csprinkle Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 Okay - bear with me here. I'm looking to get manual hubs to fully disconnect my 4wd system from the front wheels and as I rarely ever pop my pathy into 4wd. Can someone explain manual hubs to me like I'm stupid? I've done google searches, youtube videos, etc. but I still don't feel confident in if they are even beneficial to me. I want my car to be able to "coast" or "roll" better. It feels like even when I'm on a slight downhill I still have to have my foot on the gas to keep it from losing speed at around 35-45mph. If I were to buy manual hubs, could I just grab a set of SKP SK404016 (27-spline, set of two hubs) from rockauto.com (https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=13842569&cc=1431960&pt=14103&jsn=9)? Also, do I just buy one set for the front (one hub on each front wheel, none on rear), or do I buy two sets (one hub on each wheel). My understanding is that I'd have hubs at least on the front wheels to let them disconnect from the 4wd system completely and roll freely. I'm not looking for it to last forever like Warn hubs, but need a decent solution. Thanks to anyone who can help me out here - not a car expert but trying to learn a thing or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 Locking hubs are for the front wheels only. Running with the hubs unlocked gives you a slight reduction in drag, because the front CVs, diff, and driveshaft aren't coupled to the wheels when they don't need to be. Unlocking them won't turn a Pathy into a Prius, but yeah, it should coast a little easier, and use a little less fuel. The trade-off is that you have to get out and lock the hubs to use 4WD. This is annoying if you forget about the hubs until you're already stuck. I use 4WD a lot in the winter, so I lock mine at first snow and leave them that way until after the thaw, so I don't have to think about it in between. Just remember to lock yours before you set off on those rare days when Seattle sees snow and you should be golden. 27 spline hubs are for the real early WD21s. You need 28 spline hubs. There's a comparison thread here for the various hub options, including which do/don't work with the stock wheels. If you've got the manual transfer case (stick through the floor), then that's all there is to it. If you've got the automatic transfer case (knob on the dash with an "auto" setting), then you may get a warning light on the dash after driving for a while with the hubs unlocked. Some info on that in this thread. TL;DR: the transfer case computer gets a little confused, but the transfer case itself doesn't seem to care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawairish Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 Yep, 28 splines. That SKP part will be a 28-spline unit if it cross-references with the 98-04 Frontier and 00-04 Xterra. He should have the part-time 4wd system (stick) if it's an SE. I think the benefits are mixed...my MPG has been crap for a long time, but I'll take any improvement I can get. I recently dug into that whole all-mode w/ hubs scenario (I'd seen the post above and didn't really dig into it at the time) and I think I also reached the conclusion that the system doesn't care. The whole fluid pumping doesn't even occur unless it's in Auto or 4wd anyway, if I recall. I can't seem to find where I typed my notes up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R50JR Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 3 hours ago, hawairish said: Yep, 28 splines. That SKP part will be a 28-spline unit if it cross-references with the 98-04 Frontier and 00-04 Xterra. He should have the part-time 4wd system (stick) if it's an SE. I think the benefits are mixed...my MPG has been crap for a long time, but I'll take any improvement I can get. I recently dug into that whole all-mode w/ hubs scenario (I'd seen the post above and didn't really dig into it at the time) and I think I also reached the conclusion that the system doesn't care. The whole fluid pumping doesn't even occur unless it's in Auto or 4wd anyway, if I recall. I can't seem to find where I typed my notes up. My understanding is that the Auto transfer case doesn't like the manual hubs on vehicles not equipped with VDC. The CV axles still spin with the hubs disengaged. I remember reading somewhere that the pump works when driving in reverse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted August 9 Share Posted August 9 The transfer case computer compares the front and rear wheel speeds, which is how it knows when the rear wheels are slipping. The non-VDS trucks monitor the front wheel speed from a sensor on the front output of the transfer. Basically it's watching the driveshaft rather than the wheels. In stock form (or with the hubs locked), this works fine. But it gets confused when the hubs are unlocked, because as far as it can tell, the rear end is going highway speed, and the front isn't. The service manual has a list of error codes that the transfer computer can throw, readable via Consult or der blinkenlightzen. I'd be