Warn M2 Hubs

Yep, you're correct, Glenn. I found that on a Power Wagon website, though no hub model numbers were listed on it.

But speaking of model numbers.....

On the same site, I also found the page below from what appears to be an early to mid-70's Warn catalog (unlike the others above, this one didn't have a year on it). Though it doesn't list any of the Warn hubs for Jeeps, as they were in a separate catalog, what's interesting is that it does detail the re-numbering of many previous W-series model numbers to M-series model numbers. Note the columns under the headings of "Old Number" and "New Number":



So, it seems extremely likely that the Warn hub models for Jeeps followed this same pattern, and that the M1, M2, and M3 models were likewise re-numbered from previous WL- and WO-series model numbers.

Maury

 

The application list above is both interesting and informative. Its at least from 1964-up due to the Kaiser Jeep reference. I find it interesting to see "Datsun Patrol" when I've always seen the vehicles as Nissan Patrol, even well before Nissan was commonly known in the US.
I have an old set of Warn hubs from a '69 Land Rover, so need to dig them out to see the numbers on them.
From the litho information in the lower corner, form 366-25, could that be 3 (March) of 1966?
-Donny

 

Anything's possible of course, but the reason I tend to think the Warn catalog it came from dates from some point in the '70's is the page below. It comes from a catalog (shown in its entirety earlier in this thread) for Warn Jeep hubs that's dated 1968:



The Jeep hubs shown in this '68 catalog page are still numbered with WL- and WO- numbers. I actually also have an image of the pretty much identical corresponding page from a 1969-dated catalog.

It stands to reason that Warn would have done the re-numbering of all the Warn hubs from W- to M- numbers together - i.e. at one time - which is why I think the page above indicating this re-numbering must be from a somewhat later catalog.

All of that said...you may be right!

Maury

 

No, you guys must be right....you're definitely correct that Warn would not have referred to it as Kaiser Jeep after AMC's purchase of Jeep in 1970.

So maybe Warn re-numbered its Jeep vehicle hubs later than its hubs for other vehicles for some reason? (Maybe not until after Kaiser sold Jeep to AMC?)

In any case, here's the entire catalog. Looking at it again, it does look pretty similar to the 1964-dated catalog I posted earlier. I'd agree that it likely does date from 1966:

 

I definately think this will come in handy. Thanks.

 

For those who aren't already familiar with them, the "Summer Hub" mullen46cj2a refers to was Warn's initial entry into the field of vehicle hubs, before it got into locking models. After WWII in the mid to late 1940's, the public purchased thousands of ex-military Willys MBs and Ford GPWs, as well as Willys' new CJ2a. In response to this growing market, Arthur Warn designed the first free-wheel Warn Hub Caps. These became known as Summer Hubs, since that's when they were typically used as they effectively converted a vehicle from 4WD to 2WD.

This was posted eWillys:

Apparently there was some early resistance to using the first generation of the Warn hubs, because jeep owners felt they’d purchased their jeeps for the four wheel drive capability. The initial hubs turned the jeeps into two wheel drive, which some owners felt defeated the whole point of owning a jeep. However, through education and marketing, the Warn folks slowly turn naysayers into advocates.

From a 1995 Field & Stream Magazine article:



As the Jeep line quickly evolved, the Warn Hub Caps were adapted to fit other Willys vehicles as well. Here are photos of a few artifacts from that general time frame:

 

I also found this info on eWillys regarding the "5-ring" hubs. Apparently the 5-ring design was indeed the earliest locking hub manufactured by Warn, in 1953.

These were the first locking/unlocking hubs Warn developed. These were advertised as early as October of 1953 in the Popular Mechanics:





This 1955 brochure, again from eWillys, differentiates the Automatic WA-1 hub and the 5-ring "Semi-automatic", which was in fact the WL-2 hub (not the WL-1 as I'd previously suspected):




Here's a larger excerpt of the text from above:




Also from eWilllys is the very interesting article below on the Warn Manufacturing Co. (A larger, more readable version of the article than I could get to upload is viewable on eWilllys at Early Warn Manufacturing Co. History ).

This May 1957 Willys News article provides some interesting history about the Warn Manufacturing Company:

 

Donny, I think I may have found the reason the IH vehicles didn't show up in the 1960's Warn catalogs. Take a look near the end of the second post in this thread: A Brief History Of Early Warn Hubs For Jeeps

 

I just came across this thread showing a rebuild of a set of M2 hubs, and thought it might be helpful to you: Care and feeding of Warn M2 Hubs

 

To add to the detail history, it appears the older models use a standard flat bladed screw to hold the brass knob on and don't have the raised flat area stamped with the model number in the finger grip area. At some point Warn went to an Allen screw for the brass knob and added the raised area for a model number.

 

Does any one have a part number/source for the two o-rings?

 

See this posting Vintage Warn M2 Hub O Rings

 

Does anyone knows the reason why the o-ring on the locking mechanism has a special profile? When I disassembled mine (probably bubba-touched) and it has a regular round profile ring in it. The main reason for that o-ring is just to seal from external contamination. Please, enlighten me.

 

The one set I took apart had round O rings but was not easy to turn the knob. But that may have been due to the yuck accumulation of years. No way to tell if was original or not.

 

IMHO, the round o-ring has a punctual contact axially with the mating surface, same as a chamfered ring. The only contact for every point of the circumference is the little section of the radius of the o-ring or the lip, in case of the chamfered. The square profile ring has full contact on the whole width with the mating surface. It seals better but the friction value increases several times. Since we have little or no pressure to contain, I don't expect a tremendous difference between the regular o-ring and the original with the lip. But I have been wrong before...

 

Always and only had Warn locking hubs where one turns the knob to engage or disengage. How did the automatics work?

 

BTW, I found some o-rings in Mc Master that "almost" fit perfectly. I mounted it on the dial part and very lightly ran it all around on the sander. Just enough to give it a slightly flat surface that allowed the o ring to enter the cavity and it worked like a charm! If anybody needs a set, I will be more than happy to provide it.