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View Full Version : In search of: Front spindles - old Warn manual hub conversion kit



Jim
April 10th, 2024, 10:34 PM
Hey Folks,

This is a low burn "help" post. Mostly this forum might be the best fit for the post.

My 90 Wrangler has what I believe to be the Warn Manual Conversion Lockout Hubs kit on it - Dana 30, 27 spline front axle. The spindles are getting abused by loose wheel bearings and I'm looking to replace the spindles (or maybe have them repaired). The loose axle bearings issue caused the inner race of the bearings to slip/rotate on the spindle - wearing the spindle surface.

It seems Warn sold the rights to the conversion kit to Yukon Gear and Yukon does lists kits for sale. This kit seems the most appropriate for what (Spin Free Locking Hub Conversion Kit, Dana 30/44 TJ, XJ, YJ, 27 spline, 5 x 4.5 (https://www.yukongear.com/shop/ya-wu-07)). I visited three local machine shops to see if these spindles could be repaired and am at nope / not cost effective (so far). I'll check one more tomorrow. Today I put in an e-mail to Yukon Gear to see if they sell just the spindles. I'm hopeful they do. For now, I'm just posting a few photos so you can see what's up. Once these get sorted I should be happy to roll for the season. Supposedly these are mid to late 80's Ford Ranger / 4wd Bronco II spindles - not IFS, not ABS. I've searched a bit online but do not see a clear path. eBay does show one spindle for sale in ColoSprings for $100 - I might buy it just because - but I heard there were some orig Warn spindles that were not heat treated and thus my hesitation to buy it.

FINOCJ
April 11th, 2024, 08:56 AM
Jim....give these guys a call....I know the owner through both ecj5 and OWF....even if they don't have what have what you need, they can probably put you in the right direction. Since your stuff is a bit custom, I'd give them a call - they'll know the warn conversion.
https://thejeepsterman.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwlN6wBhCcARIsAKZvD5jpHrqCnkPHu79x3sd CXxGc2bSj-xAcgJ5Od8veBoG9hRzUEQNMGBIaAi38EALw_wcB

I'll post up on ecj5 and see if what I kind find....a lot of d30 knowledge since that is the standard upgrade for d25/27....how different the CJ d30 is from the yj d30 is a bit unknown to me.

Jim
April 11th, 2024, 09:58 AM
Thanks James!

Yukon Gear replied already - they sell individual parts - via direct phone call. They showed me their KB portion of the web site where I can download info so I can select the correct part. This is my first stop. I'll let you know!

FINOCJ
April 12th, 2024, 09:15 AM
Thanks James!

Yukon Gear replied already - they sell individual parts - via direct phone call. They showed me their KB portion of the web site where I can download info so I can select the correct part. This is my first stop. I'll let you know!

Sounds good...for future parts reference I accidentally included the Jeepster man link above, when I meant to the link to parts dude 4x4....Jeepster man is fine, but Sam at parts dude is great and is honest about when he has good quality parts vs when he's selling the typical bulk omix junk parts.
https://stores.partsdude4x4.net/

Jim
April 12th, 2024, 05:23 PM
Ordered - $250/ea.

He initially mentioned a price of $110 and then said hold on that's an OLD price. Dang'it - the old price was more attractive ;-)

Anyway, I am able to get replacements - that's the big hurtle.

I visited four machine shops in town, spindle in hand, non were able to help. The first shop said - I had the perfect referral for you - but the guy just died. Sigh.

After visiting the most recent shop - he commented - you might take them to a welder to have them spray weld built up and then bring the build up spray weld spindle to a machine shop, new bearings in hand, where they could measure fitment of the new bearing inner race and then turn down on a lathe the spray weld.

So, I could see doing this out of curiosity and then putting the repaired spindles up for sale - or keep them as spares (most likely).

By next weekend I should have new spindles in hand. Off to purchase bearings to have them waiting.

James - I did call Sam this morning - quick answer - nice guy to talk with - He was not able to help.Thanks for the link - I'll keep it as he does have nice YJ things listed.

I came across BroncoGraveyard.com and they are a possibility - saved for reference. I did not find a "perfect" spindle to match mine - this is a close unit:
https://shop.broncograveyard.com/D44-Spindle1993-95-Bronco-F150-4wd-NON-ABS/productinfo/32083A/
.