curious to see what code they actually throw. Possibly code 6, wheel speed sensors? Computer sees improbable data, blames the sensors? Looks like it can also flash the light once every two seconds if it thinks your tires are mismatched, which could also make sense with the front/rear wheel speeds not matching up as expected. I would not be surprised if drag in the clutch pack spins the front drivetrain somewhat, but it must not be spinning at full speed, or the computer wouldn't know the difference, right? On 8/8/2025 at 12:41 AM, hawairish said: The whole fluid pumping doesn't even occur unless it's in Auto or 4wd anyway, if I recall. On 8/8/2025 at 5:05 AM, R50JR said: I remember reading somewhere that the pump works when driving in reverse? The electric pump doesn't run in 2HI. Otherwise it kicks on in reverse, and at speeds under 30 km/h (if I'm reading the chart correctly), when the mechanical pump (driven off the input shaft) isn't making enough line pressure to work the clutch pack. But yeah, this is all completely irrelevant to this thread if csprinkle's rig has the manual transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csprinkle Posted August 9 Author Share Posted August 9 Hey all! Thanks for the info - going to give stuff another read-through in a moment but yeah, I got a manual transfer haha.. Sorry should have mentioned that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 (edited) LOL don't mind us, we're easily distracted by weird gearboxes. Edited August 10 by Slartibartfast 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csprinkle Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 Bought the 28-Spline version of the SKP SK404461 manual locking hub (set of two). Will keep the thread updated if/when I get to it this week! Thanks again for the help on this so far, really appreciate it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csprinkle Posted August 13 Author Share Posted August 13 Planning to do the manual hub installation tonight. I don't have any spare grease on me so I'm going to install without it today, but someone holler if I gotta go put some back on before driving more. Hopefully I have the tools to remove the oem auto hub, looks like its in there pretty good. Excited to feel the Pathy roll down the hill without needing to step on the gas to maintain speed limit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawairish Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 The hub should already contain what little grease it needs, and you don't want to pack it with grease like you might expect. A light amount is all that's needed to help it disengage. R50s came with drive flanges (fixed flanges) instead of auto hubs. Pry the cap off to access the snap ring, remove it, then it should come off easily by undoing the 6 nuts. Those hubs come with a paper gasket, but don't use a large o-ring like the drive flanges and other hubs do. You can put a little grease on the boss if you'd like to help keep a little moisture out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csprinkle Posted August 14 Author Share Posted August 14 (edited) Success! Took about 3 seconds after leaving the driveway for me to realize how easy it coasts now. Did a test drive for around 30 minutes in a pretty hilly area and I have to say I am quite satisfied. Thanks for the guidance here, really happy with how it turned out so far. Hope these somewhat cheap ($100 ish a pair) SKP hubs last me a while! More random blurbs about my installation experience: The install took me about an hour for the first one to kind of figure out what I was looking at and how to take the thing apart, but the second hub took 15-20min after I got the hang of it. In my opinion, the hardest part was wrangling the stupid O-ring clip thing (or whatever you want to call it) on and off the axle. Maybe I just grabbed the wrong pliers but that part was brutal. Also, didn’t have to take the wheels off to install, for any other newbies wondering. Edited August 14 by csprinkle Mis-labeled, had mentioned “OEM auto hub” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted August 15 Share Posted August 15 Good to hear you got it, and that it did what you were hoping for! That snap ring fought me on mine, too. Probably because I was using needle nose pliers instead of snap ring pliers. I added a little grease to the mechanism (one hub felt dry and crunchy compared to the other), but yeah, no need to pack them. Check the bolts after you've run it for a while. Seems like each time I have my hubs off, they work loose after a bit. I tighten them back up, and they're good from then until I have them off again. Probably just the gasket compressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csprinkle Posted August 18 Author Share Posted August 18 Once again, thanks for the pointers, and yeah.. needle nose pliers as well, but they did work out fine in the end. Now I'm just wondering what else to fix on my car before my big road trip.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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