Dynatrac hubs

[CToney]

I have a wheel bearing on its way out and was thinking of the free spin conversion as I need a new bearing.



I have heard that the bearings are ~$500 up here. so I would get two sets of bearings and the locking hubs for 4x as much. Money is tight but I heard that when you have a bearing failure is the time for the conversion.

I just had a buddy that wrecked the front half of his transfer case when a yoke broke on the front driveshaft. $1300 for the tcase and $250 for new u joints in a used driveshaft. Maybe its worth the extra $$$ in the long run.

 

[Dieselman359]

I just had to replace; ball joints (4), u-joints (2), and hub bearings (2). It wasn't cheap but dad spent around $2200? for the dynatrac kit for his '03 3500. Its definatly expensive, if your looking for the fuel economy inprovement, well, you can buy a lot of fuel before you make up the difference.

However, locking hubs on a third gen are pretty cool. Just my opinions.

 

[JApol]

I had both hubs go out on my truck. Each hub was ~$400 with a total bill of just over $1200. About a week later I found out about dynatrac. That would have been the perfect oportunity to do them.

$1200 for the kit

rebuildable for ~$30 a side

Most people get about 1 MPG better milage.

Less wear and tear on the transfer case, axle and front drive shaft.



Come on tax return

 

[HCannon]

Got a 2nd gen that I put the locken hubs on that has worked out great. I have a 04 that will get the same thing when I get a few more miles on it. It might look like that it high in cost, but , unless you use the 4x4 a lot, you shouldnt have to change another u- joint and wheel bearings just need greasing every once in a while. If you plain on keeping it for a long time it might come out saving money.

 

[steved]

... rebuildable for ~$30 a side...

Rebuilding one side is closer to $125 from Dynatrac... I just bought enough to do one side and the seals for both, plus spindle bearings. I am pretty sure ONE of those bearings is $30, and that doesn't include the race.



However, the bearings typically don't go bad... as long as you pull them apart and re-grease once and a while.

 

[JKreiss]

How often should they be greased, mine have just about 20k miles on them. Driving out to Texas next week and am trying to think of anything else to do to prepare

 

[DGamelin]

If they were put together right and kepped out of deep watter. I dont think you have to do them all that often. Back in the 80s when they all had them, they were done when it needed brakes unless it was a mud truck. I really want a set for my truck. It is nice using low range to back a gooseneck trailer down into a loading dock or ware ever, when you have a 6-speed a lot less slipping of the clutch to control speed. I have seen better mpg with just having the drive shaft out. Every year I pull a float in the 4th of july parade I take the front drive shaft out so I can use low range, allot less clutching at low speeds. It usually doesn't get put back in until the first snow. I run to TX allot, it's a shame to spin all those parts for nothing. Fords got us on that one.



_________________________

93 250 2wd xc 354 auto 265k

04. 5 3500 4wd cc dully 373 6speed 90k





















93 250 2wd xc 354 auto 265k

04. 5 3500 4wd cc dully 373 6speed 90k

 

[steved]

They recommend every 50k.







And it doesn't take deep water to get water into them... the lockouts were always a bit loose on mine, and everyday driving caused water to wash out a lot of grease from the passenger bearing and turn it golden brown (it got hot)... but I had over 100k on them before I ever looked at them.



Knowing what I know now, I will check them once a year which is about 50k for me.

 

[Regcabguy]

They recommend every 50k.







And it doesn't take deep water to get water into them... the lockouts were always a bit loose on mine, and everyday driving caused water to wash out a lot of grease from the passenger bearing and turn it golden brown (it got hot)... but I had over 100k on them before I ever looked at them.



Knowing what I know now, I will check them once a year which is about 50k for me.

Dave at Dynatrac told me 15-20 thousand for service. Seems like overkill for dry Cali.

 

[CToney]

I found out about another company that makes a kit similar to dynatrac. $600 cheaper and better customer service. But they are backordered until Febuary. I guess I will try to fine a used bearing to throw in there ( take off of a Dyna trac kit or EMS offroad kit). If not maybe I will find a cheap one on ebay and put it in there until then.

 

[steved]

Dave at Dynatrac told me 15-20 thousand for service. Seems like overkill for dry Cali.

I believe I read the 50k interval in the DT installation manual? I could see 15k for a truck that is off-roaded, but for a pavement pounder like mine...



And again, IF the lockouts had seated tight to the hub, I would have been fine even at 100k. Its only because I had water get into the hub that I had issues (I may have had that bearing a tad tighter too). I have since added a second retaining spring, and will be buying retaining screws that are about 1/4-inch shorter than those supplied (the bolts actually bottom out, and that causes the looseness). Since I have added the second retaining spring, the lockout seats tightly against the hub.



And for what its worth, I am still driving on that golden brown bearing... I took it apart last week to replace the spindle bearing and spindle bearing seal (the seal failed, causing the bearing to rust), I have placed another 20k on that bearing since I originally found it... it is still fine. I bought a spare set of bearings to have behind the seat, just in case... but I doubt I will ever need them.



Overall, I am very pleased with the DT kit... it did give a slight mileage improvement, and it helps the truck track better (doesn't follow the road surface), but most importantly (and the only reason I bought it) the kit eliminated the 70mph vibrations this truck had from new.



My only gripe is cosmetic, they should improve the finish of the hub (mine rusted within a couple weeks), and they should place an anti-corrosion coating (Cadmium?) on all the pieces (everything is rusted that was once bare steel!). But everything functions as it should, because I never-seized all the fitted parts.

 

[JSanchez]

I went with the EMS 35 spline kit. The truck drives much better; steering is much lighter, especially at speed. Modest mileage improvment.

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

be careful thinking locking hubs are the holy grail, I was out with one of my buddies in his ford f150 it had locking hubs, only problem is they were bad and we didn't know it. we were out in the desert in the middle of no where stuck in the snow with no 4x4, I sure wished we had my dodge which is locked all the time and if something goes bad with the 4x4 you will know it.

 

[WoodChuck]

be careful thinking locking hubs are the holy grail, I was out with one of my buddies in his ford f150 it had locking hubs, only problem is they were bad and we didn't know it. we were out in the desert in the middle of no where stuck in the snow with no 4x4, I sure wished we had my dodge which is locked all the time and if something goes bad with the 4x4 you will know it.

I'd be willing to bet they were auto hubs, if so they need to be engaged before you get stuck.
I had a '85 Toyota 4x with auto hubs and they wouldn't engage once so I put Warn Premium manual hubs on it.

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

no these where the twist to turn on units, like the dynatrac units that left us stuck in BFE we didn't know we had no 4x4 until we had to have it, at least with the dodge factory setup, if there is something wrong with the 4 wheel drive you will know it.

 

[steved]

If the hubs don't engage, you can simply pull the lockout and force the hub to stay locked, it will get you home.



If you are offroading in BFE, you should know how to get home. And just because your OE setup doesn't have hubs, doesn't mean something else (read: fuel pump, sensor, 4WD engagement solenoid, etc. ) couldn't leave you sitting in the Dodge. When you offroad, there are many ways to get "stuck", and in the DT kit (with Warn Premium hubs) would be the least of my worries. There is not a single vehicle that will never possess the possibilty of breakdown.

 

[Regcabguy]

"hubs dummy"

I forgot to disengage the hubs on my '86 F-250 in Baja one time. I drove home 200 miles at freeway speeds only to arrive and smell ATF. I had boiled a considerable portion out of my transfercase. Luckily,not too much. That incident prompted to break out the Dymo labelmaker and create a sticker that said "HUBS DUMMY" which I placed on the speedometer face.