So today in Northern KY we got a little bit of snow. Some spots on the way home from work it was slick enough to need 4wd and other places it wasnt very slick. So my question here is.... Is it safe for me to leave my front hubs locked in so I dont have to get in and out of the truck whenever I need to lock or unlock them. I know that when its dry I dont need to leave them locked in. I'm just talking about when there is snow on the ground or when its a little slick out.

 

It is ok to leave them locked.





<<<------ Ask me how I know

 

I locked mine in this morning. Will probably stay locked until June lol. It does vibrate a little around 60, but it will barely do 60.

 

Okay... How do you know?

 

I often let my Hubs in all Winter except if I take a long trip on dry road.

 

Do you see what the arrows are pointing at? That white stuff would be snow.

 

Thats from this year already? Holy crap. This is the first snow we've gotten and it wasn't much at all!

 

I have heard of those strange things that happens in GA. J/K

Try it and see, if it starts vibrating or if roads are clear...pull over stop and unlock them. Takes 30 seconds tops.
Just don't drive on dry pavement with 4wheel engaged...ever.

 

actually you should lock them in and drive with them once a month just to keep your diff fluids churned up.

only problem with driving locked hubs is the fact that your turning parts that dont need to be turned. hypothetically adding wear to said parts, and loss of efficiency from the truck having to turn said parts.

i believe the a.d.d. system they used at this time had c/v axles turning all the time. as do almost all new trucks. no biggy

 

I would leave mine locked from october until april or may.

 

I wouldn't leave them locked in if the pavement was dry. Only if it snowing and slick. I use my 4wd quite often so no worries about front diff fluid clumping up. So I'm good there. Just wanted to make sure it was safe to leave them locked in if it was slick out. Thanks guys!!

 

I leave them locked if i know i'll need 4wd. especially if its raining hard. I tend to spin the wheels reaaaal easy when its wet out.

 

I lock them only when I need to. Helps with MPGs. Dont normally lock them for anything under 2-3".

A good set of snow tires will help you more than you think. But for people who dont get snow all the time, look for tires with a lot of lugs and siping. More edges to grab with.

 

I dont have money for snow tires. I just bought brand new GY wrangler MT/R's a couple months ago. They did great today, I spun a little, but the ass end never came out.

 

I know you can keep them locked in, but it does put unneeded stress on the spindle bushings. Once you replace one of those things, you will never leave your hubs locked in unless you’re up to date on the greasing of the spindle bushings. Those bushings get dry and if your hubs are locked in then eventually you’re going to ruin your spindle.

Sleeoffroad in Golden Colorado has a ingenious little jig to grease the spindle bushings without totally dismantling everything.
I put grease in mine every fall, but I don’t keep the hubs locked all winter. I only lock them in when it snows…

 

In general, you can leave the front hubs locked ALL THE TIME... if you want. Rain, snow, water, hot and dry, 365+ days a year... keeping the front hubs locked shouldn't hurt anything much, but can add wear to things.

Keeping them locked will make your CV shafts and front differential spin anytime you're moving and can hurt your mileage due to the extra friction but also keep the front ready for you to shift the lever to 4wd IF you need it.

 

yes its ok

 

So I have another question I just remembered about. About 2 months ago I was up in the woods cutting trees and taking wood to be split and was using 4wd. After I was done I got back to the bottom of the hill and put it back in 2wd but forgot to unlock the front end. Then when I left I hit about 40 and they started making a terrible noise. Almost sounded like a jack brake.... any ideas why. This is why I'm leery to leave them locked in

 

First off, its ok to go that fast with the hubs locked. Don't trip.

But, when unlocked a lot of parts sit without use. You simply put something OLD back into use and it couldn't take it. Could be a CV joint. Look for torn boots. My basic rule of thumb: If the CV boot is torn, time to replace a shaft!

Also, even though you were in 2WD, your front driveshaft is still turning. A bad U-joint could easily be the culprit. Check these for play. Grab the driveshaft near the joint and shake the be-jesus out of it side-to-side. If it has play, its bad. You can also grab the propellor flange with one hand, and a piece of the shaft on the other side of the joint and rotate the two back & forth in opposing directions. If there's play, it's a bad joint.

A jack brake or a truck's jake break? Ba-aa-aa-aa-aam! Sounds like a FOOBARRED joint! My rear driveshaft did that when it's u-joint went out.

 

^ jake brake. sorry for the typo. I've checked cv joints. No torn boots or anything. Haven't checked the u-joints yet. I'll put it up in the air at work tomorrow and give them a good shake. Thanks for the info!!