Dynatrac Disappointment

[JMarketos]

my 0. 02-
[1] I'm more concerned with the OP's description of the vendor's apparent poor handling of the situation than I am with the failure itself. I don't necessarily feel like the vendor should be on the hook for shipping costs both ways etc. I do feel they should be more responsive than the OP describes.
[2] I second the notion that northern winters are brutal. (areas where they put... ) chemicals on the road a few times through the season doesn't duplicate what happens in the northern climes, where the cars are subjected to that stuff for several weeks at a stretch. In my area, they even mix little stones in with it, to help chip the paint so the chemicals can attack the metal faster. My truck was bought (and lived its first several years in... ) the metro Atlanta area. When I moved to CNY a couple years ago, I chose not to drive the truck in winter. That's right- I have a perfectly good 4x4 pickup and it doesn't get driven in winter. I don't have nearly the amount of aftermarket $ in it, compared to some others, but I do have some- it has a GV overdrive unit and a Banks kit. With the other gauges and trans cooler etc. that still totals to multiple thousands of $. I figure if I don't drive it in winter, the truck will last as long as I care to maintain it (especially with all the aftermarket upgrade stuff there is available... ) But if I drive it in winter, that effectively lights a fuse of a certain number of years, which determines the end of the truck's useful life. I acknowledge many of you use the trucks for work and inherently must drive them in winter.
[3] to TCDiesel- that bit about greasing the factory hub through a user-made grease fitting seems VERY interesting. I don't know the front end well enough to be able to visualize what's being done from the text. I'd be very interested to see pics and writeup if someone is so inclined.

Best to all.

 

[TCDiesel]

I think I have Pictures some where... I will look GTG.

 

[TCDiesel]

That chloride that MN put down in the Winter Works t0 -5 its brutal. . My 03 in the winter months is park until My trips out west to climb to rockies with the machines (Snowmobile's)

 

[DennyDay]

Might want to think about SpynTec, if you want free wheeling hubs. I've only got 30k miles on mine but no problems to this point. ed are full time RVers and I check the temp with a non-contact thermometer every time we stop when I check the tires.

 

[rscurtis]

JeffMic, you can either cut the studs down, or replace them with Dorman PN

610-471. I assume your truck has steel wheels, that's why the studs are too long. At this point, it may be more effective to shorten them with a cutoff wheel rather than R&R the rotors and hubs.

 

[SDrake]

JeffMic, you can either cut the studs down, or replace them with Dorman PN

610-471. I assume your truck has steel wheels, that's why the studs are too long. At this point, it may be more effective to shorten them with a cutoff wheel rather than R&R the rotors and hubs.

Just make sure you know where the steel dust is going if you do any grinding. It will silently pit and destroy paint job -- unnoticible until too late. get it all off what ever painted thing is nearby. You probably do not need to know how I know this.

 

[steved]

Might want to think about SpynTec, if you want free wheeling hubs. I've only got 30k miles on mine but no problems to this point. ed are full time RVers and I check the temp with a non-contact thermometer every time we stop when I check the tires.

There are a good many of us with DynaTrac's with good results too... I've had a couple issues, but mostly from installation problems.



EVERY manufacturer is going to have issues at some point... a bad day, or a missed QA/QC on a part, even a bad part from THEIR supplier can and will happen. Think about it this way: you could go to Napa, buy a new OE-style unit bearing, and it fail the next day because the guy who was supposed to grease it, left the gun run out of grease. I've had new bearings fail, I've had new seals fail... its sometimes out of your (or the manufactures of a kit that uses those parts) control.



I have a LOT of miles on my DT kit... in all parts of the country, summer, fall, WINTER, and spring. The only thing I didn't like about the DT kit was the lockout not seating tight to the hub... solved by adding an additional retaining ring to each side. At just shy of 200k on my set, I have only myself to blame for the problems I've encountered. The have never left me stranded.



