Dynatrac Disappointment

[JCockerill]

I know a lot of guys on tdr are running dynatrac products like myself. I installed the prosteer ball joints and free spin hubs with dynalocs this past fall. in the spring, not even 6 months later, I had water contamination in the hubs causing total bearing failure on one side. Now i understand that poducts can have problems, but i expect that when they do the company will stand behind the product in a supporting way. I did eventually get my parts replaced, but it took weeks. . and dynatrac didn't care my truck was down and out of commission (one of the reasons i spent $2k on their kit) They insisted on charging me to send out new parts before they got the bad ones back from me. . then when i recived new parts there were sereral problems due to shipping damage which set me back even further. And when you call them, they dont call you back, don't give a **** you have no truck, and don't give a **** they sent you junk parts. don't give a **** you had to tow the truck, or buy parts that were bent out of the box. . when the markings on the outer bezel caps on dynalocs wear off the new ones have different marks that dont even line up with the old ones! then they tell me that winter in the northeast is too harsh and i have to open up hubs every 3 months to check for water! BULL****! I paid $2K for this?!?!? to check it that often? i bought this kit thinking it was the best and maybe it is for southern california. So they shouldn't sell it to people in new york or anywhere there is snow. They also dont pay for shipping the junk parts back to them so that you can get jerked around to get your money back you had to lay out to get your two thousand dollar parts warantied. if you can't tell i'm not the slightest bit happy with dynatrac, and i'm writing this to warn the rest of you who own, or are thinking about owning their products. They are dealing with a select market when it comes to this product and should treat the end user a lot better. be careful, it's too bad they are the only act in town for free spins. . i know there are spyntecs, and i wish i went with them... i just would not have been able to look at those hubs stick so far out on my truck.

 

[Wingate]

Wow... . this was a change I had thought of making just to rid myself of the unitized bearing assembly... .

Maybe I'll just watch this thread for awhile!!.

 

[Mark31]

Wow... . this was a change I had thought of making just to rid myself of the unitized bearing assembly... .

Maybe I'll just watch this thread for awhile!!.

Yeah, Wingate, I'm thinking the same way. My buddy just put Carli ball joints and EMS free spins on his 03 LWB SRW 3500 with 253 k on it. The front u joints on passenger side were gone, the left ok, ball joints were pretty tight, unit bearings were fine. He put in a Goerend trans long ago so his Bullydog wouldn't make toast out of the stocker, replacing the rear u joints then. He has replaced the water pump, the shocks, and last week the center support bearing went. That is all that he has spent on "Snowball". He also has an 06 mega and a old Ford 250 with a 12 valve Cummins that is just about ready to get on the road. I only have 105k on mine. I too think I just may "set" and look for a while. I have drooled over lock outs for many moons, though! Mark

 

[JCockerill]

for the price, i don't feel the quality. . especially when the marks don't even line up with the lock knobs!!! but it won't matter when the marks wear off the bezels in 6 months. . I would look hard at the other part makers if i knew what i knew now. EMS and spyntec

 

[NavyDood]

I know a lot of guys on tdr are running dynatrac products like myself. I installed the prosteer ball joints and free spin hubs with dynalocs this past fall. in the spring, not even 6 months later, I had water contamination in the hubs causing total bearing failure on one side. Now i understand that poducts can have problems, but i expect that when they do the company will stand behind the product in a supporting way. I did eventually get my parts replaced, but it took weeks. . and dynatrac didn't care my truck was down and out of commission (one of the reasons i spent $2k on their kit) They insisted on charging me to send out new parts before they got the bad ones back from me. . then when i recived new parts there were sereral problems due to shipping damage which set me back even further. And when you call them, they dont call you back, don't give a **** you have no truck, and don't give a **** they sent you junk parts. don't give a **** you had to tow the truck, or buy parts that were bent out of the box. . when the markings on the outer bezel caps on dynalocs wear off the new ones have different marks that dont even line up with the old ones! then they tell me that winter in the northeast is too harsh and i have to open up hubs every 3 months to check for water! BULL****! I paid $2K for this?!?!? to check it that often? i bought this kit thinking it was the best and maybe it is for southern california. So they shouldn't sell it to people in new york or anywhere there is snow. They also dont pay for shipping the junk parts back to them so that you can get jerked around to get your money back you had to lay out to get your two thousand dollar parts warantied. if you can't tell i'm not the slightest bit happy with dynatrac, and i'm writing this to warn the rest of you who own, or are thinking about owning their products. They are dealing with a select market when it comes to this product and should treat the end user a lot better. be careful, it's too bad they are the only act in town for free spins. . i know there are spyntecs, and i wish i went with them... i just would not have been able to look at those hubs stick so far out on my truck.

