looking for locking hubs for Series 3

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Gord Wedman

Well-Known Member
Posts
617
Location
Chilliwack, British Columbia
Greetings from British Columbia.
My brother and I have recently bought a 1960 five door 109. At least it is registered as a 1960 but we are not really sure that is correct as it has 24 spline front stub axles and the headlights are in the wings rather than the grill. In any case we would like to add free-wheeling/locking hubs to the front end to reduce wear and tear on the front drive train and are having trouble locating these. Can anyone point us to a vendor that would carry these? Thanks in advance for any help. I will most likely be back here with other questions. Cheers, Gordon
 
Gord Wedman said:
Greetings from British Columbia.
My brother and I have recently bought a 1960 five door 109. At least it is registered as a 1960 but we are not really sure that is correct as it has 24 spline front stub axles and the headlights are in the wings rather than the grill. In any case we would like to add free-wheeling/locking hubs to the front end to reduce wear and tear on the front drive train and are having trouble locating these. Can anyone point us to a vendor that would carry these? Thanks in advance for any help. I will most likely be back here with other questions. Cheers, Gordon
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personally youd be wasting your time,you wont reduce wear but you will reduce lubrication to the top swivel pin/bush
 
jamesmartin said:
personally youd be wasting your time,you wont reduce wear but you will reduce lubrication to the top swivel pin/bush
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It seems to me that if nothing in the front drive train is moving there would be reduced wear. When Detroit first came out with full time 4wd people were putting freewheeling hubs on their brand new trucks tor reduce wear and get better gas mileage.
 
Gord Wedman said:
It seems to me that if nothing in the front drive train is moving there would be reduced wear. When Detroit first came out with full time 4wd people were putting freewheeling hubs on their brand new trucks tor reduce wear and get better gas mileage.
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you wont notice any fuel saving or any wear from not having fwh,front diffs dont wear as they rarely transmit any torque ,but rotation lubricates all the bearings and bushes
 
As you will now have realised a simple question about FWH will flush out 2 camps with strongly opposing views. Ignore it all, if you want them have them. In the UK they turn up on e-bay quite often. One of the benefits of the "FWH do nothing" advocates is that they infleunce some owners to remove them so pairs come on the market quite regularly. I think the postage from the UK will make it unconomic to post from here, but try putting some want ads and searching on-line. Only a few weeks ago someone was trying to sell a pair for a modest price.
This seller will post overseas:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rov...340943?hash=item1ce31be70f:g:K4wAAOSwMTFeNtZD
 
I've got FWHs on my series 3, I have no real opinion on their worthiness. I lock them for a tank of petrol then unlock them for the next tankful thus ensuring things stay lubricated. I have to say that I have not noticed any fuel saving. For me, their value is in the look of the things, I'm all for useless gadgets that look good.

Col
 
rob1miles said:
As you will now have realised a simple question about FWH will flush out 2 camps with strongly opposing views. Ignore it all, if you want them have them. In the UK they turn up on e-bay quite often. One of the benefits of the "FWH do nothing" advocates is that they infleunce some owners to remove them so pairs come on the market quite regularly. I think the postage from the UK will make it unconomic to post from here, but try putting some want ads and searching on-line. Only a few weeks ago someone was trying to sell a pair for a modest price.




Those selector hubs don't always get a good rap when offloading.
Still 24 spline ones are probably newer and more plentiful than 10 spline ones so should really make them cheaper to get hold of.
This seller will post overseas:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rov...340943?hash=item1ce31be70f:g:K4wAAOSwMTFeNtZD
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tottot said:
Handy to stand on if you are a tad on the short side and want to look down the engine bay.;)
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Well that does cover my brother and myself.
Thanks for all the replies. I agree that there is going to be a lot less wear when everything is just free wheeling as opposed to being in 4WD. If I can get those hubs on eBay for a reasonable price we will go with them and periodically engage them for lubrication. Thanks for the link on those rob1miles.
cheers,
Gordon
 
Gord Wedman said:
Well that does cover my brother and myself.
Thanks for all the replies. I agree that there is going to be a lot less wear when everything is just free wheeling as opposed to being in 4WD. If I can get those hubs on eBay for a reasonable price we will go with them and periodically engage them for lubrication. Thanks for the link on those rob1miles.
cheers,
Gordon
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buy them by all means but,it isnt in 4wd ,its only 2 wd in high ,the front axle is just free wheeling without the hubs hence little wear,the hubs stop the axle shafts and diff from turning at all
 
I have FWH because it had them when I bought it. I tend to leave them locked because I find the swivels definately get more lube and I think I have some wear in a stub axle that is better then the hubs are locked. But I did find the braking and steering are better in free, if you brake hard in locked you have to stop the wheels, half shafts, diff and front prop and that front prop is 4.5:1 ^2 intertia. Same for steering where unlocking the hubs takes out the stub axles and diff. With std hubs the front half shafts, diff and prop are always rotating, the're just free in the front output bearing/shaft.
 
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i have a set on my 55 s1 since 1980 lock them in once a week on the way home from work (6km) been fine
 
I'm firmly in the don't bother camp, I had them fitted when I acquired my vehicle, and regularly, engaged and disengaged them until one day when I disengaged them and one stuck. Next thing I know I'm getting a rather loud screaming noise when going over 30mph, cant seem to track the noise down and its getting progressively worse, you guessed it, ruined my front diff. Also when I was doing a gearbox and transfer box rebuild I noticed that running with the hubs unlocked had worn out the bush in the front output shaft, another reason not to bother.

Any fuel saving they may offer is tiny, with the front end jacked up I can happily spin my front wheels, diff and prop with very little effort, even with the Land Rover traveling at 30mph its only going to be fractions of a horsepower lost.

If you notice any decrease in braking performance with the hubs locked then you must have some other kind of issue, sure its rotating mass but its a radius squared thing, a prop is only a couple of inches in diameter, even when geared up through the diff the stored energy is tiny compared to the stored energy in a Land Rover weighing over a tonne, I suspect its less than the difference between running a tubed and tubeless tyre.
 
Citizen Kane said:
....If you notice any decrease in braking performance with the hubs locked then you must have some other kind of issue, sure its rotating mass but its a radius squared thing, a prop is only a couple of inches in diameter, even when geared up through the diff the stored energy is tiny compared to the stored energy in a Land Rover weighing over a tonne, I suspect its less than the difference between running a tubed and tubeless tyre.
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Although I have don't know the maths I strongly suspect the above is accurate. I base that on two things. As stated above you can spin a half shaft very easily. compare that to trying to push the entire vehicle and I have freewheeling hubs fitted and never noticed any change in braking hubs in or hubs out. I would agree with the general consensus that, whilst I will not go to the effort of removing them, they are of little benefit.
 
I have them fitted to my swb 2.2d
As for engaging them for lubricating the axle components I don't bother getting out and engaging them I simply engage four wheel drive and off I go
 
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