free wheeling hubs

It doesnt cause any damage. It's good to engage them every month so the front driveline gets a bit of a lube etc. You will find the steering a little heavier and may use a little bit more juice also.

Leroy

Ryan,

Generally it's NOT bad to drive with your free-wheeling hubs locked and the transfer case lever in 2wd. Almost all mining sites for example leave their hubs in the locked position all the time because of the amount of 4wd ing required.

The only reason I've added the word "generally" in the above statement is to cover my arse in case there's a vehicle I've never heard of where it's not recommended. IMHO you could run your vehicle with the hubs locked for the whole lifetime of the vehicle without any problems at all. Most of the reasons for not doing so are "old school" and no longer valid on modern vehicles.

ryna,

I don't think it is "bad". It does mean that with the hubs locked, the front drive shafts etc. are also turning, thus putting unnecessary wear on these components.
But you are not going to stuff something up if you leave them locked on an irregular basis.

In fact, it is good practice to lock the hubs and drive for a minimum of 20 kilometers or so once a month, to enable the components to be lubricated.

Just my 50 cents worth mate.

Some of my friends look down on others now they have 'upgraded' to vehicles with auto hubs. However I just lock mine in at the last fuel stop or so and don't unlock them til a fuel stop on the way home.

My handbook even says to lock them in for 30kms every month to keep things lubed.

The only downside is that if you leave the hubs locked in unnecessarily, you increase the drag on the front axle and use a little bit more fuel as a result. You are not likely to break anything though.

Hi Ryan

Leroy is correct but fuel consumption will go up. I engage mine once a week and drive to and from work this turns the crown wheel in side thus circulating oil around and heating the bearing grease and circulating it. Also it stops what is called brenelling ( any one in the bearing industry should know ) it's, when the bearing sits in one spot and from the vibrations where the balls contact the in and outer raceways of the bearing it starts to chip of the case hardening thus shortening the bearing's life.

Rossco

Ryan,

I agree with all previous comments but also want to point out that the crown wheel in your front diff is not completely immersed in oil. The top half is exposed to air. Any condensation you have in your diff will result in a thin film of water sitting ontop of that oil, all combining to create slight surface rust on what should be a very clean and shiny crown wheel. This is obviously not good.

I've seen diffs that were not used enough (ie not engaged by locking the hubs) and this rust created havoc and greatly reduced life expectancy.

So it's a good policy to lock them regularly for better lubrication. Plus, you will know that everything is working fine. You don't want to find out that something is wrong when you really need 4WD! Better to test regularly.

My 2.2cents worth (inc GST).

Andrew

On a Ford Maverick ute, I left my hubs locked in after a prospecting trip up around Meekatharra. Went all the way back to Perth (800km) with 'em in at around 100kmh. Result - burnt out both internal oil seals that stop the diff oil from contaminating the hub grease - sloppy mess. Plus cut a groove in the drive shafts that had to be metal sprayed and machined as the new oil seals wouldn't stop the oil.

Bilbo

Ryna

One point not mentioned above is that it's not that long ago that 4WD's left the factory with the front hubs permanently locked. Free wheeling hubs were an after market accessory ppls put on themselves.

If it's not a constant 4WD vehicle it makes no difference, other than the comments about turning extra bits, fuel consumption and the need to lubricate all those turning bits.

Cheers

Locked hubs shouldn't cause a problem. Remember, for a couple of decades no common 4WD came with FWHs. All Land Rovers, Landcruisers and Nissan G60s had fixed front hubs, as standard. FWHs were an accessory item only. And now all superior(?) 4wds [Range Rovers, Land Rovers post Series III, etc.] have permanent 4WD, so the front axle components are always in use - and these don't suffer any premature failure of these components AFAIK.
I suppose it's possible some manufacturers have down-graded some front axle components on the assumption that the standard FWHs would only be locked for part of the time but it sounds unlikely to me. That said, I can't explain what may have happened in Bilbo's case but find it hard to believe the locked hubs were the only factor leading to the seal failures.

Mine are in quite a lot.... mostly 'cos I forget to unlock 'em! But a mate who has a 95 GQ like mine has had his engaged since the day he picked it up.... 7 years ago!!! He believes it's better to have the oil circulating at all times..

We do unlock ours from time to time, but generally they're "in" and no damage has occurred so far!

Should run the hubs locked (in 2WD) for40 or 50 kms before actually using 4WD so as the diff oil warms up. Broken axles can occur when people lock the hubs just before using 4WD and putting the front end under excessive load when the oil is cold.

LSD's also work better after the oil gets up to a warm temperature. Can also take a bit of time in the morning for the LSD to actually work. On my Hilux it takes about 15 kms before I can feel the diff working properly.

The other benefit of locking hubs is that you might extend the life of the front diff bearings. They don't like sitting still on the corrugated roads. All that vibration can cause the rollers to work on one spot and make the bearings rough.

What about the fact that with each hub locked there is absuloutely no give in the axle line. What I mean about that is when you go around a left corner for instance, the left wheel turns less than the right wheel has to meaning there would be twist (or attempt twist) in the axle line. Wouldn't this lead to much more pressure on the axle and hubs, and also mean the tyres would scrub more as the axle resisted the turn that the outer wheel wanted to make? I'm no engineer but I always thought this was the reason not to lock them in full time. Otherwise, there the front hbus would me manufactured locked in without the option to disengage????????????? I know I'm probably completely wrong, so if anyone can correct me I'm well and truly open to it!