Lockin my hubs in.....Question!!!!!

[ford99]

i have a 99 F250 4x4..And i just wounderin me and my buddy was talkin but can i leave my hubs locked "in" while i drive down the road all the time with my switch inside the truck turned 2wd. I know i cant drive down the road with the hubs locked in and the switch in 4wd. I just hate havin to get out of the truck to lock the hubs in everytime i need to use the 4wd. thanks

[NoRalPh]

If you leave them locked, you won't hurt anything. All it will do is maybe cost you a tiny bit of fuel mileage because you are turning the front diff all the time you're moving and if left in continually, some faster U-Joint wear (with no-load I wouldn't worry about the diff itself)

LOTS of people lock their ft hubs for the whole winter just because of what you're describing

[smokenstroke]

Yeah, just lose milage...

[colberjs]

Stupid question here. I have an '06. What is the purpose of the locking hubs when I have the switch in the cab?

[kylev90]

Ya im one of those people that leave mine locked in all winter long. I will take my truck down the freeway doing 75 in 4WD without thinking twice about it too. When spring comes I just pull my hubs, regrease my wheel bearings and check everything out but have never had any problems.

[venom_nitrous]

Originally Posted by colberjs

Stupid question here. I have an '06. What is the purpose of the locking hubs when I have the switch in the cab?

There are 2 positions on the hub, auto and lock. Auto will unlock the hubs for you in 2wd and lock automatically for you when you go to 4wd. The purpose for the lock positions is
1) If you ever have problems with the auto hub not locking by itself you can still have 4wd you just have to do it manually and
2) It takes one full revolution of the front tire to lock them in using auto mode. If you get stuck and the front wheels don't turn, even though it is in 4wd the front wheels will not engage. If you put them to lock, them will engage immediatly.

[colberjs]

Originally Posted by venom_nitrous

There are 2 positions on the hub, auto and lock. Auto will unlock the hubs for you in 2wd and lock automatically for you when you go to 4wd. The purpose for the lock positions is
1) If you ever have problems with the auto hub not locking by itself you can still have 4wd you just have to do it manually and
2) It takes one full revolution of the front tire to lock them in using auto mode. If you get stuck and the front wheels don't turn, even though it is in 4wd the front wheels will not engage. If you put them to lock, them will engage immediatly.

Thanks for the info.