Taking the Dynatrac Hub Conversation Leap!!

After much contemplation, I decided to make the leap and get a Dynatrac hub converstion kit. I ordered one today from SuperDuty Headquarters . I've got a bit over 250,000 miles on the truck and only one hub has ever been replaced, and that was at least 100k ago.

So the way I see it, both are overdue to go out and I'm drivin' on borrowed time. Since I have no ABS on the front, I can't grease them either. I'm looking at a 7,000 mile trip to the west coast next month and if either hub goes, it'll likely cost at least $1,000 to fix at some stealership after including a tow, hotel, etc. To replace both at a dealer will cost more than the Dynatrac kit anyhow. If I do the job myself, in my own driveway, I figure I'll be ahead in the long run from the perspectives of cost, maintainablity, reliabilty and peace of mind.

I will likely do a photo diary of the project and post for all to see.

Tail_Gunner said:

After much contemplation, I decided to make the leap and get a Dynatrac hub converstion kit. I ordered one today from SuperDuty Headquarters . I've got a bit over 250,000 miles on the truck and only one hub has ever been replaced, and that was at least 100k ago.

So the way I see it, both are overdue to go out and I'm drivin' on borrowed time. Since I have no ABS on the front, I can't grease them either. I'm looking at a 7,000 mile trip to the west coast next month and if either hub goes, it'll likely cost at least $1,000 to fix at some stealership after including a tow, hotel, etc. To replace both at a dealer will cost more than the Dynatrac kit anyhow. If I do the job myself, in my own driveway, I figure I'll be ahead in the long run from the perspectives of cost, maintainablity, reliabilty and peace of mind.

I will likely do a photo diary of the project and post for all to see.

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Awesome project, put it in the WIKI please.

Dynatrac update

I got the kit.

I obtained new hub mounting studs & nuts.
Don't have to waste time pulling the old studs off.

Got new axle u-joints. What the heck, if one has to get into it to this level, might as well replace them also. -popcorn

Got the wrong wheel studs with the kit.
I got fine thread, lug nuts are coarse threads.

Now I gotta wait for the proper wheel studs to get here.
So much for getting done this weekend.

Price on the kit?

So you have over 250,000 miles, how's the truck holding up overall. I intend to take mine as far it will go or once parts become obsolete and unreasonably expensive. (actually some parts are too pricey now, but they do have us over a barrel)

Snowman269 said:

Price on the kit? So you have over 250,000 miles, how's the truck holding up overall.

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I paid $1,600 overall from Superduty HQ. At the time they had a free shipping deal. Based on the weight of the 2 packages, that was a significant savings. I went over my rationale for my purchase decision in my previous post.

The truck mechanically has been pretty good. Just the normal stuff, brakes, tires, water pump, shocks, etc. The tranny went around 155,000 miles and I replaced that with a BTS trans. Last year Brian did a teardown/inspection/updates thing and said there was so little wear that the part numbers could still be read on the clutch packs. I did just have the rear end rebuilt. That may sound a bit alarming, but consider there are about 252,000 miles of mostly towing. So I consider that pretty much normal wear and tear.

The one thing that I haven't liked has been the poor quality/durabilty of the factory paint job, and it's ability to hold up against U.P. winters. But then again I find a lot of Fords are like that here in the U.P., where road salt is also considered a condiment.

Tail_Gunner said:

The one thing that I haven't liked has been the poor quality/durabilty of the factory paint job, and it's ability to hold up against U.P. winters. But then again I find a lot of Fords are like that here in the U.P., where road salt is also considered a condiment.

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Ford's paint dies here in California, also. Especially the 90's paint. I hope the 2003-2006 paint goes further.

Dave

Dynatrac hub conversion update

Tail_Gunner said:

I got the kit.

I obtained new hub mounting studs & nuts.
Don't have to waste time pulling the old studs off.

Got new axle u-joints. What the heck, if one has to get into it to this level, might as well replace them also. -popcorn

Got the wrong wheel studs with the kit.
I got fine thread, lug nuts are coarse threads.

Now I gotta wait for the proper wheel studs to get here.
So much for getting done this weekend.

Click to expand...

Well, I got home Friday evening after spending the week in Minneapolis on business. I found a package waiting for me, I'm thinking "great, I got the right wheel studs. I can git'er done this weekend!"

I opened the package up and what do I find? Fine thread lug nuts!! I don't think anybody wants a mix of lug nuts threads between the front axle and the rear, and neither do I. The dealer I got the Dynatrac kit from says they aren't aware of any wheel lug threads other than fine thread. I told the guy that Dynatrac and the coarse thread wheel studs & lug nuts on the truck sitting in my driveway say otherwise. So my next item of business for Monday is to try again to get the coarse thread wheel studs I need.

So again for another weekend my project is on hold until I'm satisfied I've got ALL the proper parts to my satisfaction ahead of time.

The Dynatrac saga continues

I finally got the correct (coarse thread) studs. So I'm ready to go this weekend, finally!!

First thing I started on was pressing the wheel studs into the hub. I got one hub done, and promptly broke my vise!! I love cheap assed crap made in China. (Yes the vise says made in China on it) So now I gotta get a new vise. I'm going to see if I can even find one that says made in USA on it, maybe a Craftsman from Sears?? Marquette isn't a real big town, so my search options are limited.

I got the first pic of the project in my webshots. As you can tell, only one hub has wheel studs installed. Gee, you think I took the pic during my break prompted by the vise failure? -popcorn

Tail_Gunner said:

I finally got the correct (coarse thread) studs. So I'm ready to go this weekend, finally!!

First thing I started on was pressing the wheel studs into the hub. I got one hub done, and promptly broke my vise!! I love cheap assed crap made in China. (Yes the vise says made in China on it) So now I gotta get a new vise. I'm going to see if I can even find one that says made in USA on it, maybe a Craftsman from Sears?? Marquette isn't a real big town, so my search options are limited.

I got the first pic of the project in my webshots. As you can tell, only one hub has wheel studs installed. Gee, you think I took the pic during my break prompted by the vise failure? -popcorn

Click to expand...

Is there a place in town with old used things? I have a 60-70 year old vice made in America out of the good stuff. Maybe a pawn shop?

OK;
Bad news, the machine shop at Car Quest is closed on Saturday.
Good news, one of the Car Quest guys found me a place with a press to finish pressing the wheel studs in. I go there, the guy gets it set up and says "help yourself", 20 minutes later, studs are in.
Better news, I asked him "how much" for use of his press? He said "don't worry about it"!! We need more folks like him in the world and fewer like those causing all the prob's in New Orleans.

Got "another" new vise. This time a Craftsman from Sears. Usually Craftsman stuff from Sears is better than Chineese made crap from Menards. I wish we had a Home Depot in Marquette. They sell Husky brand tools which someone told me are made by Snap-on.

Alright, the can is empty, time to get back to work. I'm going to get as much "pre-assembly" stuff done ahead of time before I jack it up and get the wheels off.

21:15 Eastern time Update: Preassembly of components is done. :ZigBang:
I didn't get as much done today as I wanted because of my broken vise issues. I'm gonna need that to get the axle joints off. Everything else should be simple swapping of parts. It's kinda dark in the driveway, so I'll resume in the a.m.