Serviceable Lock Out Hubs

[banjoDave]

BETA kit

Hi Folks, I'm one of the "Beta" kit "testers" So I got to pay the full price, Bit I tell you,

She sure drives better, & after the "Customer service" from dodge told me to "Drive your toyota" & hung up on me when I org. called about the ball joints,

I am dern pleased to have fewer "dodge" parts on my truck. After that deal, I will recomend anyone to get the kit, plus also to never, EVER buy another dodge product till the end of time. I love my truck, & really love the engine, but the customer service deal really has burnt me on dodge.



One thing else about the kit, it will recomend that you change the Universal joint in the hubs, as dodge has also kinda engineed them to not be easiily reusable.

The will also say that they ( dodge) are the only source, @ 150 ea.

We found Precison Joints, @ 62. 50 each. Work great, made a LOT better, & best of all, their NOT dodge.

Als, while you have it that far down, in the shop, etc,

I'd recommend changing the ball joints to KEEP you from having the trouble I did. Get MOOG or something GOOD, that are gresaable.



Anyone have any questions, concerns, I'll happily answer them, if I can.



edwardsd@etsu. edu



Sincerely,

Dave.

 

[GWoody]

I could be interested also, but how much is this gonna cost????

 

[tkerrigan]

What was the part number on the moog greasable ball joints that you used? Where did you get them?

 

[Tim]

Hi Folks, I'm one of the "Beta" kit "testers" So I got to pay the full price,

Huh? You let your truck become a guinea pig for a new product that is unproven, and they charged you money for it?



Sounds like Dynarape to me.

 

[randyn]

Update.



We are just waiting on final approval from the "Boss" as to the discount price for the group buy, and shipping time frame info. I should be able to post that info soon. Please be patient as to responses to PMs, I'm kinda busy right now, but I will get those who want on the list. Later when the price is "Set" you can decide for sure. It will be something less than the $1795 retail.



RandyN

 

[jwduke]

Huh? You let your truck become a guinea pig for a new product that is unproven, and they charged you money for it?



Sounds like Dynarape to me.

Humm... ... ... :--)

 

[banjoDave]

checked

I checked all the parts, etc. they are far stronger & Much better made than anything Dodge put there, all but the engine, that is.

 

[banjoDave]

TDR meeting

P. S.



I'll have the Truck @ the TDR meeting in Knoxville, Tn, this Sat. ( Lord Willing) CAll Roy @ 865-679-8958 For directions its off I75, exit 110 Clinton @ a wecker shop . ( NO pun)





Dave.

 

[thejeepdude]

Huh? You let your truck become a guinea pig for a new product that is unproven, and they charged you money for it?



Sounds like Dynarape to me.

BUT, he's driving around with something YOU don't have. AND I'm sure if there was a problem with any of the parts they'd take care of it in a heartbeat. Dynatrac isn't some fly-by-night operation that creates products out of aluminum foil and duct tape. If I had the dough layin around I'd be on this like a dog on a leg.

 

[LOtero]

Dynatrac Lockout Hubs And One Piece Passenger Axle Shaft

Was reading my petersons 4wheeler mag and saw an article about dynatrac putting a 35 spline 1. 5" axle in the front dana 60 single wheel and spindle type outers with a locking hub, instead of the 32 spline 1. 30" dana 44 sized shaft and no lockouts. It looks like a pretty good deal. stronger axle, no center disconnect and a locking hub, we cant lose. Oo. Oo. Oo.

the only dificult part is finding and swapping internal diff spider gears to accept the bigger shaft.

 

[abdiver]

So far I have not heard of a good reason to spend over $1700 plus labor to do this upgrade and for what real benifit, other that just buying it cause I just want to. Does anyone know of any real benifit of installing these hubs.

 

[banjoDave]

Well, it WORKS. unlike what "dodge the issue" did to me with the ball joints & bearings.

 

[CJ Lagos]

Does anybody know how they address the differences in 2001-2002 model trucks? My rotor goes on the front of the wheel hub instead of being held by pressed in studs. Aren't brake brackets and caliper different too? In the Petersen's article it looked like a late model truck. Mine also doesn't have the disconnect... but the $1700 kit doesn't include new inner shafts anyway.



