and ball joints. All my previous trucks from Ford and Chevy have had free spin hubs, I love my RAM but can’t understand why they don’t come with this option. Thanks for a informative video.
Please double check with dynatac, the 125-150 for bearings and seals is both sides!!!!!!! At least for my super duty, and unit bearings are way more than 165 per side..... around 400-500......I love my dynatrac free spin kit and would recommend it to anyone who wants a vehicle very dependable and long lasting!!!!!!
You are saying $125-150 total for both sides, or for each side (so $250-300 total)? I have Dynatrac with Warn on my '05 Dodge Cummins 3500 with single rear wheels and NV5600. I had bearings failure on the right side today 100 miles from home and am trying to figure out if this is something I can service in the parking lot or if I have to have it towed somewhere and hope whoever I pay to do it knows what they are doing (and doesn't charge me a grand).
Put the FreeSpin hubs on my 2012 Ram 2500. Finish on them is very poor. After two weeks with only minimal exposure to water, they have started showing a lot of rust. I expected better workmanship at this price point. Suggestion from Dynatrac that I just paint them. I can certainly do that, but I paid for much better than what I got.
Also when you have large tires steering at low speeds like in parking lots, having free spin hubs puts less stress on the steering linkage and steering box. It’s much easier to steer with less resistance.
been stock on Land cruisers for years till the 100 series with the exception of the solid axle variant 105R series but they where fleet buy only. the standard 100 and every thing else went IFS and no free wheel hubs not that you need them doesn't take long for the CV's to crap out.
I got an increase of 2mpg on my '01 Ram 2500 by installing a free-spin kit. Doing the math on 150k miles that's 1000 gallons of fuel more without the kit. At todays prices of about $4/gallon that is $4k. So, doing the math if you're not going to keep the truck very long then don't. But if you keep your vehicles as long as I do (430k miles on my 2G and 155k on my 4G) then you will come out much farther ahead in the long run.
What Ram doesn’t understand is there are guys like us out there who would pay an extra $1,000 as an option to get these from the factory like we did on 4x4 trucks for free 30 years ago
200K miles on my truck 2006 Laramie with 4x4 on a fly and I did replace my front bearings with Timken’s around 50k miles ago and at the time I didn’t know about this upgrade but honestly for the cost of them I don’t see myself doing it unless I turn my work truck into an overland/off road type of use vehicle with larger tires and so on... then that would justify that much dough
Great vid, stoked I found your channel, love your ideology about building, I've been in the Toyota world building rigs for some time but jumping up here in the big truck game and TryNa learn fast.
Ooof Thats a chunk of change 🤑 luckily my dana 60 has locking hubs, i like the RCV idea but i think im going to just go with Spicer SPL55-3X u joints for now as i dont do any rock crawling just overlanding.
I had a set of free spins on my 1995 ford f150. I have regular hubs on my 1996 Chevy k1500. I really do like just being able to put it into 4x4 without having to get out. Especially in the winter, Colorado can have some nasty snow storms. I stay nice and warm and keep on trucking. Down side is i have had to replace the u joints a couple times on the front drive line since it is always spinning.
Andrew, I 100% agree with everything you said. I’ve got the Dynatrac version on my 4th gen with their lock rings. They were stupid expensive. But the long term durability and drive ability of the truck make up for the cost in my opinion. I’ve only got 30k miles on mine, but I love them. A nice feature is these can be serviced with the wheel still on, where unit bearings can not be. Have you rebuilt yours yet? What service interval have you seen?
My Yukon hubs are at about 120k miles now and are ready for a re-build. That’s a decent lifespan in my opinion as the previous owner didn’t grease them at all.
I personally like the full time axle my 03 cummins has. Its been abused, driven thousands of highway, high speed miles between powerwashing and at 229000 i had to replace the axle shafts due to u joint cup wear. After that many miles of use, i now have chromoly shafts. Win win. On my excursion, which has been swapped to super winch hubs from the junk ford vacuum set up, i leave them locked in basically all winter and hunting season. There is very little reason to unlock them being it makes next to zero fuel economy difference and zero driving difference. If i put a detroit locked infront id use it more but its more likely ill put an e locker in the front with the rear detroit locker instead
If you want to install these, best to do it early in the life of the truck so that you can reap the benefits of slightly better fuel economy over a long time span. I considered them around 2006 for my 2004.5 truck but it was just as much money then as now and the time frame for any monetary benefit was a long time out and many miles. With 189k miles now on truck and never replaced a unit bearing yet so I'm not going to bother with it. It would be cool to have them and if I was getting a new truck now I would definitely try to install them, such a small expense compared to the truck price anyway....
I want this because I want to put a trutrack on the front instead of an air locker. This way I won’t have to feel the locker when I’m driving in town. But when in 4wd I can get places.
We ran these forever because unit bearings would not lock in. We would lock the hubs after breakfast at the hunt club. Anytime we were going off road, we would lock them as soon as we went off pavement.
The way you rationalize the cost is you do it when you're doing a front end rebuild plus a leveling kit. The Yukons ran me an extra 1200 in parts because the labor was already being done to replace the hubs along with the leveling kit. You can't justify it right off the jump, but 5 years down the road when you've put over 100k miles on the truck? I'd say do it.
Glad my Ford has them factory haha. Rocking the OBS 7tree but my super duty axle swap has manuals with auto feature, I can’t complain. Just was surprised that dodge didn’t have that from factory, I guess I don’t see manual lockers on them for a reason haha.
