F-250 4x4 Auto Locking Hubs

[chris8727]

I have a 2002 F-250 4x4 with a 7.3.

My hubs have 2 settings. Locked and Automatic

One year ago my driver side hub kept trying to pop on when I as driving and it was in the auto position.

My passenger hub wouldn't lock in Auto at all so If I needed 4x4 I had to get out and turn them to lock.

Because the Hub kept trying to engage in the Auto position I had a mechanic look at just the Drivers side hub. The mechanic worked on it and said he greased the drivers side hub and it worked fine for about a year.


I recently had a mechanic replace some leaking akle seals and a bad tie rod.

I told him about my auto hub problem on the Passengers side and he was able to fix the Hub so it would engae in the Auto position so all was well for about a week or so.

One day when I was driving it I heard a grinding sound on the drivers side hub. It sounded like the Hub was trying to kick on but wasn't quite getting caught the whole way.

I have been driving it with both hubs locked for about a week and am getting weird vibrations and noises and just want to get it to where I can drive it in 2wd again. and not have the hubs trying to kick on in the auto position when I am not trying to engage the transfer case.

any suggestions ?

also I think he may have not greased the things but I am not sure. I have never had a hub kick on like that. I usually have the opposite to where they will not kick on when needed.

Can I replace a 2002 model ith a simple set of warn hubs ?

[chris8727]

OK the noise I am hearing comes from the front axle spinning when I have the hubs locked even though it isn't powered by the transfer case.

Only problem is HUB keeps engaging or trying to engage when it is in auto position and I want it to free spin.

[Johnny Mullet]

I would replace both hubs. If greasing them up worked for a short time, then it's time for new ones. They are simple to change.

[chris8727]

Well I popped both of them off and realized that the drivers side was original equipment made in 2002.

Passenger side was 2006. The place I bought it from had replaced that one I guess. I have a problem on the passenger side. The spindle can be moved all around ith my hand, It seems the axle seal is blown I guess.

I am going to go and try to buy a pair of hubs now and see what else I need.

[2.2 Straight six]

i'd buy a nice set of Warn hubs.

do F-250s come with locking hubs as stock? didn't know that.

[chris8727]

they come with a hub that has 2 settings. Locked and Auto.

Problem is the dont last very long. There is also no setting for Free so if it goes out you might have one that dont want to lock and another that locks all the time when you want it free.

I want to buy Warn hubs but dont know if they will work or fit without modification.

[chris8727]

is the axle bearings part of the wheel hub or can they be replaced by themselves ?

[tallbear]

Originally Posted by chris8727

is the axle bearings part of the wheel hub or can they be replaced by themselves ?

Hub and bearing are a unit so you have to replace the hub assy.

[chris8727]

Well the plot thickens with this truck.

The initial problem was that I heard a noise that sounding like a grinding sound. I thought it was the auto hub trying to engage but realized that my truck was never supposed to have auto hubs on it in the first place.

My truck would make a noise when that locking hub was in the auto position. When the hub was locked or even off of the truck it made no noise.

The trucks ball joints were really bad so I decided to cut my loses and go to a mechanic. Both axle seals were bad and I quickly learned that the truck was supposed to have manual hubs.

I paid the mechanic to replace all bearings, ball joints and put on a pair of Warn Pro series hubs. When we took the wheel hubs off we learned that the hubs were rusty due to the blown axle seals and the needle bearings were in bad shape.

We replaced everything from the front differential out to the Warn Hub.

It worked great for about a month then started making a grinding noise. After re-replacing the wheel hubs twice thinking the needle bearings had gone bad we had the axles looked at and found that nothing was wrong with the axles.

Then we found out that the grinding noise was the brake caliper was rubbing the inside of the wheel.


We fixed that and all was well for 3 months.

Now I am hearing the same grinding noise again that had me originally take it to the mechanic.

The mechanic has had it for 2 weeks and tried everything. He broke it down several times. He found no parts with any kind of wear or any kind of metal shavings. We checked and re checked everything we could think of including the brake caliper.

When we lock the hub or remove the hub it is as smooth as glass when driving. When the hub is placed back on the wheel and put in the off position it sounds like it wants to engage. We saw a tech tip about a 10mm spacer that needed to be in on the drivers side. We added that with no luck. We also can't prove that the noise is coming from the warn locking hub but it sound like it is.

We are stumped.

The mechanics have now had the truck for 15 days and we cannot find the problem. We even thought the axle might be to long. They said they measured it and it was ok.

Something in the front drivers side makes a grinding noise but will not do it when truck is on the lift or warn locking hub is engaged. It only does it in the off position driving down the road.

Any help is appreciated.

[chris8727]

Any ideas at all at what could be making the noise.

We changed the axle out yesterday and looked at all the bearings again. Reassembled the whole thing at it still makes a noise.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

[chris8727]

I added warn hubs and they went on and work fine but one person told me there may be an adapter kit and or spacer needed for it not to accidentally rub the end of the axle.

Anybody know about the hubs and or adapters.

The noise could be coming from there but is hard to trace since it only does it ever once in a while.