I am thinking of buying my uncle's 1989 Toyota P/U. The only thing that concerns me is that he has kept the hubs locked all the time! I know this speeds up the wear on the 4x4 drivetrain, but what part will wear out? The hubs? It has 170k miles, and I assume they have been locked for at least 3/4 of the life. Should I pass?

 

Does he have any kind of lift on it? If not, I wouldn't let it sway you, all those ADD toyotas with over 200,000 are still going strong. What would wear out would probably be the cv's, but mainly that is made worse if there is a lift like with tbar crank, etc...

 

No lift, stock 215/75R15.

Thanks for the input

 

why would you keep them locked all the time? No offense, but that seems kinda dumb. Unless of course you need it all the time. I would check the spindle bushings and definitily check the front diff fluid, and prolly the u-joints
on the front shaft.

 

Keeping them locked all the time is harmless. The vast majority of our trucks are ADD. ADD is the same as having your manual hubs locked all the time.

 

Don't sweat it and go for it.

 

I am not sure why he kept them locked all the time. He doesn't know a lot about cars and probably figured it was easier to just shift it into 4WD rather than going out there and locking the hubs.

Thanks for the answers guys!

 

x2...

 

In terms of the CV's, yes.

but

Since it is ADD, there is no wear on the Driveline, or on the T-case. So, having manual hubs locked in all the time is not the same as ADD.

Prolly didn't hurt anything to have them locked all the time tho, since the t-case is still getting oiled and the driveline is built to handle it for hundreds of thousands of miles.

 

SLC,

I didn't see anything in your post confirming whether this truck has ADD or not. Could you give us some more info? i.e. engine and whether the hubs were on it new, or added later?

 

The truck came with manual hubs. These are the original hubs. Engine is the 22RE 5-speed manual

 

I bet you will get better gas mileage than him by keeping them unlocked
have you driven it and how dose it feel on the road with it unlocked and locked.
if it dose not vibrate buy it and if it dose buy it and expect to replace the U-joints

 

with everything stock the CV angles are pretty tame.

Think about all the front wheel drive cars out there. My moms 90 Corrola has 350,000km and has never had the CV boots or axles changed, and they are always turning.

You'll be fine. If everything else is clean buy the truck.

 

I had tires put on a few weeks ago. That weekend, I went through some light trails. I must have locked the hubs and not unlocked them. A few days ago, I was going through a friends junkyard to put some pieces on my 1964 GMC fleetside pick up, I got out to lock them and they were still locked. I unlocked them when I was done that day but never noticed any difference. It surely shouldn't hurt the cv axles as that is what they were designed to do, turn for tens of thousands of miles. What I am wondering is are the differential gears turning? or does the diff not come into play until 4 is selected? This is shameful I know for me to ask but I am not at work and don't have any manuals etc. at home. My hubs are manual Warns. I don't know what came on the truck.

 

Yes, the gears in the diff are turning. Locking the hubs means that the CV axles turn, the CV's are connected to the diff. When the hubs are locked, everything in the front end turns(CV's, diff, drive shaft). The only difference from 4wd is that they arn't powered.

 

Ok so like what I was thinking, I didn't know if the driveshaft was always turning or what. On Chevy trucks the actuator for 4x4 engagement is in the front diff. You will have to excuse my ignorance but I don't see any Toyota transmissions really. One reason why Volvo used Aisin in the 240 series and why I myself am fond of Toyotas. I have never had to rebuild the transmission in any car I ever owned except for a Cadillac I had in college.

 

hey thanks for the info i know this is not my thread but i had this question for awhile and i never asked i guessed. so now when i go up on the mountain i'll just lock them before i leave my house instead of hoping out in the cold and locking them. lol

 

If you can...lol. Whenever it's cold enough to freeze, it's cold enough to freeze wet hubs. Mine get wet as a rule with my road (a semi-mountainous dirt road....lots of ruts and puddles), so I just leave 'em locked so I can actually get out to the main road. This info is good to know, though. Now I'm not so concerned about them locked (and frozen) driving on the highway....in 2whl, of course. Just cuts the mileage a tad.

And Bill...good point!