Engaging 4x4 Without locking hubs

[Jules]

Morning all

Not sure if this was adressed previously

What will happen if I put my lorrie in 4x4 (H) or ( L) without locking hubs in the front, obviously travelling gravel road and not tar

Shalom

[AndriesS]

If you have manual hubs and they are unlocked
changing to 4x4 Moving - you will hear crunches and might break something at speed
Stationary - nothing your front diff will spin but front wheels will get nothing
end of the day still no traction in front as the hubs aren't locked

If you have manual hubs and they are locked - moving
4x2 - 4x4 High, should not be a problem at all as all the driving gears are moving, can go back to 4x2 while driving no sweat.
4x2 to 4x4 L , won't get that right without an army cadets determination to break something.
traction in front

Auto hubs
4x2 - 4x4 (H and L)- stationary no problem
4x2 - 4x4 and back - while moving - it should handle it up to about 40km/h , returning to 4x2 won't be a problem but the front drive train will keep moving until you stop and change direction (reverse)
Traction in front

[offroadbiker]

What happens if manual hubs are locked and you drive in normal 4x2?

[Herrie]

With only the front hubs locked and you are still in 2H the front driveshafts and the front propshaft will turn while you are driving but that is all!!

[ricster]

I have heard that it is a good thing to do every now and again. Lock the front hubs and drive a few Km in 2H this keeps the bits and pieces and gears in the diff all lubed up !! No harm can come from that, as your transfer case is not engaged to the front propshaft in 2H. Your propshaft will spin, but due to the front wheels turning. You also have an open front diff so turning is no problem.

[Alex Roux]

Given the above comments, is it bad for you car to manually lock the front hubs at all times?
I have never done it. Just wondering.

Not sure about the Y60, but the Y61 can lock both automatically and manually.
I have always relied on the auto locking of the hubs. Never bothered taking the spanner with me to lock it manually at the trail.
Apparently, manually locked hubs are stonger.
Also if you rely on the autolocks, then it disengages when rolling back on an obstacle, whereas the manually locked hubs do not unlock on a roll back.
When in 4x4, and the hubs lokced automatically, my car makes a distinct clicking sound when moving from forward to reverse. This is apparently from the hubs that are unlocking.
I guess there is better traction and control on a roll back if locked manually?

[Kagiso II]

'Lex -- die Patrol Y61 met die opsie op die hubs .. die denke werk so:
as jy in "MAK" 4x4 wereld ry is die "autolocking hub " voldoende - MAAR as jy 'Hunters Road' in reenseisoen sou wou aanvat DAN gaan jy daai spanne ruithaal en permanet sluit - want die automatics kom los as jy reverse ens [baie langer verduidelik daar -- ek dink dis iewers vorentoe met 'n "Opleidag" ingesluit
Maar jy breekniks soos di tnou gaan, nie

DW0013.jpg (75.41 KiB) Viewed 4724 times

[Peter Connan]

Jules, your car has manual hubs, not auto hey?

The manual says you should not engage 4x4 without first locking the hubs, but I often engage 4l (from a standstill) without locking the hubs, for example in very slow traffic or when manuevering a trailer.

However, I suspect you should never engage 4x4 in the transfer case and then lock the hubs.

Alex, the owner's manual actually states that you should drive 16 km with the hubs locked at least once a month, to lubricate the axle internals. No damage can result from keeping the hubs locked permanently, but fuel consumption and tire wear will suffer a bit.

I would be inclined to lock automatic hubs whenever doing a trial, but not if I "needed" 4x4 on a normal dirt road with a muddy puddle on it. My reasoning is that the auto hubs could partially unlock on any surface where traction is momentarily lost.

[Alex Roux]

En die foto hierbo:

That was me flexing in the dongas at de Wildt yesterday
Dankie Oom!

[Jules]

Hi Peter, yip the hubs are manual. Was just thinking today when I was at our quarry and taking the difficult route out what will happen if I engage 4x4 op die kort kierie but not locking the hubs, so I canned the idea untill I received info from the pro's on he forum. I did engage difflock since we GQ owners do not need to engage 4x4 before we can use difflock.

I also try to engage 4x4 at least 1x a month but only travel probably 10km

Shalom