I need advice on choosing a manual locking hub conversion kit.
I have no patience for chasing the high speed vibration/harmonic that I have been experiencing since I re-geared my ’06 LJ Rubicon with 42RLE transmission, 241OR transfer cIase and 35” tires to 5.38:1. Adjusting pinion angles reduced the vibration down to a minor annoyance, at the expense of caster angle, so I have decided to convert to manual hubs to eliminate the vibration, restore caster, and get on with life.
There appear to be four commercially available choices:
Alloy USA - , $1,556.
http://www.alloyusa.com/alloy-usa-12195.html
Solid Axle SpynTec Conversion Kit, P/N SAI-SAST-TJ, uses 5 x 5 ½ lug pattern and modified CJ-7 rotors, $1,450.00.
https://www.polyperformance.com/sol...-jeep-tj-yj-xj-spyntec-conversion-kit-sast-tj
Yukon Spin Free Locking Hub Conversion Kit, P/N YA WU-07, retains 5 x 4 ½ lug pattern, $1,236.
https://www.yukongear.com/productdetails.aspx?ProdID=9897
Yukon Spin Free Locking Hub Conversion Kit with 5 x 5 ½ lug pattern, P/N YA WU-08 $1,319.
https://www.yukongear.com/productdetails.aspx?ProdID=9757
Edit: Late addition to list, thanks to @AndyG:
The Ram Man, Inc. 1999-2006 Jeep Wrangler 4X4 Unit Bearing Locking Hub Kit, SKU 000345, $1,795.
http://therammaninc.com/products/sh...WRANGLER-4X4-UNIT-BEARING-LOCKING-HUB-KIT-345
The Alloy USA version can be crossed off the list without another thought because the product literature states that this product is unsuitable for tires larger than 33” or axles with lockers.
The Spyn Tec kit may or may not still be available. It was brought to market shortly after Warn discontinued its hub conversion kit and before Yukon released their kits. There is not much information on the Internet about this product and no compelling reason I can find for going this direction rather than the more popular Yukon products. Speak up if you disagree.
As for the two Yukon kits, on a recent run with another jeep club from the Northern California coast it was suggested that I limit my consideration to the YA WU-08 kit that converts to the 5" x 5 1/2" lug pattern because it is stronger. One of their members had the smaller hubs on her TJ and had broken one on the trail a few years before. Whatever the issue was had obviously been resolved because she was still running those hubs. I believe she had 35” mud tires but I cannot recall for sure.
My general inclination is always to go for the heavier duty part, which in this case is the YA WU-08 kit that converts to a 5 x 5 ½ lug pattern and only costs $83 more, but it is actually over $2,500 more because I would also have to buy five new wheels and five new tires that I would not need to purchase if I keep the 5 x 4 ½ lug pattern. That’s a much tougher decision
Here is what I would like to know from the professional fabricators and builders on this forum and those of us who actually own either the Yukon YA WU-07 or YA WU-08 hubs or have worked on them:
1. Will the Explorer-style hubs used with the Yukon YA WU-07 5 x 4 1.2 kit stand up to 35” tires and a locker on moderate trails? How about Moab slickrock? Occasional forays onto trails such as the Slickrock, Rubicon and Fordyce Creek trails in NorCal? The John Bull Trail in SoCal? [I will never take this jeep on one of the Hammer trails, but if the smaller hubs can or cannot survive Johnson Valley it would be nice to know that too.]
2. For those of you who have broken the smaller YA WU-07 hub or related parts, or have repaired same, was the repair a relatively simple hub replacement in the field or was it a “big deal.” If a big deal, please describe. Did it resolve the problem? If not, why not?
3. For those of you who have broken the smaller YA WU-07 hub or related parts, or have repaired same, what did the repair cost? Have you been required to make more than one repair?
4. If you have the smaller Yukon hubs and are running a locker and 35” tires do you have any regrets? If so, what are they?
5. General pros and cons of the YA WU-07 5 x 4 ½ kit?
6. General pros and cons of the larger YA WU-08 5 x 5 ½ kit?
7. For those of you who believe the larger YA WU-08 kit is the only way to go and worth the $2,500 additional cost for new wheels and tires, what is the basis for your opinion?
Obviously, I’m trying to avoid buying new wheels and tires if I can but I don’t want to be foolish. Conversely, one can replace quite a few manual hubs for that money. On my CJ I blew a few hubs over the years (3-4, both Warn and Superwinch) but the total cost for the replacements probably wouldn’t add up to the cost of one wheel and one tire and the inconvenience was relatively minor in retrospect. I’m wondering if that would be the case with the smaller Yukon hubs and 4 x 4 ½ lug pattern or if they are “time bombs waiting to explode” with my factory lockers and 35” tires.
Help me find the “proper” balance.
