Rear Full Float Locking Hubs Broken

vuldub,

This is all very interesting. I've thought of doing the free floating rear axle bit but considering the fun some people had with them here and on other forums, I will just continue to pull the rear driveshaft when I tow the thing for any distance I've never broken a hub. The hub of choice? I don't know. Everything Jeep here has Warns on them.
Yeah, check for bent parts in the rear end. That seemed to be the problem with others Jeeps breaking hubs on another forum.

Unkamonkey wrote: Yeah, check for bent parts in the rear end. That seemed to be the problem with others Jeeps breaking hubs on another forum.

Stev wrote: Earlier I had given by flat tow procedure.  Well this weekend I flat towed the 1946 trail Jeep.    I unhooked the rear drive shaft and wrapped the U-Joint in duct tape.  When I got to my destination one of the U-Joint bearing caps was gone.  I carry a spare U-Joint and took a bearing cap off it only to find that different manufactures make the internal diameter of the U-Joint posts and caps.  Bummer - I ended up just parking it and took the 2006 Rubicon that we towed the CJ2A with on the trail.    As best I can figure, I need more than two full warps of duct tape and you need to make sure it is really secured to limit the chance of anything getting damaged.  This is the first time in 30 plus years of flat towing I have had this issue.   My trail spare U-Joint is now the same as the U-Joint mounted in the drive shaft.   It is amazing the simple things that can take you out of the game.   Stev

Update.   My axle tubes are not bent.  I measured wrong the first time.  So I have not uncovered the source of the problem other that the AVM hubs may not be able to hold up to the stress.  I did notice two difference between Warn and AVM.  Warn hubs  come well lubricated in the clutch bushings, AVM ones don't.   Warn hubs use the spring to disengage while the AVM hubs relie on the spring to engage.

I installed a Warn FF axle kit with Warn premium hubs in 1999. They work well, but you MUST tighten the set screw on the outer bezel ring before driving. And they can be a bit fussy when manually engaging the hubs after towing. No real issues using this set-up.

Wes, I don't know how I missed this thread back in October, but I'll share my experience now.  I installed Herm's full floating axles in my D41 a couple of years ago.  I put the D44 30 spline axles in with a little modification to the carrier.  I also put in a mini-spool to completely lock the rear end.  I've been running 33X12.50X15 tires as well.  I have the stock L134.  I put the top of the line Warn hubs on all four corners (like the ones in the link above).  They are pricey but I haven't had any issues with them.  I wheel pretty hard and have never busted a hub on any wheel.  I will agree, however, that the quality of the Warn hubs is not what it used to be.  The hubs seem to be made out of pot metal now, maybe cast aluminum, but not something I would consider tough.  I had concerns about their durability, but they've lasted these last two years of pretty tough off-roading.

I'm talking about the hub to hub bolts. Somehow, mine backed out on all wheels multiple times with proper torque and lock-tite. I finally put a little longer bolt and premium lock-tite on all bolts and haven't had a problem in at least a year under some pretty serious off-roading.

I suspect that a problem such as yours could develop by either the hub or the cap becoming loose. I'm not saying that is what caused it, but I don't think it was axle shaft end-play from the looks at your video and knowing how our floating axles fit.

The only other thing I see from looking at your video, and please don't take this as if I think you don't know what you are doing, but do you FULLY disengage the hub when not in use? In other words, looking at those hubs, it appears that if they aren't fully disengaged, then they could be riding on the splines and causing the wear that you show. Perhaps, they are rotating (the locking knob/lever) on their own either loosening or tightening under normal driving. I can see how this would cause grinding of the splines if they weren't fully engaged or fully disengaged. Maybe the "locked in" position detent isn't strong enough and they back out over time and a few miles?

Its been two years since I posted on this thread so I thought I would update.  I swapped out the AVM hubs for Warn ones after the AVM destroyed themselves.  I have had two seasons on the Warn hubs with no problems.  Recently I tore the Warn hubs down to check them and they are it excellent condition.  I am of the opinion that the AVM hubs not only engage less thickness  of spline than the Warn hubs, but the AVM hubs have poorer quality splines and that is why they failed.  Also, the Warn hubs take a full 360 degree rotation to engage, whereas the AVM hubs take only 90 degree rotation.  In  the AVM hub the spring mechanism is used to engage the splines, whereas on the Warn, the spring is used to disengage the splines.  So maybe the AVM  hubs jump out of the splines since they are not as deeply engaged and the spring cannot hold them in when the torque gets to  high.