My manual hubs will NOT unlock

[lancek11]

I just got done rebuilding these hubs, thinking that they were just sticking, and they STILL will not unlock. I tore down the entire assembly, cleaned and brushed each part, and reassembled.

The spring pushes the gear back over the drive shaft to lock them, but when I turn it back to the "free" position the gear just stays locked around the drive shaft and will not come back off of it.

Any idea what would cause this?

I even used very little grease to make sure the gear would move freely.

The problem started the first time that I used 4WD after having a shop replace my front wheel bearings. Since using 4WD for that first time they have been locked since. Is it possible the gear is in backward? I have it in where the area with the notch cut out is toward the outside, and thats how it was when I opened it up.

Seems to me tere should be a spring or something to push the gear back off the drive shaft but there is not.

By the way this is on a 91 Tracker, 1.6L.

Thanks.