Locking Hubs

[CDenton]

Has anyone tried the lockin/lockout hubs on a 3500, and if so how would you rate them, and what ones did u buy? Are they worth the money? I pull a 40’ trailer with it and I am loaded most of the time. Thanks in advance for time and information.

 

[seafish]

While locking hubs will NOT pay for themselves in terms of gas savings due to only fractional MPG gains, IMO they DO add to the reliability of the truck both by eliminating the wheel hub bearings that are prone to failures and replacing them with more robust thrust type cone bearings. They ALSO add the option of backing up in 2WD low simply by engaging 4wd low but NOT locking the hubs. Being able to back up in 2wd low as an option can be especially important to some people towing long and heavy trailers like you are saying that you do. At this point in time, it seems that ANY of the different hub conversion kits are well made and well reviewed.

Personally, I chose to go with the kit made by DynaTrac as they still use off the shelf available parts to put them together, meaning that I can always order parts through them or even other distributors and can expect ready [arts availability. That said, the DynaTrac free spin hub kit that I put on my 2005 2500 SRW truck many years ago continues to operate flawlessly as needed.

 

[AH64ID]

Has anyone tried the lockin/lockout hubs on a 3500, and if so how would you rate them, and what ones did u buy? Are they worth the money? I pull a 40’ trailer with it and I am loaded most of the time. Thanks in advance for time and information.

What year truck?

I did Yukon hubs on my 05. I saw zero mpg gains, zero. I did like 2Lo and the real engagement of lockouts but I am not even a little interested in doing it to my 18. Maybe I’m older, I don’t know. Sealed wheel bearings aren’t amazing but I think they are better than they were 15 years ago. With the 13+ 3500’s you can get an electronic 2Lo since they have CAD.


@seafish thats the same reason I went with Yukon. It’s nice to use off the shelf stuff, but wow they are even more money now.

 

[jhenderson]

I have the BD 2 lo kit on my 15. It’s very useful and took less than an hour to install. As for hub bearings. You can buy a lifetime supply of them for the cost of a manual hub kit.

 

[CDenton]

I have a 2010, 3500, DRW I see a lot of different types on the market but some of them get bad reviews. So I thought I would ask the people that know. Thanks

 

[CDenton]

I have a 2010, 3500, DRW I have seen a lot of different brands on the market but some of them get very bad reviews. So I thought I would ask the people that know. Thanks

 

[seafish]

I have a 2010, 3500, DRW I have seen a lot of different brands on the market but some of them get very bad reviews. So I thought I would ask the people that know. Thanks

NOT sure which reviews you are looking at, and certainly it is possible that production quality MAY have changed over time, but AFAIK the DynaTrac, SpynTech and Yukon kits have all been installed and used by various TDR members with good success and very few complaints.

Certainly I can say that I have had zero problems with my DynaTrac kit with low profile DynaLoc hubs!!!

 

[EDankievitch]

I’ve done free wheeling hubs on my last 3 RAM’s do you save fuel tough to say. On average I saw roughly.5-1.5 mpg better after the hubs were installed. Where you will see savings long term is by disconnecting the front drivetrain you are saving the chain in the transfer case. If it’s not sinning it’s not wearing out. I have done Dynatrax on one truck and Spyntec on others. If I was going to do another I would be looking into RAM man’s kit only because I don’t think you have to modify your wheels. I think RAM’s wheel with the hubcaps cast in will clear the hub say. I haven’t tried it yet but it looks like it will work .

 

[lpennock]

Later model truck don't spin driveshaft as they have axle disconnect so no savings on chain.

 

[CDenton]

One more question can you tell any difference in the steering? I have spoke to some mechanics that say it will but I don’t know if there just trying to generate some money.

 

[jhenderson]

I noticed a slight difference on my 04.

 

[AH64ID]

One more question can you tell any difference in the steering? I have spoke to some mechanics that say it will but I don’t know if there just trying to generate some money.

Yes actually quite a difference. It’s much lighter.

 

[CUMMINZ]

I had Yukons added to my 07.5... I feel a huge difference in the steering. With the 68rfe there is not a big deal in using 4 low to back up because of gearing though I often use 4 low to give me more control. The milage increase is slight and would be a very long term investment.