Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge

/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #1  

Wnc3

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S.E., Texas
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John Deere 820 utility, John Deere 5525, 997 JD Zmower, Komatsu PC 35 miniExcavator
I have been considering this conversion kit offered by Dynatrac for a while for improved mpg and less wear on the front drive line and axle. They feature warn premium hubs ( or theirs for another $400) and the hub asembly with replaceable bearings (stock is a main unit bearing which has been known to fail). I also went for the "severe duty" ball joints (not king pins anymore) because mine have over a 100k miles on them and it is having a little road walk.
Im doing this on a Dodge 2500 diesel. I plan on running this truck to 300k so in the long run it should be worth it.
I'll keep you all posted on the progress ....I ordered the parts today.

Maybe 2 to 3 mpg gain , we shall see.

Dynatrac - Confidence to Explore®
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #2  
I did the same thing to my '04 Dodge Cummins at 100,000 miles. I now have over 250,000.

If I had it to do over again I don't think I'd do it. Hubs have always been important on four wheelers, but this setup hasn't really proved to be a big advantage.

First, I saw no increase in mileage. If there was any it was so small as to be insignificant, and I couldn't measure it. A 2-3 MPG gain is not in the cards. There just isn't that much friction in the front axle compared to the rest of the truck. If you are dong it to save money, and that must be why you are hoping for the increase, the cost of the system is so high it would take a very long time to pay off. Plus the new setup requires more maintenance to survive.

Second, I got the Dynatrac hubs and one failed right away. They had a plastic bearing in them originally and have since improved them. They make a few advertising claims about them that are misleading, something about how they default to lock. But when you see the setup you'll see it's just a spring. Really no advantage that I can see. The Warns actually work better and are plenty strong, but they might stick out a bit farther.

Third, the Dynatrac hubs have a very poor indicator for lock-unlock position, it's just laser etched with lock and open. Before long you can't read it. Before long they begin to corrode and look bad. The Warns are far better for reading the position and corrosion resistance

Fourth, The stub shaft support bearing went out on mine and I had to buy a new outer stub shaft, U joint, bearing and seal all within about 50,000 miles. This setup is far higher maintenance and if you want it to last you have to pull it all apart an grease it regularly. From what I understand this problem is not uncommon because water can get in and there is constant pounding from the axle shaft even when not in 4wd. To grease it you have to pull the axles out of the truck which requires removal of everything but the knuckles. By the time you get the bearing out to thoroughly clean it you might as well replace it because it's hard to press out and requires a special tool. This is a time consuming and expensive piece of maintenance.

Fifth, it's an expensive kit. So if you are doing it to save money, you're dreaming.

On the plus side it saves wear on the front driveshaft Ujoints and stub shaft joints and it allows 2WD low. It also gets rid of the unit bearings and that is a plus. But that's about it. My unit bearings were still fine at 100,000 miles, but I wanted hubs. Now I'm not so sure. And when the original Ujoints go out they can be replaced with greaseable ones that might last the life of the truck.

Be sure you replace your ball joints! I know you mentioned that, don't change your mind. They are a known weakness and this is the time to do it. Whatever you do, don't use Moog. They are not made well and cause a lot of steering problems. Dynatrac makes very nice ones. Here's the deal wit the Dynatrac joints: They call them rebuildable and greaseable. But they are not easy to rebuild and the "greaseable" claim is misleading. You can grease the top one, but not the bottom one, at least not with any grease gun I've ever seen, unless you pull the axle out of the truck. Originally they were not greaseable, but they changed them because everyone wanted greaseable, and all they did was tap in a zerk where you can't get to it. I do think they are nicely made, though and I'd use them again. They actually have a ground ball in them instead of the rough forging that Moog uses and the truck drives well with them.
 
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/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Great feed back!
Raspy:
i am committed to do it and plan on doing the ball joints as well. Do you think the lower ball zerk is intended to be greased with a needle point adapter for grease gun?
I have heard of some bad unit bearing failures and that was another reason for the change over.
My local Dodge dealer told me 2-3 mpg gain...it is relatively flat around here as well.
I seldom need 4wd until I need it and in that case I plan ahead. Rainy season and I'll leave them locked.
It just seems like a lot less drag. Is yours a Dually?
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #4  
Wnc3,

The zerks in my lower ball joints are not needle type and they are very close to the U jount. But they were designed originally to not be greased, as I mentioned in my first post, and Dynatrac added zerks later for marketing.

There have been some unit bearing failures and that was one of the reasons I did it, but I'm not convinced that is a good reason to switch. The unit bearing setup supports the outer end of the axle shaft and eliminates the support bearing. That bearing is what failed on mine and took out the stub shaft with it. Be sure to grease yours very well and with the best possible grease. I guess they have to be torn down and serviced periodically. I've had a lot of 4 wheelers, and hubs make a lot of sense, but this setup is not what I hoped it would be.

