Locking Hubs

I've been doing a little research about hubs for my D30, five bolt flange front axle. Looks like my choices are Mile Marker for about $190, Rugged Ridge for about $150 or a Yukon setup that uses Warn for about $660.

My CJ-7 isn't a trail rig that gets abused, but I prefer to buy once cry once. Seems the Yukon setup is ring as much strength as possible from the D30, probably more than I need and three times the money or better.

I'm leaning toward the Mile Marker; anyone care to weigh in with personal experience?

 

The 5 bolt hubs are not strong at all. My recommendation is to change the bearing hubs to disc brake 6 bolt hub units and get some Warn locking hubs. It’s all bolt-on and easy to do. Good time to repack/inspect the wheel bearings.

 

I read a little about that. You only need the hubs, or brake rotor and calipers also? Did I understand early disc rotors to be thicker than the ones on my `85 or is that not an issue?

 

Your existing rotors should work with the 6 bolt hubs. Just get new studs and reuse your old rotors or buy new.

 

The key may be here.
Although the 5 bolt hubs are inferior, given your application, an aftermarket set may be simper. Warn makes a good product and they have a warranty.

What t case are you running? I can't remember a later CJ with drive flanges not having the corresponding BW1339 t case.

 

It`s new to me, but my understanding is a Dana 300. Best I can see it also has the optional Tremec T-176 four speed.

I decided to go with Mile Marker premium hubs for the stock five bolt flange. In the meantime, I know of a Jeep parts honey hole, so I'm going to start collecting the parts I need to swap over to a six bolt flange. If the Mile Markers hold up, those parts can sit for awhile.

 

This. Very simple swap. I hate to see people throw good money after bad.

 

We had an interesting sales tactic about the 5 bolt hubs. Somewhere we had acquired literally a shelf of the Warn upgraded 5 bolt hubs out of the box but all brand new. We also kept new 6 bolt locking hubs and bearing hubs on the shelf. Every time someone wanted a replacement for a 5 bolt we gave them a $5-10 off for their broken 5 bolt and put them in a 3 gallon bucket and put them under the shelves. When someone wanted a 5 bolt replacement we’d sell them what they wanted but also would show them the bucket of broken ones and let them decide if they wanted to upgrade. We had many customers that after breaking 2 or 3 finally upgraded. Frequently they would upgrade to studs and nuts at the same time. It worked well. Many said they didn’t want to get broke down again. It’s such a simple upgrade.

 

Noted, and advice appreciated.

I mentioned that I have a honey hole of Jeep parts located. I'm sort of hoping that I may be able to buy front and rear diffs to rebuild over a period of time so I could upgrade to better gears and a limited slip in the rear one. If that works out I will definitely upgrade to the six bolt flanges, and when I'm done I'll be able to swap out the whole units with a minimum of down time.

 

I agree, but if he isn't actually stressing the hubs

Then a new set of 5 bolt hubs seems the easiest.

 

I’ve seen them pop on the street in the ice and snow. But I digress.

 

Hey Andy. Whats on the end of the 5 bolt wheel hub now? Drive flanges, or do you have some kind of locking hub now?
-Donny

 

Some kind of unmarked five bolt locking unit with a plastic switch. OE I'm guessing.

 

That's what my cousin said, but he was referring to the factory ones, which I assume is what mine are.

I'm eager to take one off and see what's inside so I can do a side by side comparison of the Mile Marker units I bought. The MM are supposed to be a "premium" set. If they don't appear any stronger at all, I'll send them back and hope what I have holds up until I can round up the needed parts to go with a six bolt flange.

Shipping delays have them running late; I'm supposed to get them today but tomorrow is more likely.

 

JMO Weak or not, if what you have is working use it until it breaks. Put the cash for the new hubs in an envelope and stash it in a safe. If you need new hubs the money is there. If the hubs don't break you have the money toward some future tasks without worring about returns/refunds.

 

The stock hubs are cheesy at best, so that may be a valid point. An upgrade to a premium hub would bring some added strength without having to do a lot of swapping around.

Posting on another thread on this topic finds Warn doesn't carry the premium hub in the 5 bolt.

AVM makes an aftermarket hub for the 5 bolt pattern. I'm not familiar with them but that may be a valid option.

 

Yep, apparently true. I looked for Warn hubs first. Mile marker and Rugged Ridge were the two brands I could find and MM had the Premium model.

 

H

Here's the side by side, stock on the left, Mile Marker right. Plastic parts in the OE units and each hub is just over a pound lighter than the Mile Markers. In the OE units the metal parts appear to be sintered iron, not sure about that though.

 

http://avm.com.br/products4.htm
Again, don't know much about them, but ARB recommends them.
https://www.arb.com.au/general-accessories/avm-hubs/

 

I'm not sure who has them in stock; they are listed as unavailable on Amazon. I noticed they're made in Brazil, but they look pretty good.

From a visual standpoint and by the heft of them, I'm pretty sure the Mile Markers are a decent upgrage. The company is in Florida, which is a plus if I need a part.