Thanks to David for spotting this set of hubs for sale on eBay.  The seller of these hubs is selling the hubs with the original installation and operation instructions! The manual accompanying the hubs confirms that the Hub Lok hubs were sold by Dana and/or Spicer, which is what we thought, but lacked physical evidence as proof. So, it’s a great find!

View all the information on eBay 

An original dash sticker? Probably not another one of these around!

Thanks to Chris for selling me these NOS Free-Lock 27-spline hubs he got from a friend. He also included copies of the original documents that were included with the hubs. Since I have a Dana 30 on Biscuit, these will got on it once I start working on it.

This doc is one I posted last week:

I’m guessing the warranty is no longer any good, lol?

As I mentioned last week, this doc is the first evidence I’ve seen that Free-Lock became a “division” (whether actual or virtual) within Dualmatic. It is my belief that Selectro was another division:

Here is one look at the hubs:

And, a second look:

Thanks to Chris for publishing this information on a Facebook post … It appears I will be buying from him a set of model F-28 Free-Lock hubs sold by Dualmatic. These NOS Free-Lock hubs included documentation stating that by December of 1973 Free-Lock had become a “Quality Division” of Dualmatic Products Company.

So, I believe this confirms that Free-Lock was acquired by Dualmatic, so now the questions are 1) when did this happen and 2) why didn’t Dualmatic use the branding sooner than circa 1970 (there was a gap between the end of Free-Lock in 1959 and the re-emergence of the brand circa late 1960s or early 1970s).

This document suggests there were seven different models of Free-Lock hubs, which may explain why we have seen several different types of later-model Free-Lock hub styles. Given the emphasis on “A Quality Division”, this document *might* hint that Dualmatic was using the Free-Lock brand as a premium hub, perhaps hoping to clear more profit from them?

The fact that the top of the hub shows no branding suggests these instructions were intended to be distributed across multiple brands of Dualmatic-built hubs.

The date of the newspaper used to wrap the hubs is December 4, 1973:

UPDATE: More on Transportation Parts Company thanks to Barney Goodwin of Barney’s Jeep Parts.

Barney wrote, “I hope this helps for your question on Transportation Parts Co.  I put together a little display. Those of us in business who have older inventories have Transportation boxes peeking out at us on the shelves. Shown below are several vintage items from our inventory including a whole tray of gauges.

The name SEAL TEST® is owned today by someone in Europe who produces quality parts supplying to dealers. An example is the shiny box to the right behind the tray.

In our library we have several of their catalogues and can be valuable quick references which are very accurate compared to some today. Inside the catalogue shown in the back of the display and which I’ve put in a ring binder for frequent use, I have copied the introduction which gives a good, brief history of the company in their own words.

The vintage belt buckle is a promo from Transportation.

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Original Post November 27, 2022: This photo was posted to Facebook by Quinton. These private-labeled “Seal Test” Dualmatic lever-style hubs were sold out of the Transportation Parts Co, a jeep parts reseller out of Huntington, New York.

I’m sure someone knows more about Transportation Parts (or even dealt with them in the past).

UPDATE: Still Available.

(10/02/022) These hubs look similar to Cutlas Bulldog hubs, but the design of the mid-section sides just below the “knob” is shaped slightly different (larger side scallops) than the image on the Bulldog brochure. Given the two section design, I will guess that these were a transition hub from the Cutlas Model 100-2 conical design to the later Bulldog hub design? Anyone have insights on these? I don’t have a brochure for these.

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/pts/7555714076.html

“Cutlas lock hubs, 10 spline for old jeeps and scouts. May trade for ammunition or towards firearms. No reloads!”

Bulldog example:

Here is another example in my archives. I also labeled these, perhaps incorrectly, “Bulldog” hubs:

I just discovered this set of Cutlas hubs for Chevys on eBay. They look like Bulldog hubs, but have no scallops at all along the mid section’s side:

Aaron Holdaway discovered this unusual set of hubs. He posted pictures of them to Facebook. He plans to disassemble them and take photos. I’ll share those photos if/when he does.

Tom shared this ad. It’s the dimpled version of the hubs (the earlier version is waffled).

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/814188986408060/

Blaine forwarded photos of a Willys Wagon with the one-lever-style Dualmatic hubs that include a center bump. I don’t have docs that conclusive identify this one-lever hub as a Dualmatic, but it seems highly probable. Given the design, an attempt to secure the lever with a bump to keep it from shifting, it is likely it was an iteration of the original Dualmatic one-lever hub.

Below is what I have documented for the one-lever Dualmatics and my related guesses as to why. (For two-lever variations of the Dualmatic hubs, try this link)

As a reminder, here is the original patent by Simonsen for the Dualmatic:

Here’s what I believe that original hub looked like:

This was likely the second version, this time with two circular bumps:

One of the issues with both of the early versions was that the internal forces apparently could cause the lever to bend. Here’s an example:

To halt that from happening, as photographed by Blaine on a Willys wagon, Dualmatic may have gone with this design:

A similar design was photographed on a Dodge truck (or I was told it was a Dodge truck):

Perhaps Dualmatic concluded that the simple one lever design simply didn’t hold up, so the company shifted to a two lever design. This is the point where it would be good to compare the internals of the one-lever vs. two-lever design.

A set up Dualmatic-style two-lever hubs appeared for sale on Facebook the other day. What made this set unique was that the hubs were private labeled for Kelly Manufacturing. It’s the first set I’ve seen with Kelly’s information on it. I doubt there are many other hubs bearing these stickers.

This shouldn’t be too big of shock, as Kelly also private labeled Kayline tops for sale in the late 1950s. And, of course, Dualmatic was offering to private label their hubs for Sears, Allstate, and other entities.