Stripped Free Wheeeling Hub Mechanism

"Switch mechanism on the front wheel?"

Jeez, my vehicle has the old mechanical engage/disengage mechanism which makes it very simple and reliable.

Never had a problem stopping and engaging the front hubs, before I need to use 4WD.

Once though, I did suffer from "brain fade" and couldn't get into 4WD low range. (I was sober too). Had to stop, count to ten, then think....that's right....shift the auto selector to neutral first you dork....Duh!!

Depends what you are calling stripped.

I assume you are talking about the manual locking mechanism that I think you are.

Has it stripped the teeth off the engaging ring? That would be a serious failure. I've not heard of these fail in standard vehicles other than to start sticking. Unless of course you've done a v8 conversion or serious power upgrades.

More likely it's got water in it and the workings are now sticking. You can turn the locking mechanism back and forth but it fails to engage.

Usually a strip, clean and relube is all it takes, though surface rust on the spring that disengages it is not good.

Putting it back together is the key to success as it's a bit of an odd concept, but a google search on rebuilding AISIN locking hubs will point you in the right direction.

I'd suggest this is the issue and you'll end up with a recoverable spare.

They are easy to swap out on the side of the track if you get a failure but I don't know that I'd carry one as a spare, though I know others that do.

Dave

Have a look here for the "How to" http://www.yankeetoys.org/Documents/AisinHubs.pdf

Hi Brian

Most likely got water or CV grease onto it, they can also stick if you put to much grease on them, they only need a little. I just pulled mine off to do some other things and found my drivers side had stuck in a little and damaged the cone inside. A new mechanism from Toyota was $70.

Have fun

Craig