Also - how do address the front ABS? Added cost? Tone rings on the stub shafts? Re-use stock sensor?

 

[banjoDave]

mine in 02, has abs, & it works.



I had to replace the universal joints, but found new BETTER ones for less than 1/2 the cost Dodge wanted for the "off-shore" replaces they had.

 

[EBottema]

Here is the real way to take care of the problem.

Again 1700 bucks is kind of expensive for what your getting.



Get a ford dana 60 axle with locking or auto locking hubs on it. Cut all the ****ty spring perches and control arm mounts off. Custom weld leaf spring mounts on the frame. Have good custom soft ride springs made for the front. Wow a dodge with front leafs, what a dream

In the end you will prob have about 1500-2500 bucks into that, depending on how much work you do yourself...

 

[CJ Lagos]

Here is the real way to take care of the problem.

Again 1700 bucks is kind of expensive for what your getting.



Get a ford dana 60 axle with locking or auto locking hubs on it. Cut all the ****ty spring perches and control arm mounts off. Custom weld leaf spring mounts on the frame. Have good custom soft ride springs made for the front. Wow a dodge with front leafs, what a dream

In the end you will prob have about 1500-2500 bucks into that, depending on how much work you do yourself...

Are you flippin' kidding? Where do I start... A ford reverse cut dana 60 complete will easily run you $1000. If you can find it cheaper that's great, but that's the going rate. Factor in several hundred bucks for rebuild parts. Hopefully your junkyard axle has 3. 55 or 4. 10 like your truck. Have you checked to see what a custom leaf spring pack runs? I guarantee this would cost much more than what you quoted.



How do you address the differences between the ford and dodge calipers? Hopefully they have the same displacement. Forget about ABS. Getting the lines made up is easy but whether the master cylinder will match is another story.



$1700 is a lot of cash. But, this isn't something they find at a junkyard. It's all custom top of the line stuff.



I almost forgot... you do know linked suspension are far superior to leaf springs, right? Maybe for a 4wheeling truck this is a good idea... but for a dependable tow rig? Forget it.

 

[EBottema]

Are you flippin' kidding? Where do I start... A ford reverse cut dana 60 complete will easily run you $1000. If you can find it cheaper that's great, but that's the going rate. Factor in several hundred bucks for rebuild parts. Hopefully your junkyard axle has 3. 55 or 4. 10 like your truck. Have you checked to see what a custom leaf spring pack runs? I guarantee this would cost much more than what you quoted.



How do you address the differences between the ford and dodge calipers? Hopefully they have the same displacement. Forget about ABS. Getting the lines made up is easy but whether the master cylinder will match is another story.



$1700 is a lot of cash. But, this isn't something they find at a junkyard. It's all custom top of the line stuff.



I almost forgot... you do know linked suspension are far superior to leaf springs, right? Maybe for a 4wheeling truck this is a good idea... but for a dependable tow rig? Forget it.

I have seen ford axles go from somewhere between 500-750. Lets say you can get the axle and refresh everything for 1000 dollars OTD complete with new seals etc.

All you need to do is bend some lines, disable ABS, it is worthless anyways...

A custom leaf pack costs between 500-800 for the set depending on where you go/ and the current price of steel.



Most likely, you doing most of the work, it will cost you 2000-2500 depending on how long you wait to find a deal on an axle.



Ford brakes are bigger, just run those, no need to have the correct model brakes on your car, as long as you know what you got on it.



Leaf spring suspensions are better for 4 wheel rigs. We have a very heavy engine in the front of the dodge and it needs the strength of leafs. If you get softride leafs, the major advantage of coils (ride quality) will not be too much of a difference. You say coils are more dependable than leafs?? :-laf

 

[Punkineater]

Are you flippin' kidding? Where do I start... A ford reverse cut dana 60 complete will easily run you $1000. If you can find it cheaper that's great, but that's the going rate. Factor in several hundred bucks for rebuild parts. Hopefully your junkyard axle has 3. 55 or 4. 10 like your truck. Have you checked to see what a custom leaf spring pack runs? I guarantee this would cost much more than what you quoted.



