Alright, After living in wet (Seattle) or dry (Camp Pendleton/San Diego) I now live in Spokane Wa. It gets pretty snowy and icy in the wnter here and I had a few questions regaurding it. First of all can you lock the front hubs but not engage 4 wheel drive and still drive without damaging the drivetrain? Second I have a Detroit auto locker in the rear end, would it wise to remove it or can I still drive safely with it in the snow/ice.
Thanks,
Kevin

 

Yes you can drive with the hubs locked and not in 4wd. I've been doing it for many, many years.

With the locker, take it easy for the first few snows. Learn how it behaves. It is a little different than an open diff truck, so be alert and aware.

Better still would be to take the truck out on the first snow, and find an empty parking lot somewhere, and practice turning and giving it gas and everything so if you mess up, there aren't any other cars, ditches or trees to hit.

 

X2 on what AxleIke says.

Also I found that if it was quite icy I had to drive in four wheel drive. Off-camber road ways were almost impassible with my mud terrains and a locker in rear when in 2wd. I'd make sure my hubs were locked before driving on icy/snowy paved roads just in case I had to engage 4wd. Nothing sucks more than sliding sideways towards the car beside you and you are only going 2mph and there is little you can do. Once I engaged 4wd I no longer slid sideways on mild off-camber roads.

(For the record, I drove a 1988 xtracab V6 for almost 6 years with a rear lunch box locker, so my opinion is based on a fair amount of experience on snow/ice with a locker and mud tires).

My two cents, Cheers

 

HAha, sounds like a blast, i wanna try !!

 

Fun off-road, yes, but not while driving home from work on busy, icy, streets. ...unless you enjoy getting into accidents and have your insurance premiums go up. I'd rather put my money into my truck rather than some insurance company's pocket. But I gather you were

Cheers

 

i too leave my hubs locked in the winter, its a blast when there is about 18" of snow on the ground. this will be my first year with my 85. its really embarrassing to get stuck on a little piece of ice spinning one wheel, damn open diffs.

 

i grew up in spokane and lived there up until may when i moved to AK. the roads in town arn't that snowy and a rear loker shouldn't be a problem as long as you know how it reacts. I drove a scout with a welded rear for two years and never had a problem. the only time you will see deep snow is early morning and it is once in a blue moon it is over 4" and it always melts off pretty fast.


oh, and do me a favor and go get a delish's burger for me!!!! that place rocks!!!! I dont know how long you have lived thee but if you need help with any four wheeling spots or clubs etc. let me know and i will tell you where to look.