Given time, I will bet the SpynTechs have problems reported too... in the realm of things, they are VERY NEW on the market compared to the DT kits.



As a side note, greasing the OE bearings through the sensor hole is old news, and hotly debated. For every person that says adding grease is a good thing, two will say the greases may be incompatible with what's in there, and that filling the cavity with grease will cause excessive heat. Personally, I have never seen a unit bearing's bearing fail (out of the four or so I have replaced)... it is the surface the bearing's inner race rides on that fails and grease will not help that. With that stated, my dad is still running his 99 with original unit bearings... we pulled them apart (non-ABS) at around 85k and added nothing more than Valvoline Multi-Purpose grease to them, they currently sit at 290k.

 

[sid325]

I have Dynatrac's with Warn hubs and after 30,000+ miles I haven't had any issues. Buddy installed his same week I did and he has over 70,000 miles on his and zero issues. I'd go with Dynatrac again.



sid

 

[JCockerill]

Again my issue was water contamination into hubs, truck went through a rough northeast winter this year and it spent a lot of time in vermont pulling snowmobiles in some of the best snow we have seen in 20 years... If i was driving my truck around in sunny warm CA. which i wouldn't mind doing. . it's just too far to drive for me... I'm sure i would have had different results.



I have been a mechanic for the past 15 years, have been working on 4x4 hubs on many a plow truck. And by no means were these hubs installed wrong. It was a flaw in the parts or design that allowed water to enter hub and starve bearings of grease. My point was dynatrac didn't care to make it a priority to make my parts right, and after having the truck down for almost 3 weeks, I am pretty ****** off with them. I learned the hard way, i just wanted to forewarn you guys incase you run into problems down the road that they are not much help. .



maybe they should do a little R&D over here in the snowbelt before you sell us a product that isn't ready for it..... things work a little different here than in huntington beach, CA

 

[mwilson]

maybe they should do a little R&D over here in the snowbelt before you sell us a product that isn't ready for it..... things work a little different here than in huntington beach, CA

Amen to that, Brother.



Gotta' live in it to understand it. No other way to replicate the effects of a good old fashioned Northeast winter.



Mike.

 

[Shadrach]

I just finished installing Dynatrac BJs and hubs on my 03 3500 SRW. The only minor problems we ran into was the fact that I didn't realize that the lock nuts were 6 tang like old Chebbies and I had to waste an hour and a half to go borrow a socket. At least I was able to find one on short notice. My fault for not looking close enough earlier. I also though the small retaining ring that goes on the outer end of the shaft was pretty flimsy. With that and an 08 steering update it sure steers better. All my BJs were shot and one hub felt dry. The ujoints seemed to be Ok but I put new Spicer ones in anyway. I bought the truck used so I don't know when anything was replaced. It has 360k kms ( about 225k miles ) on it.



What size hole do I have to make in the hub caps and will they still fit with the new longer studs?



Shadrach

 

[TCDiesel]

Again my issue was water contamination into hubs, truck went through a rough northeast winter this year and it spent a lot of time in vermont pulling snowmobiles in some of the best snow we have seen in 20 years... If i was driving my truck around in sunny warm CA. which i wouldn't mind doing. . it's just too far to drive for me... I'm sure i would have had different results.



I have been a mechanic for the past 15 years, have been working on 4x4 hubs on many a plow truck. And by no means were these hubs installed wrong. It was a flaw in the parts or design that allowed water to enter hub and starve bearings of grease. My point was dynatrac didn't care to make it a priority to make my parts right, and after having the truck down for almost 3 weeks, I am pretty ****** off with them. I learned the hard way, i just wanted to forewarn you guys incase you run into problems down the road that they are not much help. .



maybe they should do a little R&D over here in the snowbelt before you sell us a product that isn't ready for it..... things work a little different here than in huntington beach, CA

I live in MN spend most of My winter 1/2 in MN 1/2 in the Rockies Dec-April if the seals don't hold out the water/Sand/Chemicals Bearing / joints are Done in short order... . If NO updates were done to the NEW seals the problem will show its ugly head again...

