Hi all,

After getting stuck in some mud and spending 2+ hours digging/wenching myself out I decided I needed to invest some time in figuring out why my front wheels wouldn't pull me out (they were on solid ground and not breaking loose at all). After reading about the nightmare of the vacuum controlled hub lockers on the 98-00 models, and seeing the bypass mod, I decided it would probably be the best thing to do. I take my truck off "the beaten path" in the back of my property which is a jungle/swamp and the 4x4 comes in handy. I noticed that after the mod the truck did feel a little "heavier" as far as steering and acceleration, which I was pretty much expecting since the hubs are locked all the time. My question is: has anyone noticed any problems, quirks, etc. after doing this mod. I just want to weigh the pros and cons to see if I made the best decision. I do a lot of freeway driving also so I was also wondering if the mod will have a big impact on gas mileage and wear on my truck. Thanks for all the info, this is a great site.

Regards

 

You should do umm, I can't remember the name of the product, but you can swap manual hubs into your ranger. I'd search "hub swap" or "manual hubs" and you should find something.

 

here ya go,

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...light=hub+swap

 

I did the bypass modd about a year ago and no problems. I also do alot of interstate traveling, the gas milage suffered a little but no orher problems.

 

avm hubs

 

AVM hubs are manual ones. Able to lock it in or out. Won't have gas milage suffer anymore or heavy turning.

 

Thanks for the help guys! I'll probably roll with this for a while, save up some $$ and do the conversion later. The conversion looks almost too simple; you just swap the guts out?? That would be a super easy job! Thanks again for all your inputs!

 

I've heard stories about the AVM's exploding, plus they ain't free like this mod