UPDATE II: This post was originally posted August 29, 2018:

Information about Husky and Dualmatic has been updated and more closely examined here.

Maury and I have been trying to determine how BestLok and EasyLok hubs are connected and how they are connected to Warn, Husky, and Dualmatic. The short answer is that we don’t quite know yet. But, below is what we do know. (Note, while Husky and Dualmatic are mentioned, it’s not a full history of either hub, histories I do need to address at some point).

In January of 1972, Richard Williams filed a patent, assigned to Warn-Belleview, for a new type of hub. Below is the image of that hub.

What’s curious is that there’s no documentation that Warn ever sold these hubs.

Even more curious, by July of 1972 this exact hub was produced and sold under the brand EasyLok, as advertised here, in the July issue of Four Wheeler Magazine:

Why these hubs weren’t sold nor branded under any traditional seller of the time is a mystery to us.

Earlier this year, Maury spotted a set of hubs with the Warn patented design that were manufactured in 1982. Maury managed to get ahold of photos that show the hubs were manufactured and warranteed by BestopDualmatic (a joined company formed when Wynn industries combined the companies around 1974).

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Bill Falconer scored a set of extremely rare “summer”-type hubs that are stamped F.E.G. Even better, he was able to get the original box that accompanied them, which included some additional information.

When I first published the post about the various Summer Hub models, I included a photo of an F.E.G. hub, but the only reference I had was that photo. I could finding nothing else about them. Thankfully, the New Hampshire Fish and Game, which owned these hubs originally, bought from a Willys dealership in Colebrook, New Hampshire (which has since been bulldozed), kept the information it had. So, now we know a little more.

According to the Box’s information, these summer hubs were $20. F.E.G also offered a locking type for $65. Unfortunately, the part showing how to order the hubs was torn from the box.

So, what does “F.E.G.” mean? In researching these, I found a company called F.E.G. out of Mexico that has a subsidiary parts maker, HOWEVER it appears the company wasn’t around in the 1950s. Thus, I am at a dead-end on the company’s history. I suppose it’s possible that F.E.G. are just someone’s initials.

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: