I have heard both "it's ok" and "no don't you'll ruin everything" on leavinng hubs locked in for the winter. Minnesota winters are unpredictable, and the convinece of shift and go would be nice, but it seems I hear some different noises than usual, and vibration which I expected. I go from snow covered city streets to dry highway and speeds up to 65mph.
You guys have any feelings on this?
Thanks,
Woody

 

I wouldn't take the up to 65 maybe 40 45 and if ur hearing noises it's prob the lack of grease in the boots unless u did a SAS then ur knucks may need some grease

 

Leave them locked in. I personally wouldn't go that fast with the road conditions changing that quick though.

 

About the only time I unlock mine is if I go on a longer then normal trip on dry roads.Till the spring thaw.

Now if your CV axles are shot or your front drive shaft is so unbalanced the whole truck shakes then it is pretty much a no brainer.

 

Easy way to check either? The front driveline is about the one thing I haven't touched besides doing brakes and changing fluid.

 

CV shafts, check for cracked boots, dirt and debris will get inside. CV's will make a clicking noise while under load. An unbalanced drive shaft is just what it sounds like.

 

The front drive shaft is the exact same technology as the rear drive shaft, which happily spins at 75mph for 100's of thousands of miles.
The front differential is the same technology as the rear one - same thing applies.
For ADD trucks, the front CV axles spin all the time at whatever speed you're going, without issues. Obviously they're designed for it.

Bottom line, ignore the folks who say the front end can't go as fast as the rear. It's designed for exactly the same performance and conditions. Now, if things are worn and out of balance, get those fixed, as has been said before.

If you have a lift that increase your CV or driveline angles, it can change things. But for a stock truck, it should be no problem.

If I leave my hubs locked in so the drive shaft turns, mpg falls by about 1 mpg. Other than that, it's completely unnoticeable.