I am going to be putting a diff in the front of my pickup that has a lock right locker. When I am in a situation where I need 4 wheel drive, but also need to be able to make tight turns, can I just unlock one hub and leave one locked so that it's easier to turn?

 

Yes, you can do that, or just put the truck in 2WD, that will unlock the locker. I have one in the front of my green rig and I drove it on the street (yes, it's street legal, licensed and insured) two days last week after the 16" snow. It was a blast and no problem to handle (I didn't go over 30 MPH, and generally was around 10-20 mph)

 

Yeah, 3WD works pretty good for turning on snow.

 

i guess if you need to make tight turns then just hammer the gas and whip the rear end around? HAHAHAHA but i dont see how locking one hub is going to make it better cuz lets say you lock hte right hub? what if you have to make a tight turn left? lol im probably just not thinkin bout it cuz we dont get alot of snow here in por oregon haha

 

i would not run 3wd like that, last time i did i almost spu a 360 and it will pull to the right or left depending which wheel is pulling. if you do decide to run this way go play with it before you drive on the populated road so you know how it pulls when you accelerate and compression brake. my favorite way to find out how a truck or car will do on the road is to drive on the lake behind my house, foot of snow with ice under it is probably the worse case scenario...lol

 

That's true for 4wd w/ the front locked too. An open front diff in 4wd on packed snow is the best IMO. I don't tend to use my rear locker on packed snow either. Lockers are awesome in deep stuff and in my experience, kinda suck when you're turning corners on packed snow.

 

well you can always just drive smart, lol common since will get you a long ways, or if your really wanting to get around in your truck and dont mind the lil work drop out hte rear drive shaft and run in fwd hahah youll do great! hahaa IM KIDDIN MOSTLY but my car FWD did amazing last year in the snow ( with chains of course ) but still i got around when there was over a foot of snow or more just fine! hahaha. but i guess its not worth the work, just buy some chains and throw them on the front just dont drive one pavement lol

 

My Yo spent 21 years in the snow, good riddance.

 

Screw chains haha.

 

i know right they really arnt fun hahha me and my buddy went to this biiiiig parking lot in a national park in a lil town where his parents are and basically we both were drifting around and i had cables well needless to say they hindered my drifting a lil and we ended up having the park manager come out and call the cops on us hahaha :-/ luckily we got out of there and back to his parents house before the cops got there hahaha

 

Back on topic.. haha

I guess I just don't know how the 4wd of these truck work.

Take a open front end with locking hubs. Since only one wheel gets power, do you have to lock both hubs for the front 4wd to work?

In a front end with a locker, if you just lock one hub, wouldn't it be exactly like just having the one wheel getting power on a open front end?

 

Sort of, in an open diff, the power is transfered back and forth between the tires. When weight shifts or traction changes, the power is moved to the tire with the least resistance.
In the setup with a locker and one hub open, you will always have traction on the locked side.
And yes, in an open diff both hubs have to be locked, or the open hub will get the power and not transfer in to the wheel.

 

Thanks, that explains a lot

 

So in a open diff, with hubs locked and transfer case in 4wd, if you are making a left turn, the right front tire will get power? and vice versa if making a right turn.

 

Now you are making my head hurt! jk, I believe it works that way. The open diff lets the axles turn independatly so they dont bind. This only works to a point though, if youve ever been in 4x4 on pavement you understand.

 

It depends - sometimes yes, sometimes no. In an open diff the power goes to the wheel with the least resistance.

Example: If one tire is on ice, and the other on dry ground, the tire on ice will spin while the tire on dry ground will stay put and you won't move. If it's locked, it forces the tire with traction (dry ground tire) to move also and in turn, you move.

With an open diff in normal 4wd, both tires will usually be getting power at the same time, but only until one loses traction which at that point, that tire will get all the power.