Best front locking hubs?

[79Vette]

I've had Warn Premium hubs (part number 20990) in my 1009 for a few years, and they seem to be basically junk.

I still have the front 10 bolt which is not known for being a particularly strong axle in a full size diesel truck, and these hubs are by far the weakest part of it. I've had 3 failures in the last 2 years where the locking mechanism explodes and turns itself into aluminum grinding paste and destroys the wheel bearings by the time I can limp home to service it. I'm honestly considering packing a set of wheel bearings in my trail spares kit, but I really don't want to be changing bearings in the desert if I can avoid it... The axle shafts don't break, the u joints don't break, the ARB locker and gears don't break. Its always these junk hubs.

And apparently warn no longer honors their warranty until after they received the old parts
In the past a photo of the failure and a tracking number showing the broken parts have been dropped off has been all I needed to get a replacement sent out, but now they insist on waiting for receipt of the failed part. So I'll be without a truck for 2 weeks or so waiting for shipping both ways unless I buy some new hubs.

What are y'all running for manual locking hubs in your 1009s, or anything else with an 8.5" 10 bolt? I don't wheel that hard and don't want to run solid slugs since I do so many highway miles, but I do need a hub that isn't literally the weakest link of the axle.

 

[Jeepadict]

There's a few brands...Warn, Superwinch, Milemarker...to list a few, but they're all basically the same stuff. My Squarebody brain rewinding back to my childhood was always Warn hubs in the 70s and 80s model years. Now with that said, there was always been a very notable difference between standard Warn hubs and Warn Premium hubs.

Being that you're in SoCal, there's a plethra of off-road shops (4Wheel Parts is a huge retailer down there, or the small shops too) that can give you their thoughts. Just a reminder, tell them you have an 84 K5...don't mention it's a CUCV.

Post script, I see now that part number you noted is of the premium variety. There should be no reason a stock K5 is grenading those hubs. Since it keeps happening, I'd say it's time to give it to a highly qualified drivetrain tech and let them figure out what gives.

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