Dumb Questions

Thanks Rhu
I think the Suk must have forgotten to engage 4wd or lock the hubs. Even so I am suprised he didnt get a bit further.

"When ever you are doing serious off road work it's always better to engage the hub in the locked position"

Sorry Martyn what do you mean by this? Is there a way to manually lock into auto hubs?

The Klms on the car are about 1600000 and from what you say the amount of smoke seems normal. thanks for the peace of mind

Jimmy,
If you look in the centre of the auto locking hub you should see the writing in the centre saying auto and lock, there will be a hex nut in the centre and an arrow you just turn the arrow until it aligns with the word LOCK, remember to unlock when you've finished. If I remember correctly the hex nut is the same size as the wheel nut so you just use your wheel brace to change the position. In my opinion I would get rid and fit the manual hub lock, again my opinion. The manual hubs are cheaper and in my opinion better. Hope this helpsKeep the shiny side up

Jimmy,
I suspect the auto hubs have been fitted instead of the manual hubs, I don't think the auto hubs where introduced until later 94 maybe 95. Mines a 92 and still has the manual hubs. Maybe somebody else knows.Keep the shiny side up

My Terrano is a '92 and has the auto hubs.
There is no manual lock on them.
The hubs can "slam" pretty badly (you would think they broke) if rocking the vehicle from forward to reverse in, say, a tight 3 pointer in soft sand. I have inspected the hubs and they seem OK (for now).
You have to reverse in 2WD to unlock the hubs.
I have never let the tyre pressure down on my trailer and have never had it bogged. Other people have had different experiences I suppose.
Re: Scooby-Doo ..... Idiots are everywhere, giving us all a bad name.
The idea of auto-hubs disengaging down hill seems pretty scary but it shouldn't happen.
Cheers
OskarMrs Oskar on Big Red

Hey Ken
I take it that what you are reffering to is different from diff wind up and is occuring between the front and rear diffs.
If the front wheels have a different rolling circumference to the rear and the vehicle is driven along hard packed sand while in 4wd causing the wind-up then driven through soft sand up a cutting should the drive through the soft sand usually be enough to dissipate the wind-up?
Thanks for your informative response

Jimmy

You are on the right track, but over to the side a bit.

This windup thing is very difficult to explain without making a dick of ones self unless one is an Auto Engineer, however I'll have a go.

Approx 2 yrs ago I had to undertake a 4WD course prior to going overseas for my employer.

During this course there was segment dedicated to windup.

They had a 4 wheel drive train (cut away version) demo setup so you could follow the theory line as the engineer explained 'windup'.

Now you are dead right about the difference between the front and rear diffs being the cause, why - not in this forum.

However the wind up takes place in the transmission/transfer area and can do so to such an extent the the transmission/transfer is totally lockedup and has to be tossed.

At this course we were told that driving on soft surfaces including hard packed beach sand allows the tyres to 'unwind' on a regular basis by undergoing little tyre surface slips as the tension builds .

Where as on bitumen etc the weight of the vehicle and friction doesn't allow this and hence the windup accumulates as the vehicle is driven forward.

The aforementioned engineer told a story of how he was given a vehicle so 'woundup' it was locked in gear. He stated that he managed to 'unwind' it by completing an intricate figure 8 sequence in reverse, however the transmission was damaged beyond repair from the stress of it all.

Now what you are experiencing is a tad of un released 'windup' when attempting to change from 4H to 2H etc. The reversing trick 'unwinds it and releases that tension.

In mine I sometimes have to reverse 10 - 20 feet on up to 3 attempts to release it.

So you aren't the lone ranger here. Just don't force the shift lever. It should glide when there is no 'windup'

Regards

Ken Robinson

Hey Willie No need to clarify, I can see where you are coming from.
My comments were "tongue in cheek" so to speak.. If you dont ask you may die wondering. What about my last two questions? They were the the ones I considered dumb!