Did the RR manual hubs feel "cheap" when you installed them?
The hubs felt fine when I installed them.
Since the install, I have managed to break both sides of the Rugged Ridge hubs. They both completely exploded. Fortunately I had my stock hubs with me. Slapped them on, and continued the trail......until I met an obstacle that I did not have enough low gearing for. Pressing the gas just caused the torque converter to load up, and not move. I backed up a bit and hit it with a little bit of speed to bump over. My fault for not hitting the brakes as soon as I was over, as the front wheels were spinning as they touched down, and SNAP went my drivers side outer CV joint. I think the aussie locker really puts stress on the other components.
Since the front is locked with the aussie, and both auto-hubs back on, both front axles spin equally when in 4low. I had no choice but to remove the drivers side axle to continue the trail in 3wd. I pulled the axle, and stuck a socket in the diff output, held it in with bailing wire, and continued the trail without a problem. No diff oil leakage either!
Rugged Ridge ended up replacing them free of charge within the warranty period. I put the new ones on....which physically looked just like the ones that broke.
So, the axle that broke was the O'reilly reman axle. Costed about 80 bucks no core. I put that one in because my OEM Mitsu axle had a split boot. Figured it was quicker and less hassle to swap in the reman. It had a lifetime warranty and looked the same as OEM, so I said why not! Fast forward to this past weekend.....broke the same axle outer cv. Axle broke while reversing up a hill as I was positioning my truck as an anchor for another truck. Granted, I suppose a lot of force was being put on that joint as all the weight was now on that axle as I was reversing, it should not have broke. There was no wheel spin or any abuse. Just a loud bang!
Based on my experience, I will be bringing my OEM mitsu axle to a shop to have repacked and rebooted. I'll install the axle and take the o'reillys out to get warrantied. It will be my new trail spare.
I really think the aussie locker really puts quite a bit more stress on all the drivetrain components as now, in 4low, and rear locker, the truck is fully locked and theoretically, if only one of my 4 tires has traction, the entire force to move the car will be powered by the one axle. I don't think the front drivetrain components ever was made to handle those stresses!