Front Hub Go Bye Bye - is it Common?

[Evan]

I was hunting this past week (awesome trip, 2 moose and 7 deer in camp when Dad and i left today ). Went chicken hunting with a couple of the other guys in their Bombardier Itlis (canadian military jeep looking thing) and they got it burried. I walked back to camp, got the pathfinder, and went to pull them out.

 

Hooked up the strap to my front Shackle, 4 low, reverse, a good tug or two and then hear the front hub exploding. Get out, take a look and there are chunks of the hub missing, and it is cracked all the way around. The PO has a Warn Premium on the other side, but the Passenger side is some other brand.

 

What I'd like to know is if this is a common thing. I have several replacements at home already, so I'm not worried about getting a replacement, but does this happen to people on a regular basis, and can I get something better than the Warn hubs?

 

I have an 87 pathy with manual hubs, 3.0L engine, Manual Tranny, Stock front diff, Rear LSD (stock diff), and I'm running 33x12.5x15 SuperSwamper TSL's. I probably should have hooked up using my rear shackle (so that I was pulling forward, rather than reverse). Any thoughts or discussion?

[sw]

yes there seems to be a bit of talk on aftermarket hubs letting go. a friend with a 60 series cruiser had an aftermarket set completely destroy themselves first time he used em.

nissan genuine manual hubs are very strong, havent heard of them breaking

[RedPath88]

Hubs come and hubs go.. you will probably hear both sides for factory and aftermarket.

 

Any idea what brand it was? I know your not worried about it, but depending on the brand you may be able to get it replaced for free

[mws]

Some of us even consider this a good thing, within reason. There will always be a weak link in any system, and I'd prefer to have the hub explode rather than a CV joint or differential.... Kinda like a shear pin on an outboard boat motor. Carrying a spare and replacing a hub on the trail is a lot easier than a pinion gear! So the ideal hub is one that is just slightly weaker than the CV and diff...

 

I'm running MileMarkers for now. I have heard of them breaking, so I know they're not "too strong", and I haven't broken one yet, so I'm calling them strong enough for my application.

 

I am pretty sure the Warns are stronger, but I personally do not know if they are "too strong" and would hold together while more critical items blow. Others?

[FLApathy]

Ive heard that Warns for nissans suck, MM and superwinch are the best

[RedPath88]

Ive heard that Warns for nissans suck, MM and superwinch are the best

I have Superwinch on my Yota and based on those, when I convert to manuals on the Nissan I plan on going with the "correct" Superwinch hubs.

 

From personal experience I can say that Superwinch stands behind the hubs the make. Had one fail to engage once and they replaced both, no questions asked. They even called a local (semi local, in Edgewood) NAPA who had mine in stock and approved an exchange. Normally you would send them in.

[FLApathy]

Yeah ive heard highly of Superwinch. To bad they dont make them for me, lol.

[88pathoffroad]

I've seen Warns and Superwinch hubs shatter on a couple of occasions. The Warns typically last longer, though. I've even broken OEM Nissan manual hubs.

[Evan]

Thanks for all the replies. Like I said, once I figure out what the previous owner gave me, I might switch out my warn when I replace the broken one as well. I agree though, if something has to break, I'd prefer it to be the hub, and not the CV or the gears inside the Diff.

 

I just thought I'd check to see if it is an uncommon thing, but from the responses so far, I'd say not.

 

Cheers,

 

Evan.