Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

Good morning. One of the locking hubs on my truck started leaking recently, but I am having a bit of a problem locating the seals to fix the issue. Does anybody have a source or part numbers for the inner (metal?) outer, and o-rings, for the blue dial 1971-1972 K20 (large) hubs? Thanks.

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

Sounds like you may want to buy a set of Warn Prem. hubs and be done....You may not find the rebuild parts your looking for...aftermarket...

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

does your hubs look like this?

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

are these closed knuckle or open? If they are open then i'm trying to figure out what oil you could be leaking...If closed then I say change to open...

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

The axle is open knuckle off of a 1971-1972. I meant to note that the hubs are the external type, and they are leaking around the base seal (metal gasket), which is where the white ends in the pic. I took a closer look at the hubs and noticed that almost all of the bolt flange areas on both hubs is cracked... I have attached pics, but it is a moot point, I have orderd a set of Warn 9072 off of ebay for cheap :-) Here is a pic of the current hubs, for those that are curious.

http://members.cox.net/helmricc/005.JPG

Pic of New...

http://members.cox.net/helmricc/4ada_1.jpg

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

those will be nice...

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

That looks like grease that has thinned out and is seaping out around the lockout.

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

I was thinking the same thing, but after seeing the cracks (PO must have tried to "fix" the leak by cranking the bolts down) I decided to just pull the trigger on the warns (they were like 76.00 with shipping brand new :cool:) I figured the warns would be cheaper and easier than trying to rebuild the old ones. I am going to keep the original hubs just in case I ever decide to go back to them.

On a side note, do I need to repack the bearings when I replace the hubs? They bearings were just repacked (I bought it from a friend who gave me all the receipts) before I got the truck in Dec. And if so, what all does that entail, special tools and what not?

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

No, you don't 'need to' pack the wheelbearings when swaping the hubs..two seporate componets and independent of eachother.
You do need a few tools to service the wheelbearings...if you have never done it before you would want to get a service manual or a knowledgeable buddy to show you how to service them properly..if you doit wrong bad things will happen to the wheelbearings..like turning them to multant lava if they are too tight...speaking from experiance..I learned the hardway..by makeing ALL the mistakes first and then learning from them :crazy:

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

That is good to know, :c2: I was not wanting to have to tear the front end completely apart. Anything special I need to know before installing the warns?

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

don't overtighten the outer cap, might need a good set of lock ring pliers. pretty easy to change really.

Re: Leaking 1971 K20 front hubs
 

68K20:

If you are going to get rid of the old lock out hubs after you replace them I would be interested. Thanks.