Human error on install and screwed up the grease seal?

I have had mine on for two years and approx 50,000 miles here in MD. I just pulled my lockouts off recently to check everything out and retorque the hub nuts. The grease still looks the same as it did the day I installed everything.

 

[ENafziger]

I installed mine a month before heading out for Alaska. After putting 10,xxx miles on the truck in 3 weeks loaded down at a GVWR of 20,300 lbs, I pulled my hubs apart to inspect. The red synthetic Redline grease had for the most part turned black. It still looked good, but you could definately tell things had been working in there. Out of the 10k miles, I ran approximately 500 miles with the hubs locked in running gravel/dirt/steep grades offroad.

I didn't have any evidence of water intrusion, but I did have to tighten the wheel bearings some.

--Eric

 

[NavyDood]

I used Lucas Red 'N' Tacky when everything was installed.

 

[mwilson]

Human error on install and screwed up the grease seal?



I have had mine on for two years and approx 50,000 miles here in MD. I just pulled my lockouts off recently to check everything out and retorque the hub nuts. The grease still looks the same as it did the day I installed everything.

Bring it up here to Maine or Northern NY in the winter and put 25,000 miles on it driving in the caustic brew that they slap on the roads and then see what you have.



That stuff will crawl into places that you just would not believe.



It is so powerful that the huck rivets on a double frame truck will eventually pop off from the force of the chemical buildup between the two frame rails.



Ball joints, tie rod ends, brake lines, fuel lines, fuel filler necks, u-joints, frames, brake shoes, etc. have short lives immersed in the road brine, they all fall victim to the road chemicals.



If they are going to market the product in the Rust Belt they need to make double sure that the seals are up to the task. Shouldn't have to check it every three months in my opinion.



Mike.

 

[mwilson]

Had to dig the '06 out of storage for a couple of weeks in January...



This is what it looked like the day after a snow storm traveling 65 miles in the chloride slop. . the stuff is brutal.



Mike.

 

[Regcabguy]

When I inquired into getting the free spin setup on my '98. 5,Dynatrac recommended servicing the hubs@ 18-20K intervals. That's one of the reasons Dodge went with the sealed bearings.



Neither Thuren nor the Carli guys are running free spin hubs to my knowledge.



Don told me the stock hubs are "stupid strong".

 

[rscurtis]

I think Dodge went with the unit bearings because they're cheaper, and with the front end constantly turning, they didn't need a synchronized transfer case like the 2nd gen. trucks used. My DT setup has the Warn hubs and when I checked the condition of the inside of the hubs last winter, they look like I just installed them. They've been on the truck for 4 years and about 45K miles.

 

[NavyDood]

Bring it up here to Maine or Northern NY in the winter and put 25,000 miles on it driving in the caustic brew that they slap on the roads and then see what you have.

That stuff will crawl into places that you just would not believe.

It is so powerful that the huck rivets on a double frame truck will eventually pop off from the force of the chemical buildup between the two frame rails.

Ball joints, tie rod ends, brake lines, fuel lines, fuel filler necks, u-joints, frames, brake shoes, etc. have short lives immersed in the road brine, they all fall victim to the road chemicals.

If they are going to market the product in the Rust Belt they need to make double sure that the seals are up to the task. Shouldn't have to check it every three months in my opinion.

Mike.

Had to dig the '06 out of storage for a couple of weeks in January...

This is what it looked like the day after a snow storm traveling 65 miles in the chloride slop. . the stuff is brutal.

Mike.

Not gonna deny you get it worse up there than here in MD. But, my truck has looked the same plenty of times over the past four winters here in MD.

 

[macdaddy]

Been waiting for this. They definitely look like their not worth the money. This is exactly why I read the TDR.