Thanks.
I have no patience for chasing the high speed vibration/harmonic that I have been experiencing since I re-geared my ’06 LJ Rubicon with 42RLE transmission, 241OR transfer cIase and 35” tires to 5.38:1. Adjusting pinion angles reduced the vibration down to a minor annoyance, at the expense of caster angle, so I have decided to convert to manual hubs to eliminate the vibration, restore caster, and get on with life.
There appear to be four commercially available choices:
Alloy USA - , $1,556.
http://www.alloyusa.com/alloy-usa-12195.html
Solid Axle SpynTec Conversion Kit, P/N SAI-SAST-TJ, uses 5 x 5 ½ lug pattern and modified CJ-7 rotors, $1,450.00.
https://www.polyperformance.com/sol...-jeep-tj-yj-xj-spyntec-conversion-kit-sast-tj
Yukon Spin Free Locking Hub Conversion Kit, P/N YA WU-07, retains 5 x 4 ½ lug pattern, $1,236.
https://www.yukongear.com/productdetails.aspx?ProdID=9897
Yukon Spin Free Locking Hub Conversion Kit with 5 x 5 ½ lug pattern, P/N YA WU-08 $1,319.
https://www.yukongear.com/productdetails.aspx?ProdID=9757
Edit: Late addition to list, thanks to @AndyG:
The Ram Man, Inc. 1999-2006 Jeep Wrangler 4X4 Unit Bearing Locking Hub Kit, SKU 000345, $1,795.
http://therammaninc.com/products/sh...WRANGLER-4X4-UNIT-BEARING-LOCKING-HUB-KIT-345
The Alloy USA version can be crossed off the list without another thought because the product literature states that this product is unsuitable for tires larger than 33” or axles with lockers.
The Spyn Tec kit may or may not still be available. It was brought to market shortly after Warn discontinued its hub conversion kit and before Yukon released their kits. There is not much information on the Internet about this product and no compelling reason I can find for going this direction rather than the more popular Yukon products. Speak up if you disagree.
As for the two Yukon kits, on a recent run with another jeep club from the Northern California coast it was suggested that I limit my consideration to the YA WU-08 kit that converts to the 5" x 5 1/2" lug pattern because it is stronger. One of their members had the smaller hubs on her TJ and had broken one on the trail a few years before. Whatever the issue was had obviously been resolved because she was still running those hubs. I believe she had 35” mud tires but I cannot recall for sure.
My general inclination is always to go for the heavier duty part, which in this case is the YA WU-08 kit that converts to a 5 x 5 ½ lug pattern and only costs $83 more, but it is actually over $2,500 more because I would also have to buy five new wheels and five new tires that I would not need to purchase if I keep the 5 x 4 ½ lug pattern. That’s a much tougher decision
Here is what I would like to know from the professional fabricators and builders on this forum and those of us who actually own either the Yukon YA WU-07 or YA WU-08 hubs or have worked on them:
1. Will the Explorer-style hubs used with the Yukon YA WU-07 5 x 4 1.2 kit stand up to 35” tires and a locker on moderate trails? How about Moab slickrock? Occasional forays onto trails such as the Slickrock, Rubicon and Fordyce Creek trails in NorCal? The John Bull Trail in SoCal? [I will never take this jeep on one of the Hammer trails, but if the smaller hubs can or cannot survive Johnson Valley it would be nice to know that too.]
2. For those of you who have broken the smaller YA WU-07 hub or related parts, or have repaired same, was the repair a relatively simple hub replacement in the field or was it a “big deal.” If a big deal, please describe. Did it resolve the problem? If not, why not?
3. For those of you who have broken the smaller YA WU-07 hub or related parts, or have repaired same, what did the repair cost? Have you been required to make more than one repair?
4. If you have the smaller Yukon hubs and are running a locker and 35” tires do you have any regrets? If so, what are they?
5. General pros and cons of the YA WU-07 5 x 4 ½ kit?
6. General pros and cons of the larger YA WU-08 5 x 5 ½ kit?
7. For those of you who believe the larger YA WU-08 kit is the only way to go and worth the $2,500 additional cost for new wheels and tires, what is the basis for your opinion?
Obviously, I’m trying to avoid buying new wheels and tires if I can but I don’t want to be foolish. Conversely, one can replace quite a few manual hubs for that money. On my CJ I blew a few hubs over the years (3-4, both Warn and Superwinch) but the total cost for the replacements probably wouldn’t add up to the cost of one wheel and one tire and the inconvenience was relatively minor in retrospect. I’m wondering if that would be the case with the smaller Yukon hubs and 4 x 4 ½ lug pattern or if they are “time bombs waiting to explode” with my factory lockers and 35” tires.
Help me find the “proper” balance.
Thanks.
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