electric locker mechanical backup

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crushers

crushers

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i am not sure but someone from either NZ or Oz was making an allen key activated mechanical back up for the electric front hubs.

if anyone knows who this is please let me know.

and no, i am not looking for the Warn / Asian manual hub replacement kit.
 
thanks for the pics, i have a spare set of hubs here so this shoudl work well.

cheers M8
 
I am also interested in a way to modify my LJ78 hubs with a mechanical backup. Especially after my trip yesterday when I made it to the furthest point of the trail (across several headlight-deep water crossings) and had a "part-time" four-wheel drive on the way home. Thankfully many of my buddies were there to winch me home. It was terrible! Took 5 hours to cross one section of trail that took us 30 minutes on the way out. I smashed both bumpers, and worst of all missed lunch!

It rained on the way home and the rivers flooded adding to the stress of crossing rivers that were strong enough to "fishtail" the Hilux crowd. It was a lot of fun and thankfully I didn't get stuck in the middle of any rivers.

If there is any way you can PM me, or post info that you've found on this mod, that would be great!
 
I know its a bit late, but if you carry a tork screwdriver for removing the end caps you can hold the end cap in one hand and with the other hand carfully rotate the splined driving dog outwards, then fit end cap back on to the hub, a quick fix and you'll always get home.
 
Wow! Awesome advice! I had no idea. I think torx drivers are going to become part of my tool bag now. At least until I get this sorted out properly. Thanks for the advice. I still need to get the car on a lift and see if it is the hubs or the vacuum transfer case. I am guessing hubs because of the deep water crossings and their less than stellar track record in high moisture environments. I got conflicting reports on the trail about what was turning. Some said the axles and front drive shaft were turning. Others said that nothing was turning.

Also, it seemed to be intermittent. At one point I had a front wheel in the air and was stuck and the guys said it looked like it (front wheel drive) was turning on-and-off. It sounds odd to me, but it was definitely engaged sometimes cause it hooked up a couple of times when I really needed it, and others it was non-existent. It seems like if the hubs were failing, they wouldn't be switching back and forth like that. Maybe it's in the vacuum plumbing, or electrical?

This vehicle is relatively new to me, so I am not familiar with all the systems yet.
 
oldblue said:
...carfully rotate the splined driving dog outwards, then fit end cap back on to the hub, .
Click to expand...
By outwards do you mean counter-clockwise, or clockwise? Or something else? I can't quite picture it...
 
what i have done in the past:
take end cap off.
remove spring
instert the coupler
insert small piece of wood to hold the coupler in place]
reinstall the end cap without the sping.
full time lock
reach end of trail, drive in two wheel drive with hubs still locked.
done.
 
When you remove the end cap, look at it and you will see the scroll groove that moves the slidding dog move in or out..
With the end caps on electric hubs its not wise to remove the spring , because to refit the spring you have to completely dismantle the end cap and reassemble it .A right pain in the ass if you have to do it .
Different from the Aisin manual hubs
I made a jig for doing this.
 
Thanks again for all the help. I found today that the vacuum switching system for the transfer case is fine. My left hub isn't locking and the right one is. That must be why it appeared to some that I had "intermittent" 4-wheel drive.

Do you guys know of a common fix for these? Cleaning? Brushes? I really have no idea other than I see a lot of people swapping to manual hubs and being done with it. I could always go with Crushers and just permanently lock them. Maybe I'll do that for the meantime.

I'll read through the topics again on this forum and see what I can find. Thanks again for all the help guys, it is really awesome that you are on here and taking the time to share what you know with people like me. It really makes the whole Landcruiser experience a lot more fun to have a community like this. Cheers!
 
As far as I know they have never been apart. Truck has 214K kilometers on it and has never been trailed so I imagine hubs were rarely ever locked. This was the first time I trailed with it. I wonder if they just need a good cleaning and resealing???
 
hummm, never apart then the brushes shoudl still be good, a good cleaning might do the trick.

make sure you read the instructions about the brush retainer during reassembly...

what i love is the comments that the elec lockers are "weaker" due to the 4 bolt retaining system... ummm... it is actually 10 bolt retaining system which is better than the older manual locking hubs. sheesh.
 
At 214k the brushes would be well warn , brushs are carbon so its a wearing consumable compound, not related to how many times they are used. Remove the hubs ,clean, look at the carbons if there is some carbon left you may be able to streach the springs to put a bit more pressure to them.

As crusher said, install as workshop instructions.
 
This what you need to do.
SA 27 Gif.webp
 
Thank you so much for that diagram. Looks simple enough. By the way...what manual is that? I have looked all over for a manual for my LJ78 and can't find anything. I checked the links on this forum in the Manuals sections, and didn't see anything. Thanks again for that. I'll have a look this week.
 
Opened up the malfunctioning hub today (just the cap) and it poured about 1/4 cup of water out onto the ground. I think is safe to say that was a problem. I looked at the other hub and there was a lot of moisture in it but not enough to make it malfunction-yet.

I am going to order new gaskets and clean and re-grease both hubs in hopes this will get me going again. I tried for a very short time to get the hub body subassembly off but it looks like it is being held in place by the four tapered collets. Is there a good way to break these loose? It seems like it is really stuck on there.

I am going to go for the underdog on the topic of these hubs and say that I like them. I love pushing a button and driving away without having to get out. Especially since I live in the Philippines where it's always pouring rain and always really nasty and muddy. If and when they fail, I think it is great that you can manually lock them with minimal effort. If only they were engineered to not fail, that would be win win. They are gonna take extra maintenance but I don't see a problem with them if they are cared for and kept from leaking. I just wish parts were cheaper and more available for them.

Even though they let me down, it was my ignorance that made an event out of it. If I knew my equipment better I'd have been back in business in under 10 minutes. I guess that's how we learn.
 
BRASS drift, hit firmly and solidly FLAT on the end of the stud with a BFH. the vibrations cause the collors to loosen.
 
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