Mine is not a dually.

I use 4wd mainly in the winter going over the Sierras, which I do a lot. And once in a while in the desert while out exploring or on camping trips.

While in there you might want to look the latest setup for your front end steering linkage too. I don't know what year yours is, but the earlier ones can retrofit the '08 steering linkage and pitman arm for a much stronger setup. The track bar can also be upgraded. Then adjust the steering box and it's suddenly better than new.

Just be sure to avoid Moog ball joints. I installed a set and then went back and pulled them out. Then I dissected them and analyzed the design to figure out why they were junk. The bottom line in that the ball is not round and it galls in the socket with huge friction.

I think the Harbor freight ball joint puller kit is fine for this job, but you have to get the large one. I got one at NAPA and it worked, but barely, as it was a bit small and I had to make a couple of pieces. I thought I'd only have it apart once, but then the ball joints had to be redone and then the bearing failed. Sheesh. HF's 20 ton press is also your friend with the U joints and to press in the new wheel studs. I used my old ones and popped them out with a 5 pound sledge while supporting the flange on a block of steel. Worked very well.

I broke a hub and had to get the rest of the way through the mountains in a snow storm in 2wd. That was fun! Especially sitting across the 2 lane highway in a storm and stuck. When the inner bearing goes out it blows up the hub and I had to break two of them before I figured out what the real problem was. Lots of fun.
 
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/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #5  
Great feedback. I think i will stay stock on my F350 now. It has worked flawless but will need some front end work at some point.

Chris
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #6  
With the SD, you already have locking hubs so all you get is old style bearings. The aftermarket unit bearing are very cheap now, you can buy what, 6 or 7 of them for the price of the dyna trac kit? As long as you keep up on your needle bearing on the Ford axle a unit bearing swap is easy.
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Raspy,
I think you can put the needle grease gun on a convential zerk at the ball spring and inject grease. No?
i am going to contact my rep at Dynatrac and see what he says about the points you have made.
Are the track arms and pitman all Mopar?
Did you install the after market cross over bar that supports the steering box? (I think BD diesel sells it)
and thanks for your detailed information.
wnc3
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #8  
The '08 steering linkage is all Mopar and there is an aftermarket setup too that has grease fittings. If you do it you have to also use the '08 pitman arm even though it looks like it will work without it. I don't remember the part numbers. That might be the only setup available now, I did it about three years ago when they first came out.

You can get new bushings for the track bar at NAPA or just get a better aftermarket bar. That's what I did and it is way stronger and adjustable.

I did not brace the steering box and I don't think it's needed on the third gen Dodges. The earlier body styles did have some weakness there. Adjusting the free play in the box helps too.
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Job complete and I love it, for now.
Feels like there is a lot less drag and easier steering at slow speeds.
Not sure on fuel mileage, but I'll post back.
 
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/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #10  
Great.

Thanks for the update. I know I felt so good when mine was finally done. I spent two days doing the install.

What hubs did you go with? Did you do the steering linkage?

Wait until you need low range 2WD. That is really cool.
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge
  • Thread Starter
#11  
I used the Warn premium hubs like I have on another old truck.
I waited on steering linkage because I had changed it 25k miles ago.
Mine really feels like it freewheels and coast like a 2wd pickup.
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #12  
Fourth, The stub shaft support bearing went out on mine and I had to buy a new outer stub shaft, U joint, bearing and seal all within about 50,000 miles. This setup is far higher maintenance and if you want it to last you have to pull it all apart an grease it regularly. From what I understand this problem is not uncommon because water can get in and there is constant pounding from the axle shaft even when not in 4wd. To grease it you have to pull the axles out of the truck which requires removal of everything but the knuckles. By the time you get the bearing out to thoroughly clean it you might as well replace it because it's hard to press out and requires a special tool. This is a time consuming and expensive piece of maintenance.
.

Sorry to drag up an old thread. I was just researching about the Dynatrac free spin kit and noticed something above which I think is incorrect. You don't have to pull the axle shafts out to grease the bearings. It's much like most full float hubs. Pull the hub, remove the spanner nuts, pull the hub off the spindle. Both bearings are in the hubs. The axles are still in place. If you want to change the race you need to punch them in or out. The rear seal pulls out and taps in. I just got done installing mine this weekend and it's a pretty simple kit. Perhaps they didn't pack the gap between the bearings well enough? I wiped out a whole can of CV-2 lube doing my front shafts.

