Destroyed front hubs @150k

[Sky Blakeman]

Well, I was just reading an article/post about push button 4wd. I was thinking I was pretty smart for getting the manual shift transfer case. I should have paid more attention to the poster who said auto locking hubs are still a week point. 

 

Now we are stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. The hubs went from squeal to grind in about 20-30 miles on the way back from Glacier National Park, an easy fix if I was home. 

 

So this is just a heads up if you're close to 150k miles & curious, auto locking hubs cost about a grand to replace. Manual conversion kits can be had for under $2k.

Wish I had done more PM.

 

[Nanotech Environmental]

36 minutes ago, Sky Blakeman said:

Well, I was just reading an article/post about push button 4wd. I was thinking I was pretty smart for getting the manual shift transfer case. I should have paid more attention to the poster who said auto locking hubs are still a week point. 

 

Now we are stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. The hubs went from squeal to grind in about 20-30 miles on the way back from Glacier National Park, an easy fix if I was home. 

 

So this is just a heads up if you're close to 150k miles & curious, auto locking hubs cost about a grand to replace. Manual conversion kits can be had for under $2k.

Wish I had done more PM.

 

It's the bearings that go bad in the hubs. It has nothing to do with manual or pushbutton transfer case, or 4wd. Your hubs actually would have been going bad for a while before they started squealing. They start feeling a bit odd when you go around corners. They gradually get worse & generally give you lots of notice before they fail outright. 
All GM hubs go bad after a certain point, on 1500, 2500 & 3500 trucks. In a sense it's normal maintenance. 

It's a good idea to check the front hubs everytime the tires are rotated, at minimum.

[redwngr]

1 hour ago, Sky Blakeman said:

Well, I was just reading an article/post about push button 4wd. I was thinking I was pretty smart for getting the manual shift transfer case. I should have paid more attention to the poster who said auto locking hubs are still a week point. 

 

Now we are stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. The hubs went from squeal to grind in about 20-30 miles on the way back from Glacier National Park, an easy fix if I was home. 

 

So this is just a heads up if you're close to 150k miles & curious, auto locking hubs cost about a grand to replace. Manual conversion kits can be had for under $2k.

Wish I had done more PM.

 

What year is the truck?

Stock CV angles?

 

 

[SierraHD17]

Chev trucks since the GMT400 era don't have hubs.  They have front wheel bearings like a front wheel drive car would.  They are always turning whether its 2wd or 4wd.  If you made 150000 miles doing nothing to them you did pretty good.  There is no manual conversion except for your front diff actuator which has nothing to do with the wheel bearings.