old style locking hubs

[61K10]

old spicer hubs on my k61 (wheels have been re-painted--was to cold)

[jaros44sr]

Thanks Tim on the tip of using oil outside of the bearing, did nt know that

Just replaced my warn locking hubs with OEM Spicer last week. Along the way i learned a few things, like the 6 bolts around the locking hub should be torqued to 35 IN./LBS.


20150117_102129

[special-K]

Looks nice in body color. your hubs look to be in great condition. Selectro made other style hubs,too. and, here are a couple more Selectros sold under other names...like Dualmatic!

[DeadheadNM]

Old School Selectros...now owned by Special-K. I had to have OEM Spicers

[landy]

I've got the same color and style of Selectros on my '72 Blazer.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Old School Selectros...now owned by Special-K. I had to have OEM Spicers

That truck warranted OEM bumper to bumper. Thanks for the opportunity to own them. Might even use them one day!

Let's not leave out the cream of the crop of the time...Warn Loc-O-Matics. I ran these on my first 4wd. I tore up a couple hubs before I realized Warn's instructions were incomplete. They instruct to manually lock for heavy loads and compression breaking, but should have included any serious off road driving. It made sense to me after the fact to lock-in any time I went 4 wheelin'. It's any situation where added stresses occur. I had large tires, then there was the deep thick mud. With big tires they were only good for a quick aid, like rear tires spinning when backing up a gravel driveway. Maybe snow covered roads,too. But over 32" tires were a new thing the hadn't planned on. They held up fine locked in. The OEM automatic hubs would have been great all around hubs if GM had made them this way. Basically, if you roached a hub it's because you were too lazy to get out and lock-in. But, you gained the convenience of automatic

[Vintage Windmills]

Im not convinced anything is better than the spicers yet. Has there ever been a spicer thats failed due to something other than someone putting pliers on the knob? Just because the selectos don,t use plastic doesnt automatically mean they.re better quality. Maybe they are, i havent reaearched them or have experience with them. Was the machining and metal hardness or contact area as good or better than the spicers? Since the strength of steel can vary from 36 ksi to 180ksi depending on alloy and heat treatment, im looking for more than just an appearance difference. If there are reports of spicers stripping out and selectros or others not, Im all ears.

[special-K]

That's fine, think how you'd like. I'm only responsible for my opinion. I do know that Warn makes hubs with plastic dials or you can get the better ones in all metal. I'm sure whatever grade of steel they use in hubs is appropriate for the application. plastic was new to the auto industry in '69 and has come a long way since. Maybe the Spicers only break when you use pliers, but the metal ones don't. Sure, it's your own stupid fault for not properly maintaining your stuff, but why be punished for it? The fact is, when you need the hubs locked in you need your hubs locked in and nothing else matters at that moment. The fact is, people should maintain a lot of things on vehicles that most don't. I'm happy with everything about a stock truck, including the hubs. I

Here's one more picture I have on my computer:

[jeffahart]

Whats the use of arguing the strength of the original Spicers? If you were going to buy hubs today would you be able to get the spicers? If you had to buy hubs right now today then it looks like the Yukon hubs are the next best thing. And Yukon may even be better.

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by jeffahart

Whats the use of arguing the strength of the original Spicers? If you were going to buy hubs today would you be able to get the spicers? If you had to buy hubs right now today then it looks like the Yukon hubs are the next best thing. And Yukon may even be better.

Thats just it, if we can tease out strength differences here, it may guide us to spend more or less effort and money to find OEM vs vintage aftermarket versus the new stuff.

[ryanroo]

i have witnessed a stock spicer fail a few times on the d44s. shears the weld on the locking gear.

[special-K]

Tell us more about Yukons. I've never heard of them. I know Warn offers Premiums. I've never had a set off hubs I'd consider not good enough. When I kept tearing up those Loc-O-Matics I didn't want to spend another $150 +/- (in '78) I bought a $49 set of no names from JC Whitney and ran them till '82 when I got rid of the truck. I was running 37/14.50s, the truck had a built 440, and those were my hard wheelin' days. Those had plastic dials.

[jeffahart]

Yukon hubs are all steel with chromoly internals. I have been looking at them to replace my standard warns. I never owned before but was going to put on the 44 to replace my warn premiums which looked real bad. But now still want some. But I only note what I'm saying based on research. But I like what I've read and what I see.

On a quick note. I was the one that fried the passenger side spicer on my truck back in 89(I think, maybe 90). I fried it with the spindle by overheating. That's when I sold my truck, undrivable to my friend. He put on the warrens. Never been a fan of warrens either.

[jeffahart]

Here's a Yukon link
http://www.yukongear.com/ProductDeta...x?ProdID=12616

[DeadheadNM]

Here's a Warn on my 72 GMC...Lock-O-Matic?

EDIT: Oops - I see I left them locked

[landy]

Those aren't Lock-o-Matics, but nice quality old Warn hubs.

[DeadheadNM]

Thanks. The dial is a brass finish and I can see remnants of red paint...yet to be replaced by OEM Spicers

[landy]

I've got the same old style Warns with brass dial on my '71 GMC K1500.

[special-K]

They would say Loc-O-Matic if they were. Just to be clear, I'm posting with early K/20 hubs in mind, but I guess this is all years. that said, I was going to mention Superwinches as new replacements, but they don't list the early hubs. They are nice hubs

[bhc41051]

Another re-brand of the Selectros

[MadMike1989]

Originally Posted by bhc41051

Another re-brand of the Selectros

I have same one. Any knows how to remove it????

[sweetk30]

selectro hubs i have seen have a set screw or 2 hidding behind the hand dial were your fingers would be .

once you pop them out the hub face comes off and its like a normal hub removal after that point.

[kwmech]

Originally Posted by bhc41051

Another re-brand of the Selectros

I worked for those guys back in the early 80s. did a lot of custom stuff

[special-K]

Cool! SAE for short...clever!

[special-K]

Beautiful!