Front Freewheel/Locking Hub Assembly

[MRickard]

Hi I origianally had this post in the 4x4 section figuring they would know but I have not received any replys as of yet, so I am going to see if I can get info here... .



First: I know nothing about these hubs, this was the first time I was ever ``in" one.



I recently noticed that my left front hub was not unlocking, and noticed 2 things (from comparing it to the right side)



1. The springs were assembled incorectly - both springs were assembled outward of clutch ring, making it never release (and hard to remove!)



2. The small screw holding the clutch ring from coming all the way out was not there





I do not have a service manual (yet), and although the right one (and now the left as well) seem to work okay, having the left assembled completely incorrect makes me leery of the correctness of the right one.



What I am wondering is mostly two things:



1) Does the weaker spring go behind the ring, with the heavier spring between the hub retainer and the cam body, or the other way around; and



2) Is that little screw holding the clutch ring there just to make not all fall apart when you work on it, or is it a required component.



Front I believe is dana 60/61. Do not know which one or even how to tell.





I also noticed that the right one would instantly engage into lock mode, but would need the tire to move slightly to release, making a clicking sound. The left one seems to instanly release, but need slight tire movement when locking, and making a clicking sound. Should it be one, the other, both? I (as the previous ``mechanic") may have assembled them wrong.





Thanks!

 

[MMiller]

Good questions, I belive you are on the right track with the spring placement. It has been many days since I have had my lock outs apart. I will dig up my book to verify so I don't take mine apart.



Secondly the screw you refer to is indeed there to keep everything from falling apart. Really you should never need to remove it. You can completely remove the lockout assembly to get to the wheel bearings without removing the screw to get the collar out.



If your truck indeed has 3. 54's then it most certainly has a dana 60 front diff. The dana 61's only came in trucks with 727 auto transmissions(ie 89,90,early 91's). The 61 has 3. 07 gears in it to make up for the auto not having an overdrive gear. The pinion/ring gear size is considerably different in a 3. 07 to 3. 55-410, so a little different diff was made.



Sounds like you got the lock out working. One spring(the larger one) is to "lock" the lockout. What happens is when you turn the lock out from free to lock, the internal splines might not line up. So what you are doing is putting tension on the spring, when the splines line up then the lock out "clicks" and then locks up. Just like you have described. Then when you unlock the hub, you release the tension on the heavy spring. If there is tension on the splines the lockout will not disengage until the load is off, then the smaller spring will push the collar out and unlock the lockout, again clicking.



When you turn the lockout, you are probably moving nothing in the assembly, just putting tension on the spring, when everything lines up then the lock out locks. The same is true when unlocking the hub. When there is no load on the splines then everything unlocks. It is very advisable to lock the hubs in before you need 4wd. I have locked in the hubs after the truck was stuck, put it in 4wd and let the clutch out. If the lockouts are not locked before power is applied then you will get a loud BANG, because the lockout locks and then spins the tire. I don't know how many times the lockout will take this before it breaks.



Hope this helps in explaining how a lockout works.



Michael

 

[MRickard]

Thanks for the info. Makes sense. I was looking at the assembly and figuring out how it worked. My left hub (the one that never unlocked) had the springs on both sides of cam part instead of the lock ring.



I guess it is okay not to have that one screw keeping the lock ring from coming out. I'll have to stop at a hardware store.



I put the heavier tension spring on the outside, cause I figured that would be the apply pressure keeping it locked, and the weaker one as the return. That is how the other side was, but I had my doubts as to the right sides correctness after seeing the left like that.



Hopefully I will get better fuel milage now! I suppose I should also check the front diff. I hope the spiders are okay from spinning round and round, as the driveshaft never turned, just the other axle went the other way, meaning the spiders were spinning. I just got done doing 11 hours at 75mph too.

 

[MMiller]

Look at it this way. On a second gen truck they have a center axel disconnect on one axel. The other axel is always hooked to the wheel, so the one xel is always spinning the spiders. I am sure you did not hurt anything. Heck the first 60,000 miles on my truck the lockouts were never unlocked. Now they are almost always unlocked. Went from a farm truck to a daily driver, to a weekend toy vehicle.



Michael