Question about locking hubs

AlanO

Test Drive
Location
United States
Can anyone tell me with certainty which WARN manual locking hub can be used on a 2004 Xterra?

Thanks in advance and apologies if I didn't search long enough.

Cheers,
AO
 

granitex

Skid Plates
Founding Member
Location
Columbus OH
They are a lot stronger than the auto locking hubs from the factory. I have the Mile Marker ones that do not stick out as far as Warn, but that is not a really big concern. they are both a lot stronger, just keep the cap screws nice and tight.
 

kirk

Butterfly King
Moderator
Supporting Member
Location
Allen, Texas
Must be much stronger to go from auto to manual hubs?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

robcarync

Sliders
Location
Raleigh, NC
My issue with the auto lockers was not so much the strength, but that my auto locking hubs had difficulty unlocking at times. I cleaned them all out and regreased them several times but they seemed to get stuck and not unlock the hub.

I went to Mile Marker manually locking hubs for more reliability. I wanted to positively know for a fact my hubs were unlocked or locked. Also, with the Lokka in the front differential, it was even better to have ultimate control over one hub to the next.
 

kirk

Butterfly King
Moderator
Supporting Member
Location
Allen, Texas
With the auto hubs, are there internal parts that are always in motion now, that might not be if you had manually controlled hubs? As in do the manual hubs allow a different level of inaction while in 2wd mode than the auto ones do? Not sure if that makes sense.
 

AlanO

Test Drive
Location
United States
Yes, the swap was a piece of cake. Unfortunately, who ever did this the last time did not replace the snap ring at the end of the axle.

To complicate this, the manual shows 7 or 8 options for snap rings. Does anyone know which snap ring is the correct ID for the axle?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers!
Alan O.
 

Alpine Spirit

First Fill-Up (of many)
Founding Member
Location
South Park, CO
The auto hubs have a tendency to lock/unlock when going into reverse in Snow/Mud at times to. Then when you go forward again they can slam locked again if your trying to rock out of a situation. Which makes a helacious sound, can also break a shaft.
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
I blew mine doing about 40mph right after a shop done some repairs. After a month of bugging them they finally replaced them.

sent from the middle of a corn field.
 

robcarync

Sliders
Location
Raleigh, NC
Yes, the swap was a piece of cake. Unfortunately, who ever did this the last time did not replace the snap ring at the end of the axle.

To complicate this, the manual shows 7 or 8 options for snap rings. Does anyone know which snap ring is the correct ID for the axle?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers!
Alan O.


The snap ring is to limit axle end play, and admittedly, it is confusing when installing manual hubs if you should keep them or not. The snap ring, on the auto hubs, sits right behind the "fixed cam assembly", so the casual observer may think you don't need them anymore since the fixed cam assembly is tossed. I tossed my snap rings when installing the manual hubs, and never had a problem. I eventually ordered some from courtesy Nissan and replaced them just for the sake of being thorough. Never noticed a difference one way or the other. Can't seem to find the part on their website as it looks like it recently was re-designed since the last time I was there.
 

AlanO

Test Drive
Location
United States
The snap ring is to limit axle end play, and admittedly, it is confusing when installing manual hubs if you should keep them or not. The snap ring, on the auto hubs, sits right behind the "fixed cam assembly", so the casual observer may think you don't need them anymore since the fixed cam assembly is tossed. I tossed my snap rings when installing the manual hubs, and never had a problem. I eventually ordered some from courtesy Nissan and replaced them just for the sake of being thorough. Never noticed a difference one way or the other. Can't seem to find the part on their website as it looks like it recently was re-designed since the last time I was there.

The being thorough thing is where I'm at too. The dealer has 7-8 variations of the same part number. I have the notion that the 1.7 or 1.9 represents thickness of the snap ring. There also appears to be a washer behind the snap ring.

Again, any help appreciated.
 

Nd4SpdSe

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Quebec, QC
I went to Mile Marker manually locking hubs for more reliability. I wanted to positively know for a fact my hubs were unlocked or locked. Also, with the Lokka in the front differential, it was even better to have ultimate control over one hub to the next.

Whats the difference between the MM and the Warns?
 
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