How do you address the differences between the ford and dodge calipers? Hopefully they have the same displacement. Forget about ABS. Getting the lines made up is easy but whether the master cylinder will match is another story.



$1700 is a lot of cash. But, this isn't something they find at a junkyard. It's all custom top of the line stuff.



I almost forgot... you do know linked suspension are far superior to leaf springs, right? Maybe for a 4wheeling truck this is a good idea... but for a dependable tow rig? Forget it.

With thought processes like this the United States would still be third world... ... think outside the box man. Ebottema makes great points.

 

[CJ Lagos]

With thought processes like this the United States would still be third world... ... think outside the box man. Ebottema makes great points.

I wouldn't say installing the oldest, most basic, cheapest and low-tech suspension design available is thinking outside the box. I find your statement ironic because typically thinking outside the box involves bringing new ideas and technology to the table; not resurrecting ideas of old. For the United States to continue to be at the forefront of technology, the country needs to be the developer and originator of new ideas - not resting on its laurels and old ideas. I don't want to start a debate of economies, but this is a great example of how the US can remain at the forefront. Dynatrac used their existing expertise of axle assemblies to develop a custom product to address our specific needs. They have created a bolt on kit that fixes some major weaknesses in the Dodge front ends. Clearly, the motive for the design was DaimlerChrylser's revenue and the motive for Dynatrac's product was to fix the problem. Obviously a quality kit such as theirs is not going to be cheap. It's not a half-*** solution. Dynatrac's kit is marketable, easily reproducable and quickly installed. The leaf spring idea is not appealing to most, requires many obscure parts and will require extended downtime. It depends on how good you are at fab work.



I still can't believe anyone would consider putting leaf springs on the front of our trucks - what a de-bomb!. They exhibit little side to side/lateral control and typically require a trackbar to keep the axle permanently centered under the vehicle. Leaf springs also do not control axle wrap very well. This produces caster changes during unwanted pinion angle changes. A solution is the use of traction bars. These two factors can cause the vehicle to exhibit wandering and unpredictable handling. Given all the problems these trucks have from the factory with wander, I don't think you want to induce any more problems. Remember that the issue here is not suspension design; no one is complaining about the factory suspension - just the live axle assembly.



A soft ride is not the only reason why a coil suspension is far superior to leaf springs(coil springs can be very stiff just as easily). For the reasons listed above, their ability to have more controlled wheel travel, how the links physically locate the axle and the ability to handle torque. Vehicle manufacturers like leaf springs for two reasons: They are cheap and they are light. People like leaf springs because they are easy to understand and work on. The notion that leaf springs are "stronger" to support the heavy engine is incorrect.



The root problem is still not addressed by installing front leaf springs. The real solution comes with the Ford dana 60 front axle. So I ask, why wouldn't you put Dodge axle brackets on the Ford D60? Or another option would be to replace the outer "C" assemblies on your existing axle - allowing you to run different outers. Maybe you could run GM kingpin or Ford balljoint knuckles.



Great look at the factory wheel hubs:

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137350

 

[cwbyinjeep]

If I wanted a leaf sprung tow rig, I'd have stayed with my POS Ford PSD. There is so much more to this then just throwing a Dana 60 under the front. How about caster/camber and scrub radius? Does any of this mean anything? And ABS is worthless? Offroad it is, but in this day and age ABS will outstop a human on pavement everytime, I dont care how many miles you logged or how long you have been driving. Your ego doesnt beat 70 millisecond reaction times.



As for leaf sprung straight axles up front,... ..... Both of my Ford PSD wandered all over the road aimlessly and I spent alot of time and money addressing it only to not have anywhere near the handling of my current ride. I'll take a 5 link coiled front susension any day on my tow rig/daily driver. Now on my rock crawler I am torn between the benefits of coils versus leafs as both have distinct advantages and disadvantages. But what I do know is if you can find Ford Dana 60s for less then $1200, you need to go into business and start selling them on Ebay or the like as they often get $1500 - $1800 complete ready to bolt in.



I would like to have $2000 disposable to do this conversion, but I dont know that I "need" it and therefore will let everyone else play with the new toys and see how it goes.