Square O-rings for Older Warn Locking Hubs

[test1328]

In my rebuild of my Dad's old 1961 Willys CJ5, I started to refurbish the older style Warn Locking Hubs that were on it. I'm not sure when these were added, whether they were added by my Dad before I was old enough to be aware of what he was doing or if the original owner put them on before my Dad bought this Jeep. My Dad bought it in 1966, so I am assuming that these were added sometime between 1961 and 1968 or thereabouts. In any case, you can see from the pictures below that I took the hubs apart since I could not turn the dial and wanted to make them work as intended.

10150
10151
10152
10153

Overall, things were in good shape. However, the O-ring shown in the third photo that goes around the brass dial had some slight damage and I wanted to replace it. It is not a standard round cross-section O-ring, but a square sided or square cross-section O-ring. I asked others on this site if they new where to find replacements, but the best that was offered was that you could by a service kit from Warn (either directly from Warn or from Amazon). They offer their kit that they say is for Jeeps of this vintage, https://www.warn.com/warn-industries-7300-locking-hub-service-kit but from what I could tell from the pictures, it comes with a bunch of bolts and gaskets that I didn't need and did not have the square cross-section O-ring that I needed. It also runs around $40-50, which was more than I wanted to spend on something that probably wasn't right.

Continued on next post.

[test1328]

Therefore, I started looking around and discovered The O-ring Store https://www.theoringstore.com/store/ where you can buy just about any O-ring that you want. I found that they did sell the size that I needed to fit these hubs. This particular O-ring needs to have the correct interference between the dial and the outer housing. The interference has to be tight enough to keep water and dirt out but loose enough to allow the dial to turn without too much force. After measuring the O-ring groove, I selected two sizes that I thought would work and ordered them. By the way, you'll find that these O-rings are quite cheap individually, around $1, and of course, the shipping is the most expensive part! In any case, once I received them I found that I was pretty close to getting the right fit. The cross-section size was exactly what I needed, but I found what I had ordered fit too loose in the groove and provided too much interference when I tried to insert the dial into the housing. So, I ordered two more smaller sizes of the same O-ring cross-section. This time, I found that the smallest size I ordered provided the perfect fit with an interference just right. Turning the dial can be done by hand, but you have to purposely do it. It won't move on its own and provides the protection needed to keep water and dirt out.

Continued on next post.

[test1328]

For those who might need to do this in the future, the size I found that worked the best was:
Dimensions: 2-1/8"ID X 2-5/16"OD X 3/32"CS (these are general dimensions, the ones below are exact dimensions)
2.112"ID X 2.31"OD X 0.099"CS
53.64mm ID X 58.66mm OD X 2.51mm CS

The O-ring is listed as "AS568-138 SN70 (NBR) Buna-N 70 Duro Square O-Ring" and has a Model number of SN70138. Direct link to this part number is https://www.theoringstore.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=367_2203_98_101&products_id=4401

Hope this helps someone down the road!

[TJones]

The Oring Store was a Great suggestion test!!!!
I’m all the time looking to replace one and the closest place around me is Akron Bearing, 30 minutes down and 30 back for a .29 cent oring :):)
Thanks for sharing the site!!!

[bmorgil]

Thanks for re-posting for the Tech Forum! More good stuff. This will save someone time and money.

[test1328]

Happy to help, guys.

[gmwillys]

Great information on the Oring source there Test.