I stick with the sealed units. They seem to work just fine after 110K.



Mac

 

[BLoging]

yes you can stick with the stock unit bearing's if you can get them to last more than 60,000 miles. mine was shot at 63,000, and all most lost a frount wheel when they went out. So i spent the 2greand for the dynatrac and anouther 900 to get put in at a local shop. The local shop had about 12 hour's try to get the unit bearing's out and and about 3 hour's to put in. And with about 7,000 miles on them now and with a lot better fuel economy. they also make it turn alot easyer.

a few coworker's that i work with have one ton's with a gas motor only get about 30,000 to 35,000 mile's out of aset of unit bearing's

 

[rscurtis]

Don't forget the wear savings on the front DS and the axle u-joints. As BLoging mentioned, there is the FE benefit. My signature truck routinely shows an 800+ mile DTE on highway driving.

 

[TCDiesel]

Grease the factory Hub through the ABS sensor Every 50K and they will run 200K plus. Jetleg had what 300K on a set of factory Hubs. . By the way what happen to him after retirement?

 

[SierraRam]

Have had mine on for 20k, several creek crossings and never had a problem with water. I thought the quality of the components was good.



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[KBrody]

TC Diesel how do you grease thru the sensor? Do you use a needle to insert the grease?

 

[JMichelson]

I Guess Time will tell.

I have a 2006 4x4 ( see signature) with 67000 miles on it. A few weeks ago I was turning around in my field in 4-wheel drive. I heard and felt a clunking noise coming from what felt like the right front tire area. A visual inspection found noting out of place. A week later I was turning around in a paved parking lot (in 2 wheel drive) and heard a very loud squealing noise coming again from the right front tire area. This really got my attention so I jacked the truck up and found the right front U- joint loose. One of the bearing caps appeared to have no bearings in it. The left side was a little better but it was still loose. I did some checking and found it was going to cost around $1300. 00 to have both U-joints replaced and both wheel bearings replaced. The shop that quoted me that price is a very reputable shop on 4x4 repair. They also told me that they are seeing on the average 3 trucks a month with the same problem. Most with around 65000 miles on them. The told me they would do the repair but that it may not be a permanent fix to the problem. I searched TDR and found a couple of post from folks who had installed the Dynatrac Free Spin Kit.

I talked it over with the shop and they felt that kit would be a good option. Serviceable wheel bearings, greaseable U-joints and the ability to do front end work ie. ball joints etc made the kit the way to go. I ordered the kit with Warn Hubs and had it installed. The installer told it was one of the best after market kits he had installed. Everything fit perfectly all of the necessary parts were there and the quality was excellent. I ended up buying new chrome lug nuts because the front hubcaps would not fit after we cut the center out. So $2200. 00 in parts, $ 650. 00 in labor the problem is fixed. The truck drives a little different, a little smoother. Turns a little smoother lock to lock. It’s too early to tell if the mileage is improved, the overhead shows about a mile to the gallon trend improvement. The overhead is worthless for accurate mileage but it has been fairly accurate for trends. I don’t have the mechanical ability or do I know anyone with the ability to do the job. Since labor was a small portion of the overall cost I’m ok with that. I’m happy with the mod, I’m not thrilled with having to do an almost $3000. 00 repair to a $35000. 00 truck with 67000 miles on it but it is what it is. I didn’t have the extended warranty so the repair came out of my pocket. Even if I did have the extended warranty it would have been fixed back to original and I would probably faced the same problem later. I'll keep you posted on how well it last.

Jeff

 

[TCDiesel]

TC Diesel how do you grease thru the sensor? Do you use a needle to insert the grease?

Pull the wheel, remove the caliber & bracket,Now the tricky part carefully remove the ABS sensor. . If you break the sensor it will cost $50. 00 for New,Make your own Grease fitting, 1/4 flexible hose 8" long and insert Zerk and heat shrink and zip tie, Once every 30/50K and they will last several years,It will next maybe 50 pumps,The seal may burp and some grease will exit, Don't worry the chamber is full. The next set I put on NEW I will drill and tap with grease Zerk. I have done a few Drill and tap for customers and friends , they love the ability to grease at will.