front locking hubs

passenger side was rotating and you could feel the hub engage, while drivers side was not rotating( turning the hub to engage made no noise)
i thought that the engaging mechanism (is it a type of clutch?) might be gone. There must be something wrong up front as i got bogged on the entrance road to the beach - approx 10 METRES! and ravs were going past me with ease

The free wheeling hub engages the wheel to the axle. Both axles should turn when in 4wd mode. If not then your free wheel hub could be damaged. I think that if you had a broken axle it would make an audible noise. A set of fwhubs cost around $250(I think)Willem
Out on the Gibber

I forgot to add.....It could just be a broken spring that pushes the locking device down on to the axle and is a cheap fix. Take the fw hub off and have a look. Remember to pack it with lots of grease when you replace it.Willem
Out on the Gibber

when replacing the fwh dont pack with grease they are designed to run without, just a spray with silicon spray is all thats needed. Col

Funny thing colin....been packing FWHubs with grease for as long as I can remember and this is the first time ever that someone has advised to the contrary. Is this a new development or jus another point of view?Willem
Out on the Gibber

Hi Willem, as far as i know its always been that way have had several 4bys over the years and not one ran grease in the hubs. Have just put new hubs on my GQ and the instructions said no grease just silicon spray. Col

Hi Colin, You know you are probably right. I have been doing what I have been doing for so many years I have forgotten why. I lived in Darwin and environs for 20 years and we always used to pack the hubs with grease to stop water from entering in to the hubs and to stop possible rusting processes so that we did not have to do a great deal of preventative maintenance. One year I went out on 26 weekend trips and just about every one would have had one or two water crossings. Thats why I have always packed my hubs with grease.

Cheers,

Willem
Out on the Gibber

Con,
Not possible to have 3wd unless you had a front diff lock. At present it sounds like you're getting power to the front diff, but then it goes to the path of least resistence (ie: the axle with the stuffed hub). No power goes to the good one. It's the same as having one wheel up in the air.
I recently installed manual hubs on my 2000 Patrol (didn't like the auto-locking jobbies). I used AVM from ARB and the instructions specifically said NOT to add any additional grease to the thinish film that they had on them already. So noy sure whether Willem's idea about plenty of grease is right.....I was going to do that too, but luckily I read the instructions first (and for me, that IS a first!!!).
Cheers,
Roachie

yeah thaks roachie,
so it probably is the driver side hub mechanism thats stuffed

Might not be fully stuffed, perhaps just stuck or a broken spring. It has a decent spline type dog clutch in there, not all that easy to stuff up but easy enough to get stuck.
Klaus

all 4wd's are 3 wheel drive unless you have a front locker!!

G'day LBJ,
I think that without any locker on the back either, you still only have a 2 w/d; not 3wd. If a vehicle with open diffs at both ends gets hung-up with diagonally opposite wheels off the ground (eg: front left and back right etc), it's gunna sit there and spin both those air-bound wheels. Add in a rear LSD worth it's salt and you'll get off the hump with any luck.
Cheers,
Roachie

Hi Roachie,
yeah i agree with ya there. i forgot about the 4b's with open centre rear diffs!! lol

Roachie,
on the '03 Patrol they have Auto locking hubs which also can be locked. Whats the advantage in locking the hubs in 4WD
Mike

Mike,
This might sound a bit stupid, but the reasons I changed to manual locking hubs were:
(a) Manouvering (reversing) a heavy trailer up a concrete driveway often requires low-range purely for the gearing advatages. But with auto hubs, as soon as you go into 4wd (high or low), you've got no choice but to be in 4 wheel drive....and that's not what you want when you're mucking around on a hard surface. So with manual hubs, unlocked, you can go into low range and still be able to steer normally without stressing CV joints etc.
(b) Similarly, when I was travelling up the Bloomfield Track to Cape York in 2002, part of the track was very steep and consisted of twin ribbons of concrete. I needed low range to get up the hill with camper trailer on, but due to auto hubs I could feel the stress on the steering when negotiating any corners.
(c)....and this really is silly, I know.....I was recently involved in a Xmas Parade as the tow vehicle for a float, promoting our 4 w/d club. The speed was sooooo slow, I either had to ride the clutch or go into low range and idle along in 1st/low. I chose to do the latter, but as the parade went around a rectangular course in the middle of town, every time I came to a corner I had to change back to 2wd until I got the wheels straightened up again.
Cheers,
Roachie

thats what i thought. If 4wd is engaged and in gear then shouldn't the wheel be locked because the cranks not turning? I had 1 wheel jacked at a time and in gear, front passenger- shaft and wheel turned
front driver wheel turned but no shaft
also noticed when driving that the steering was not heavy as it normally is in 4wd
suppose i better get down to arb to check it out.

Just had a new set of avm put on my cruiser to replace the avm that was broken (cant buy just 1) actually had the same problem as original post. Anyway couldnt see any plastic bits but they are very shiny and gold coloured and for your information on the box it says the product has one a natianal 4wd award. Impressive! which country and what award, thought claims like that were illegal

Second that, you will find that some corrosion has set in in that hub, removing the 6 x 10mm headed bolts will reveal all. It doesnt take much to get them stuck, would geta mechanic to do it unless you have had experiance with these or you are good at reading workshop manuals.
Andrewwheredayathinkwer mike?

So a courier is a hairdresser 's 4wd eh?
Anyone want to buy a slighly used courier?

Nah mate, he had a vitara. Lowest thing with part time 4wd I've seen. Couldn't comment on a courier, but like all the 'softer' 4b's I reckon they'd go anywhere us prauiser drivers actually go anyway.

Anywho, hope it's just a hub and not a diff! (Though you never know, maybe it IS the tire pressure!!!)

Cheers.