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Excuse the bench, it’s a working shop! The physical girth and strength of the all metal hubs in the unit is apparent right as you take them out of the box.
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The first step is to find that silly little Allen key whose only purpose in life is to undo these hubs.
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Remove the snap rings and retainers. If you’re lucky, they’ll slide out. These required a little persuasion.
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Yukon on the left and brand X on the right. The old style hubs can be very sensitive to over greasing and cause partial spline engagement. Not good. Yukon’s instructions state that a liberal amount of grease is not only OK, but recommended.
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Before installation, we wanted to see how much extra clearance is gained with the new units. Although it’s only about 5 mm, the machined stainless steel Yukon face is up for far more abuse.
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The engagement teeth offer far more surface area in the Yukon’s radial design. Shown here is the 19-spline version, it would appear that upgrading to 30-spline stub shafts would only require a new drive gear. A complete 30-spline version is available at this time.
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Contrary to what my wife thinks, here is proof that I can read, and follow directions! Read up first, because once your hands are covered in grease, anything you touch is too. The assembly of the hubs is pretty intuitive, but the colour directions and parts list make it so easy, even a tech editor can do it!
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After greasing the internal splines, the spring and spring cup go on first.
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Because our Dana 44 was a conglomeration of different years and vehicle parts, the kit we ordered included a few different shims to install for proper setup. The procedure only has to be done once, and is laid out in the manual.
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The shims are used to ensure the locking teeth can actually disengage when the hub is set in the “FREE” position. Brass surfaces on the moving area ensure a long life.
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New snap rings are included and go on at this point to retain the now spring loaded internals.
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The last of the internal parts get a liberal coating of grease and a spiral lock gets installed to retain everything. Spiral locks make for easier removal in the field should you need to remove an axle.
Story and photos by Bryan Irons
“The problem is choice,” is a line from the Matrix series, and if you were in the market for locking hubs for your rig, you really didn’t have any choice. The staple of the locking hub industry was based on a design set in an age when the power, gearing and tires sizes of today were unfathomable. The design was getting long in the tooth and the public cried for a new champion. Yukon answered the call with its Hardcore line of locking hubs. REJOICE!
No more plastic or cast aluminum parts, and gone is the need to pack a goofy small size Allen key to take them apart. Major design changes like defaulting to the locked position should things go awry, and a smooth quarter-turn engagement are welcome advances. It’s also the small things that Yukon did when bringing them to market, like including easily installed and removed spiral locks for hub retention instead of the factory/frustrating spring steel units. These are just ancillary bonuses though, the meat and the potatoes of the hub is where it’s “Hardcore” moniker came form. Must hubs on the market use small locking tabs to engage the axle shaft to the wheel, and this is where most failures occur. The Yukon setup utilizes hardened teeth in a radial pattern, which allow for more contact area and strength.
First out of the gate were the Dana 60 sized hubs, and now, the Dana 44 units have arrived to the masses. These are available in the factory 19-spline setup and a 30-spline for those with custom axle shafts looking for more beef. We scored a set of 19-spline Dana 44 units from Randy’s ring and pinion, and also upgraded our 30-year old axle shafts to Yukon’s chromoly units. Because we will be able to unlock the hubs for street duty, the decision to upgrade the U-joints to Yukon Superjoints was an easy one. The joints added strength comes from its lack of failure prone needle bearings, but this means they must be regularly lubed with the supplied grease gun.
A few hours in the shop with our box of parts and a tub of grease got us some peace of mind on the trail and some freshly greased wheel bearings. With a few wheeling trips under our belts, we’re happy to report that the new hubs smooth engagement is a welcome relief and have had zero issues with the entire setup. It’s good to know that with our 37-inch Pit Bull Rockers being turned by Yukon’s best, we won’t be late for dinner due to a breakdown.
Ed note: See "Yukon Chrome-moly Axle Shafts & Superjoints" for Bryan's step-by-step replacement of the old shafts prior to installing the hubs.