 

[rscurtis]

You need a 4-1/4" hole, and no, they won't fit if you have steel wheels. See post # 25 for more info. Use the plastic tang inside the cap for a pilot drill, and do it on a drill press with a helper to hold the cap. Drill from the outside in, and it won't damage the chrome finish.

 

[timelessconstructionllc]

ok. obviously this thread hasn't been dumbed up enough for me. Can anyone explain "unit bearings" and "free spin hubs" in plain simple southern country english please.



JCockerill

IMO anything a man spends $2k on ought to by God work and in the event that it doesn't the company should make it right. I'm a contractor, if i make a mistake, I correct it, on my dime and my time. That's called taking responsibility, good business ethics, doing the right thing, and not screwing people around. I do it therefore i expect the same kind of customer service out of companies. Sorry to hear about your troubles. I appreciate the heads up cause i don't have a back up truck so if i was in your shoes i'd really be screwed so dynatrac isn't a company i would even consider giving my business to.

 

[Shadrach]

A unit bearing hub is a one piece bearing assembly that a lot of manufacturers use now a days. It is sealed and if it fails on the road it is towtruck time. Your frt axle is engaged all the time that is why you only have to pull a lever or turn a dial to get into 4X4 mode.



Free spin refers to the old fashioned 4X4 style frt hubs that stick out and have a knob on them to engage the front hubs when needed. Your hubs "freespin" when you are driving under normal conditions. When you want to engage the frt axle you must go outside and rotate the knob and then pull the lever or turn the dial inside.



Why would we want to do this " backward" step? First they are rebuild-able. Second the frt axle isn't engage all the time therefore less rotating parts and a minor improvement in mileage. Third you can engage the transfer case without engaging the frt axle which gives you 2 wheel drive low range. This is real handy for backing up a trailer. When I put my 6 speed in reverse and 2 wheel low I can "crawl" at extremely slow speeds. This makes backing up safer. Shadrach

 

[Shadrach]

You need a 4-1/4" hole, and no, they won't fit if you have steel wheels. See post # 25 for more info. Use the plastic tang inside the cap for a pilot drill, and do it on a drill press with a helper to hold the cap. Drill from the outside in, and it won't damage the chrome finish.

Thanks I have aluminum wheels ( non chromed ) and the grey plastic center caps. The new studs were about a 1/2" longer than the old ones.



Shadrach

 

[BLoging]

the stud may be too long for the wheel's you may need a wheel spacer on the frount or use a shorter stud when pressing in the stud's i did not find this out until i tryed to put on the wheel cover's on, and the cover hit the stud before the cover was on all the way.

 

[steved]

Stud length should not affect aluminum wheels and cover clearance...



I guess Pennsylvania doesn't constitute northern winters... or the rest of the country.

 

[Gonzo 1066]

HHMMMMM I installed 5 Dyna Trac kits so far, No complaints, NO failures, NO issues. Just 4 extreamly happy customers, and on my truck I have 60000 hard towing miles with no issues and a net gain in fuel economy. Sorry for your difficulty. It would be interesting to find out why your parts failed in the first place.

 

[basilry]

I have had mine DT installed on my truck for about 80,000 miles now. The crome on the right side warn hub has completly peeled off and just recently I had to send back the main body of the hubs because under pressure the snap ring that holds everything together kept popping off. I didnt know this happened until I needed 4 wheel drive and it wasnt there. I called dt and it took them over a week to respond back to me. It was very frustrating that when I called I was told that the persone I needed to talk to was in, but he would not call me back until several days later. After finally talking to the rep at DT they told me they knew of the problem but it was not a major problem and it was only a few people that were experienced the same issue that I had. The fix was having them send me out a new hub body that they milled down so that the snap ring would fall farther down into the grove. It took another two weeks for me to receive the new hub bodys and that was after me calling them and reminding them that I had not receive anything in the mail yet after a week.