I'm an idiot: dana 44 spicer hub dial broke, hubs still locked.

[JasonLS1]

I have the external type, locked hubs broke dials trying to unlock. I need to unlock em ASAP, what can I do from here?? Tried a search already but couldn't find what I was looking for. The hub itself is fine, it's the plastic dial to unlock em is what broke. Driving with locked hubs suck, aside from removing entirely is there anyway to unlock em?

Thanks,
jason

[DirtyLarry]

Hello, welcome to the site

The purists will hate me for saying this but, just take those Spicers off and toss them in your favorite junk drawer when you get back from the parts store with a fresh set of Superwinch, Milemarkers or even WARN hub in your hands. Autozone was selling the D44 Superwinch hubs for around $60 a few years ago. Most stores stocked them too. Superwinch are my preference anyway…..Spicer, not so much. Super easy to install too


Edit....
Ah, wait a minute…I see you have a ’72 K20 with the big hubs. Forget about anybody stocking those. Not for certain, but I think the only aftermarket replacements is the WARN 9072 hubs which are not cheap. Someone else will probably know for sure or a source for Spicer parts. For now you could pull off the hub then pull out the cog then reinstall the hub dial to keep dirt from getting in the bearings unit you get new parts.

[JasonLS1]

Thanks for the info DirtyLarry! I'll def do that til I can source some parts, I don't mind keeping it 2wd for a good long while.

[Billhilly]

Easiest place to find new dials is Ebay. You can't get Chevy ones anymore. These will do the trick - http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-CHEVROL...0869c5&vxp=mtr
Either that, or do what Larry has suggested.

[JasonLS1]

The red dials are exactly what I have already and prefer thanks for the link

[special-K]

You'll have to pull the lock-outs and move to free position It won't take much. Chances are the plastic broke where the cross pin goes. The hubs need cleaned and oiled,that's why it happens. You can just drill new holes and take a drill bit the right size (or split-pin if you can find one) and have a working hub The dial won't line up with the "free" and "lock" on the outer ring,but you will still know which way you are turning them.

[JasonLS1]

Thanks Mr. K I love a good MacGyver fix up until I can get some new red plastic dials.

[JasonLS1]

Ok which of these in the diagram am I going to remove temporarily just to get 2wd?

[JasonLS1]

Nevermind!! Figured it out once I took it all apart

[72longbed]

You can still buy the Warn hubs for an 8 lug Dana 44.
They are not too expensive (compared to the 1/2 ton version) either. Really well made in my opinion.

I replaced all of my Spicers after numerous rebuilds/replacements/freeze ups/break downs. Spicers were too tempermental.

My Warns take care of themselves. No problems in 8 years.

72longbed

[JasonLS1]

Yeah I've heard good an bad about the Warn's, even so I'm still gonna purchase a pair soon and still buy some new red dials for my current setup.

[argonaut]

I have the same hubs on my front axle. I rebuilt them completely and fixed a broken dial. If they are old and crusty and you try to force the dial they crack around the sleeve starting at the pin holes. I epoxied in a thick pvc sleeve into mine, redrilled the 1/8" pin holes, replaced with hardened pins and reassembled everything using ample lube. Now they work very well and easily.

[Vic's Yard]

My 1972 3/4 Did the same thing to me. Going to try MileMarkers for now.