How many splines are my axles?

Is there a way to convert the outer hubs to 30 spline?

The only 30 spline hub / unit bearing I know of is Alloy, and from what I've read they aren't highly regarded.

In addition, if you for some reason needed a new unit bearing on the trail you're better off with the 27 spline stock hub. Much easier to find one of those to replace than a 30 spline alloy hub.
 
Yes though it won't be easy to piece everything together... my inner/outer shafts are 30 spline from Superior (out of business) that make use of the Warn 'big hub' kit. The bad news is that Warn no longer sells the big hub product as a kit, though you could piece one together from parts that Warn still has available if you call customer service. Milemarker used to make a 30 spline unit bearing hub but I no longer see it on their website which is no great loss as it didn't have a good reputation. Maybe, hopefully, someone else makes a 30 spline unit bearing hub but I haven' heard of one in a while.

You're going to have to scout around for the 30 spline outers, I'm not sure if Revolution Gear's front Dana 44 shafts make use of 27 or 30 spline outers as the webpage I was looking at doesn't say. I'd call Ricky at www.revolutiongear.com who can help on that question. Other potential sources include G2 and Alloy USA though I'm not a big fan of Alloy USA. Or send a PM to 'mrblaine' who is really up on all this, he could provide part numbers for this from memory.
 
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@Jerry Bransford

Do you ever run into issues on the trail where you bust a unit bearing and then can't seem to find another one because nobody carries 30 spline unit bearings as spares?

I myself have contemplated upgrading to 30 spline unit bearings. However, the thing that makes me weary is if you happen to bust one of them on the trail I'm not sure that caring 30 spline unit bearings as spares is all that common amongst wheelers.

Of course maybe I'm just overthinking it. I don't know how likely it is for unit bearing to fail as opposed to another part first.
 
My TJ doesn't have unit bearings Chris, it has Warn hubs which make use of standard serviceable inner/outer bearings. But unit bearing hubs don't have enough of a failure rate where I'd worry if I did still have them.
 
My TJ doesn't have unit bearings Chris, it has Warn hubs which make use of standard serviceable inner/outer bearings.

My bad, I phrased my question wrong! I meant to ask what you do on the trail of you damage one of your hubs? Do you carry spares? I was only asking because it seems like that wouldn't be a common part to find other people carrying on the trail. Of course maybe I am wrong!
 
I was looking at purchasing some NOS Warn hubs for my TJ. My major concern though is that if they completely stop making parts for them altogether then they become unserviceable and therefore a complete waste of money once they need to be services (or break).
 
I was looking at purchasing some NOS Warn hubs for my TJ. My major concern though is that if they completely stop making parts for them altogether then they become unserviceable and therefore a complete waste of money once they need to be services (or break).
Warn still sells all the replacement hub parts, that's how I got my replacement and spare hubs last year. Warn just no longer sells the complete unit-bearing to manual hub conversion kits. You'd have to piece a hub conversion kit together out of parts you'd have to round up. Blaine can help you on the parts needed for a conversion.
 
Warn still sells all the replacement hub parts, that's how I got my replacement and spare hubs last year. Warn just no longer sells the complete unit-bearing to manual hub conversion kits. You'd have to piece a hub conversion kit together out of parts you'd have to round up. Blaine can help you on the parts needed for a conversion.

My hope is that they just don't stop selling the replacement parts as well.

I'll talk to Blaine about potentially piecing together a conversion. It would be a nice addition, although then I'd have to talk to RCV and see if it's possible to modify my RCV axles to fit the 30 spline warn hubs. I know RCV sells an axle that is 30 spline inner and outer, but my RCVs are 30 inner and 27 outer.
 
Hmmm, not sure if I'll go the Warn hub route or not... We will see. I've got tons of other modifications I need to do first.
 
It's certainly not as easy to convert a TJ's unit bearing hubs to manual hubs as it was when I did mine and there were complete kits available. Too bad.
 
Is there any real benefit to having manual hubs? I know the gas mileage thing is a myth from what I've heard.
 
Is there any real benefit to having manual hubs? I know the gas mileage thing is a myth from what I've heard.
Yep the mpg benefit rumor for manual hubs is strictly a myth when compared to modern unit-bearing hubs. And while driving on the highway , I absolutely cannot tell when my hubs are locked or unlocked. The only way I can tell is to look at the hubs to see if they're locked or not.

There are several nice benefits to manual hubs though... in no particular order.

1) The hubs can be unlocked to eliminate excessive pinion angle vibrations if your caster angle has been increased enough for driveability to cause an excessive pinion angle at the u-joint.

2) The hubs can be unlocked on the trail when you have a front automatic locker that is causing steering problems when you're in 4Lo... giving you in effect 2Lo.

3) The hubs can be unlocked to allow you to drive home with a broken axle shaft, u-joint, ring & pinion gears, locker, etc.

4) The bearings inside manual hubs are serviceable/rebuildable/replaceable at a very low cost.

There are probably a few more benefits but those are the four most commonly cited benefits to manual hubs and the only ones that matter to me. :)
 
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I wanted them mostly for the benefit of being able to unlock the hubs if I break an axle shaft or something else. Well, let's hope I don't break and RCV axle shaft. I'm sure something else is bound to break before that.