I keep seeing everyone on here praising manual hubs vs auto hubs. My question is why are the manual hubs better? If this seems to be a dumb question I apologize... just would like a little info. btw (94 4rnr 3.0 5spd) no lift .... yet

 

With auto hubs your cv's are always turning whether you are in 4wd or not causing extra wear on the cv's. Manual hubs is exactly the opposite, thats why most people do aisin manual hub swaps

 

auto hubs will disengage in reverse...as manual WILL NOT...if u have them locked...they stay locked...manuals are also stronger...cheaper...easier to replace...and rebuild

 

There is a current thread on this. "Aisin auto vs. manual hubs" and there is a detailed thread on 4x4wire.com

 

WOW! 3 good answers really frikin quick. That pretty much covers everything I wanted to know.... except how to convince my g/f to get out in the snow and lock the pass hub.... Thanks

 

when i had auto hubs on my 884runner on day the drivers side hub locked up and couldnt get it free so then i changed to manuel hubs

 

It starts snowing, just lock'em and leave'em. No different than you have now with ADD.

 

auto hubs suck ass. ADD on the other hand...not so bad.

 

I have ADD on my 4runner, would still love to do a aisin manual swap

 

You have ADD, which is essencially like having manual hubs but locked all the time. What most guys will do is leave them locked for the winter months so they don't have to get in and out of the truck. But unlock them for all spring/fall street driving. You will save wear and tear and a few mpg.

 

Hey Jay, I see you got the lights all hooked up. They look good!

 

My bad experience with 'Auto' hubs were on my '86 4Runner that I purchased with ~1200 miles on it in april of 86. With 7500 miles on the clock I lost 4 wheel drive for due to the failure of some little plastic part. Purchased a set of manual hubs to convert the Autos. Never had on issue on the 140K i put on the truck in 5 years before I sold it in '91...
If there was a kit to convert the hubs on my '05 Tacoma I would seriously look into it..

 

Unless there's some secret about Aisin auto hubs that I don't know, auto hubs of any brand should lock in reverse as well as forward, unless the hub is malfunctioning. If you know of Aisin hubs that didn't lock in reverse, there was a problem with the hubs.

I know with older Ford mechanical auto hubs, when the front axle shafts change direction, the hubs momentary unlock, and then relock. This happens in no more than 1/2 turn of the front axle shafts, and happens whether going from forward to reverse, or reverse to forward. I know this, because when I had my '94 Mazda Navajo (same as a same year 2 door Explorer), I found out myself by crawling underneath and turning the shafts.

Aisin auto hubs shouldn't operate too much differently than Ford hubs (unless they use vacuum or voltage), and I don't see why Toyota (or any company) would design the hubs in such a way so that you wouldn't have 4wd in reverse.

Manual hubs are definately better than auto hubs of any brand. I shattered the bodies of 3 automatic hubs on my Navajo (although they never failed to lock or unlock when not shattered) before I replaced them with Warn manual hubs.

If the Aisin auto hubs lock and unlock manually using CV shaft rotation like the older Ford auto hubs do, and if the rear tires spin while the front hubs are locking, there could be enough shock load to break something. That's why my hubs shattered. Fortunately, it was the hubs that broke and not something more expensive and harder to fix.

If original poster doesn't already have manual hubs, he should get them.