I saw the benefits being that a 3 year sealed hub unit from Napa was close to $650.00 for a set. Throw in $120 worth of sealed u-joints which now won't spin all the time and should now last more than 90k miles. No one I could find at the moment had a joint that worked on my AAM 2007 Dodge 6.7 front axle which was you could grease. I plan on keeping the truck for 500k or so miles. It has 95k now.

So 4 more sets of u joints to get to 500k (120 x 4 = 480), 2 more unit bearings (650 x 2 = 1300) is 1780. I changed my unit bearings out since I had the whole thing apart but they weren't showing much play. I spent 2k on the free spin kit. This is a difference of approximately 1350.00. It's a slight savings for me to 500k miles not including anything additional I might see on mileage or driveline joints gains vs perhaps one or two axle shaft joint failures.

Sorry for the resurrection I just wanted to clarify for anyone like me searching.
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #13  
Sorry to drag up an old thread. I was just researching about the Dynatrac free spin kit and noticed something above which I think is incorrect. You don't have to pull the axle shafts out to grease the bearings. It's much like most full float hubs. Pull the hub, remove the spanner nuts, pull the hub off the spindle. Both bearings are in the hubs. The axles are still in place. If you want to change the race you need to punch them in or out. The rear seal pulls out and taps in. I just got done installing mine this weekend and it's a pretty simple kit. Perhaps they didn't pack the gap between the bearings well enough? I wiped out a whole can of CV-2 lube doing my front shafts.

Sorry for the resurrection I just wanted to clarify for anyone like me searching.

You are incorrect. I'm not talking about the wheel bearings, I'm talking about the outer stubshaft bearing that is inside the spindle. The spindle must be removed to get to it and a special tool used to remove it. It runs on the axle with no race, so if it fails the outer shaft must also be replaced. Once you are that far into the project the axle can simply be pulled out. This is a good idea if you want to check on the Ujoints or if you don't have greaseable joints.

This bearing might not last as long as the wheel bearings and should be serviced early enough to prevent more down time and much more cost and hassle. When mine failed it also ruined the locking hub. So I ended up buying a new locking hub, a new stubshaft, new bearing and doing a job much harder than simply greasing wheel bearings. Now, sometime later, I've got a wheel bearing making noise. So I'm faced with doing the whole thing once again, as I can't let the axle support bearing go ungreased while doing the wheel bearings.

For anyone going into this for the first time, be sure to go ahead and replace the ball joints. AVOID Moog.
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #14  
i've always called them the spindle bearings. they do need to be greased (but i only grease them when i have the spindle off, so far no problems) and they will take out the stub shaft if they go bad. never needed a specially tool to remove or replace them
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #15  
If you don't want to run with locked hubs on the highway you could replace the bearings with bushings like old time axle so they are a bit less maintenance.

Like Terry says bit of a pain but if the axle shaft hasn't failed you can regrease it. Don't need a special tool unless you want to. Apparently the dealers are often guilty of not greasing this little bearing too even when paying for the full service.
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #16  
For the Dynatrac spindle I made a tool that allowed me to "press" out the bearing race, if I remember correctly. No tool needed to grease the bearing, but the race is difficult to remove when replacing the bearing. When the bearing goes, it lets the axle run at an angle and destroys the hub.
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #17  
You are incorrect. I'm not talking about the wheel bearings, I'm talking about the outer stubshaft bearing that is inside the spindle. The spindle must be removed to get to it and a special tool used to remove it. It runs on the axle with no race, so if it fails the outer shaft must also be replaced. Once you are that far into the project the axle can simply be pulled out. This is a good idea if you want to check on the Ujoints or if you don't have greaseable joints.

This bearing might not last as long as the wheel bearings and should be serviced early enough to prevent more down time and much more cost and hassle. When mine failed it also ruined the locking hub. So I ended up buying a new locking hub, a new stubshaft, new bearing and doing a job much harder than simply greasing wheel bearings. Now, sometime later, I've got a wheel bearing making noise. So I'm faced with doing the whole thing once again, as I can't let the axle support bearing go ungreased while doing the wheel bearings.

For anyone going into this for the first time, be sure to go ahead and replace the ball joints. AVOID Moog.

How am I incorrect? You don't have to pull the axle shaft as you stated and as I was clarifying. Please explain.
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #18  
correct you don't need to pull the axle shaft out, but it's the next step and doesn't require any extra steps other than physically pulling the shaft out
 
/ Dynatrac free spin hubs for Ford and Dodge #19  
correct you don't need to pull the axle shaft out, but it's the next step and doesn't require any extra steps other than physically pulling the shaft out

And greasing the needle (spindle) bearing is only 4 bolts and a tug prior to that. Mine took two awfully big tugs :D That bearing hub was a monster to get off both sides.
 

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