lock out hubs...

[international]

So, every wet morning when pulling out of my drive I have to lock my hubs in and then pull over to unlock them. How harmful is it to keep the hubs locked in all the time? Or at least until I get to work. Work is about 40 miles and half highway(75mph+). Don't all the newer 4x4s have these "automatic" hubs that are nothing better than having our old school hubs locks in all the time?

Thanks!

 

[zpd307]

locked hubs dont hurt anything other than your fuel mileage. come winter time, i usually leave them locked in if there is any sign of crappy weather or roads.

 

[motox tech]

x2, mine stay in for 6 months out of the year

 

[65sixbanger]

mine are always on lockdown

 

[F350farmboy]

The '89's are free for now....the weather hasn't got too bad yet. I still dont have a MPG figure yet and I've had the truck since june!

But once the white stuff falls, they're locked 24/7 and I won't even calculate MPGs

 

[Feed Bunk]

I know it hurts your fuel milage. I probably lock/unlock mine a dozen times a day feeding cattle when its muddy. I cant stand leaving them locked in when I dont need them. Snow packed roads are the only time Ill leave them locked and my fuel milage sucks.

 

[TWeatherford]

I would be curious to know how much it really hurts fuel mileage. If my auto hubs ever go bad I will put manuals on and do the test myself. Average a few tanks unlocked and a few tanks locked. I seems to me that my engine already has to push an 8,000 lb truck around, a little extra drivetrain turning as I go down the road shouldn't have too much of an effect. Unless there's something I'm missing.

 

[69oiler]

in my 10 years of leaving my hubs locked all winter on IDI and PSD trucks i have noticed approx. 1 mpg difference.

 

[FordGuy100]

I will use 4x4....and then forget to unlock them. Milage drops about 1mpg. It also seems to be slower but that just might be me .

 

[JesterPgh]

Once Old Man Winter hits for sure, I lock them in and leave them there. I lock them naturally when I go off pavement to play, but I also run them off and on just to keep things moving throughout the non-snow months.

 

[Agnem]

Being that I'm in the middle of an axle swap project, I am now quite familiar with the Dana44 and it's Ford and Chevy versions. One thing I would consider if your going to run with locked hubs a lot, especially on an old truck, would be to pull the spindle and repack the stub axle needle bearings. You could also check and refresh your U-joints if needed. It's been my observation that these are items which NEVER get any attention for the life of a truck.