After a lot of considerations, and two broken front ring gears, I decided to mount a pair of manual hubs on my front wheels. Since strength was one of my major concerns, I chose the premium hubs from Warn.
Installation could be a breeze. If it wasn't for the difficulties to remove the old wheel bearing covers, where the hubs are to be mounted.
The covers are mounted on studs and secured with conical washers/tubes under the nuts. The trick is to get those conical tubes off without destroying the studs. There are a few tricks to use.
- Knock with a hammer and a drift on the cover, just close to the stud.
- Mount two nuts on the stud, and knock on the stud/nuts. (Carefully!!)
- Place a socket over the stud, so that when you knock on the socket, it will hit the cover, around the stud.
- Pray. A broken or bent stud will take more than five minutes to change.
Once removed,
remounting the new hubs is just a job of six nuts and six screws on each wheel.
