UPDATE: Matt spotted a here-to-for unseen set of hubs. They are listed as #7.
Most know that Arthur Warn’s jeep-related business began with his introduction of the summer hubs, designed to allow the front axles to spin freely. They came packaged in red, green, or blue boxes. As you can see in this ad, Warn advertised them as “hub caps”, but their use during summers led people to call them “summer hubs”. He also credited them with all kinds of benefits.
But, few know that there were two different types of Warn summer hubs. In addition, there were also at least three different other summer hubs produced.
- According to this thread on the CJ-2A page forum, the first type produced was the waffle version:
- This example shows the second version. They were larger and had dimples:
- Ted introduced me to the Kurtland-branded hubs. He’s got them for sale on eBay.
- A photo of these unbranded, aluminum (non-magnetic) hubs were posted to the CJ-2A page by Bruce W. If you recognize them, please let us know the manufacturer.
- Bruce M. posted this photo of an FEG branded summer hub to the CJ-2A page. (now, more on this hub here: http://www.ewillys.com/2023/07/22/f-e-g-hubs/
- Andy shared pics of this flange familiar to M-38A1 enthusiasts, the Clary Flange:
7. This set appeared on eBay in October of 2018. No indication of model or maker:
If anyone knows or has photos of other summer hubs, please let me know!
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Born in 1893, Louie H. Ponnequin, a veteran of WWI, was fifty-five years old when he filed a patent in January 1948 for what appears to be the Clary Hubs. At the time, he was living in Hawaii, so it’s possible that being around the military bases there he saw a need for a simple free-spinning jeep hub. Though Arthur Warn invented his standard spinning hub cap a year earlier in 1947, there’s no evidence that Warn ever patented his “summer hub”.
