Lock O Matic Parts Interchangeability

[Dana W.]

My ’62 CJ5 came to me with a set of Warn Lock O Matic hubs which I was pleased to see. I finally got around to pulling them off to clean and inspect and discovered that Bubba had been in there before me. Everything other than the axle shaft hub and thrust washer had been removed from inside of the automatic portion of the hubs. Nothing in there to support the axle shaft hub other than the axle. The hubs will still lock in manually, but it seems a precarious proposition and the bushings in the inboard side of the spindles are badly worn.

My question to those of you who are familiar with these units is, can the 10-spline axle shaft hub be fitted into another Lock O Matic of the same design from the same era which carries a 19 or 27 spline axle shaft hub? Are the physical dimensions of these axle shaft hubs the same other than the spline count?

I know where I can acquire a nice set of 27 spline Lock O Matics that came from a Dana 44, but I don’t wish to go to the trouble and expense of acquiring them if I can’t make them work on a 10-spline axle with the axle shaft hubs and clutch assemblies that I have.

 

[duffer]

Pretty sure the answer to your question is yes but I have never tried that. The only part that would be different is the splined steel hub with the roller ramps. If that piece is good on your 10 spline, you should be able to swap them.

 

[Dana W.]

Thank you, Duffer for your encouraging reply. I'm going to go ahead and grab the 27-spline examples and give it a try. I know they are in excellent condition and if this doesn't work, I should be able to find a home for them. I'll let everyone here know how it works out.

 

[Keys5a]

Thank you, Duffer for your encouraging reply. I'm going to go ahead and grab the 27-spline examples and give it a try. I know they are in excellent condition and if this doesn't work, I should be able to find a home for them. I'll let everyone here know how it works out.

If you pick up the 27 spline set, you can swap the 10 spline inner hub from your originals. Be sure and get the smooth drag nut off the wheel bearing spindle with the “new” Lock o Matics. That’s the first part that bubba usually destroys. Make sure the plastic friction cages that ride on the drag nut are in good shape.

 

[Dana W.]

For a wonder, the drag shoes were still in the gutted hubs serving as locking nuts on the spindles, so I have good examples. I had a thought about the nylon friction shoes wondering if I could fire up the CAD program and make a file for the 3D printer to print some once I have an example to model. Might use my hubs as a test bed to see it something like that would hold up in use when I get this project back on the trails.

 

[Keys5a]

The drag shoes are two half-circle pieces, I think made of nylon. It would be great if someone supplied replacements. Old stock kits haven’t been available for a couple decades.
If you remove the drag nuts on the axle, there are small Allen grub screws (not set screws), maybe 5/64”?
The two side holes opposite each other (180 degrees apart) are for the spanner tool, and the other holes will have the grub screws that have to be backed out to spin the drag nuts off.