i just bought a 2000 ranger with live axles. i would like to put unlockable hubs on it but the ford place here keeps saying you can only get the parts from warn. i think they are wrong because i dont think ford would manufacture thousands of ford rangers buying the parts from warn....i think if i find a 1998 or1999 ranger at a wrecking yard that i can yank the hub assembly and axles and it will work on my 2000? am i right?

 

You have to change the hub assemblies and cv axles and im not quite sure what else but then you would have to use AVM manual hubs. i do not believe warn makes any hubs for 98+ rangers.

 

just curious why you want to switch...the live axle setup is SO much stronger/reliable than the AVM hubs

 

i want to switch because just like in my big ford f250 when you run with the front axles locked you get vibration at 60 mph plus....and i dont like the fact that the front end components are all running needlessly.
also i would go with warn manual hubs only!

 

cant get warn hubs for the newer rangers...AVMs are the only choice

 

really?? boy i been getting some confusing info then...

 

yea mid early 90s rangers (2nd gen) are the only rangers you can get warn hubs for IIRC

 

The AVM or Rugged Ridge are made by the same company and are the only ones offered for 98- 2000 rangers

 

Yeah AVMs are the only ones, and to convert your live axle setup to use them you'll have to swap in CV axles and wheel bearing units from a 98-00 PVH Ranger. The live axles and live axle wheel bearings are stronger though. Its a downgrade in reliability and strength if you do the swap. Not to mention the AVMs simply snap on and have been known to fall off unexpectedly.

 

boy i have been really talking about this to lots of different people and have had lots of different input and ideas.........i am leaning towards just leaving it the way it is.
so many pro's and cons.......im old school but perhaps i should just leave it the way it is and try it a while?

 

yea thats what i would do...and the live axle setup is one of the reasons why you can hit 4wd at 55mph because everything is up to speed already

 

You can still turn 4wd on going 55 with PVH and it dosent cause any problems. My guess would be the hubs lock first so all the parts start moving then the tcase starts putting power to the front wheels.

 

Leave it. If there is excessive vibration at 60 there is probably something else going on. None of my live-axle rigs have had excessive vibration up front even at 70-80mph.
My 98 Ranger had the autohubs and they were terrible. I replaced them with AVM manual hubs and they worked okay for me, better than the auto hubs. A lot of people had them fall off or shear off. They are cheap, but they basically just snap on because of the design. The live axles are far stronger, less to fail, and you're probably not even losing 1mpg with them versus running unlocked.

Really the only advantage to swapping to AVM hubs is that if you break a CV joint, you can unlock the hubs and keep driving. That isn't an issue for most people.

 

i decided to stay with live axles and figure out why it had vibration at higher speeds....after reading posts here and elsewhere i decided to buy new hub assemblies and new brakes and rotors. i just got done putting the new parts on and test drove it, it cured the vibration!!
the local parts store tried to rape me for $390.00 for hub assemblies, i found a store on ebay and got the same hubs for $125.00.
it pays to order stuff yourself!!

 

just remember you get what you pay for

 

yea you do. But why pay almost three times the amount for something just because you think it is a quality product because the local part store guy says it is? shop smart. Compare, and remember a higher price does not always make something better product. The part stores are not in the favor business. They are in business to make money so do yourselve a favor and look around before you give away your money needlessly.

 

The ebay brands are usually re-badged as house brand at parts stores. Timkens run about that for the non pvh trucks with 4wabs from rockauto. Last bearings I bought were 165 ford parts from bobutter.