well ill start off with a little story this weekend hunting (and we just got a rediculos amount of snow for this area) i had to pull of to the side of the road to let someone get passed on the other side and got sucked into a giant ditch and like any kid i droped her down into first and hammered down hoping to get back up out unfortunatly i wound up buried 30 ft up the ditch no one else thought i had a chance of moving then but with a little jigling i was headed back down the way i came and just about to get up out and a big culvert stoped me right now and in the end i had to get pulled out by a ford. this is a real kick in the nuts for me so tonight i ordered a lockrite for my rear diff and i plan on getting a set of superwinch manual hubs for my ifs and welding it up solid and just leaving one hub locked in so i dont get any binding in my front axle when im in 2wd. my theory is itll be cheap and just one wheel driving would be better than the wheel with the least traction driving and i can always lock the other hub in when i get into trouble. i was just wondering if anyone else has done something similar and how it worked out for them

 

Please god dont buy a superwinch hub or a Warn.... or any other manual hub other than a used $40 set of factory aisin's. They are 10X stronger than those pieces of garbage.

 

I would stay away from the Superwinch hubs - tons of stories of them failing... I have Warn, and they have done fine by me. When they get beat up, I exercise the lifetime warranty and get new ones. Can't say that for AISIN...

Having done the "one-hub locked" thing before, it SUCKS. The truck pulls to one side like crazy... and of course, you'll have the wrong one locked.

Steering will be next to impossible in 4WD. Since you live in PA, I assume you drive on snowy roads, sometimes at least, in 4WD. The setup you describe will be downright dangerous to you and others on the road with you.

 

thanks for the help im acctually holding off on the ifs deal for now im goan wait and see how much better it is with the locked rear end but what is the difference with the hubs are the superwinches and warns aluminum and the aisins steel? im really not looking for anything longlasting cuz ill probly just blow a cv joint out mud bogging this summer and thatll be good motivation for a sas but if i can get something more durable for less money then id def go for it

and once again i know my welded ifs setup would be a real pain as far as stearing goes and always geting out and unlocking and locking in hubs but i really dont want to sink serious money into it since it probly wont be around long

as for being dangerous on the road i understand that an automatic locker will be bad enough in its own and the solid front axle will make it even worse (i hate driving in snow in 4wd at anything faster than 25mph cuz u never know whats gona kick out when u loose traction) but i plan on driving my 2wd 71 gmc most of the time any how and just running the toyota off road and when the snows just to much for a 2wd truck

also do i stand any chance of breaking anything besides the fron axle jonts with this setup, probly the worst abuse its gona see is real sticky mud a little deeper than the botoms of the doors

 

So tc, would a welded front end be okay say in South Texas where we never need 4wd for normal street driving?

 

I dont know why the aisins are better, I never gave it thought becasue they are the cheapest, easiest, and IMO by far strongest option. I will say I have wheeled with people with both and Ive seen warns explode on conservative drivers WITH an open front diff and Ive seen psycopaths on 42's and locked beat aisins so hard that they shear all 6 hub studs and the 2 dowl pins clear off, and the body and gears are fine.

I have never seen an aisin break and Ive never seen a warn not break. I have little or no experieance with the superwinch hubs.

And dont weld the front. as TC said it will be very squirly on the road and if you ever lock both front hubs you WILL NOT be able to turn the steering wheel at all if you find some traction. (learned that the hard way in my buddies locked fj80....)

You will be happy with the locked rear.

 

You wont be able to turn your steering wheel.
Your turning radius will be comparable to a barge.
You will break.

 

thanks for the advice on the hubs ill deff put some more research into that know a guy that boggs and 82 chevy with a bigblock and 45 and his welded dana 44 used to obviously snap axles like tooth picks now that he upgraded to dana 60 but im gona ask him what hes used for hubs and what not

does anyone how bad stearing will be with just one hub locked in tho i know itll still kinda suck but i usually only use 4wd after i get stuck or if im going thru something i know id get stuck in 2wd and hardly ever when im on the roads

 

Depends on how much traction there is and a bunch of other factors. Generally, though, in my (limited) experience, with the left hub locked, turning right will be OK, turning left will be a PITA. The truck will want to constantly turn to the right. Seriously - for getting off the trail, it's one thing - for every time out, it will get old FAST and make 'wheeling less fun.

 

Yeah im begining to see that posibly geting stuck more offten would be better than geting out and switching hubs all the time. i have been checking out the eaton trutrack it doesnt seam like it would make a world of difference like a full locker would or would i be much better off just saving for a solid axle and droping something selectable in it

 

Bingo. dont put a dime into the IFS if you want a solid axle. When I did my sas my IFS was shot! 2 bad calipers, both rotors were worn to the cooling vents, no pads, all bad ball joints, bad Idler arm.... Not that I suggest that