Locking hubs

[dr8082]

Ive got an 03 F250. HOw bad is it if I leave my hubs locked in for several weeks at a time. I have rims that have center caps that make it a pain to lock and unlock. The reason I ask is sometimes like hunting season and offroading in the summer im on the road 1/2 the time and off the other 1/2.

[Jrz13]

It wont damage anything, you'll loose a lil mpg. I leave mine locked all winter for plowing etc...

[Zaairman]

Why not just get open front center caps?

[dieselcrawler]

I had stainless steel wheel covers on my dually, they came with pop-out centers, but that still left a sharp edge on the hole that you had to reach into to get to the lockout hub... so I made an extention out of PVC pipe and a cap... easy to work with, and left a nice 'knob' sticking out of the hub cap that was easy to twist with gloves on in cold weather...

I used a hole saw to fit 1 1/4" pipe to make the hole in the hub cover. I used a peice of 1 1/4 PVC pipe about 5" long, notched the end to fit over the lock out hub center, and cut it off so it just stuck out of the hub cap enough to glue the pipe cap onto it... I cut the pipe cap down so it had about 1/2 of the original 'glue' surface, and used the 'ring' that was cut off to act as a retainer ring on the inside, glued in place. Then the shortened pipe cap was glued on the out side, making my pvc hub extention captive in the removeable hub cap center, can't fall out, and seated into the lock out hub nicely... worked slick for years on my old Chevy truck, and on my F350 too... untill I knocked it off getting to close to something one day, smashing it to bits... sorry no pictures, but could get some if there is intrest...

[hammerstroker]

mine were locked doing 85 down the interstate and exploded my transfercase and front shaft. if u ever feel some massive vibration SLOW down

[dieselcrawler]

Originally Posted by hammerstroker

mine were locked doing 85 down the interstate and exploded my transfercase and front shaft. if u ever feel some massive vibration SLOW down

Wow... what happened? My guess is something was up, and going 85 with the hubs locked just made it happen sooner, with a bigger bang!

Was talking to a Dodge owner last summer, discribed a simular story, 80 mph, vibration, BANG, T-case came apart... thru stuff THRU the tranny tunnel/floor boards, between his legs/knees, and embedded shapnel in the lower dash/knee panel... I got to see the truck, there was a hole in the floor big enough to put a childs fist thru... he's lucky he didn't lose something more importaint than his truck, even if it was a Dodge!

[hammerstroker]

Originally Posted by dieselcrawler

Wow... what happened? My guess is something was up, and going 85 with the hubs locked just made it happen sooner, with a bigger bang!

Was talking to a Dodge owner last summer, discribed a simular story, 80 mph, vibration, BANG, T-case came apart... thru stuff THRU the tranny tunnel/floor boards, between his legs/knees, and embedded shapnel in the lower dash/knee panel... I got to see the truck, there was a hole in the floor big enough to put a childs fist thru... he's lucky he didn't lose something more importaint than his truck, even if it was a Dodge!

mine was not that bad.. holy crap! mine just sounded like a 12g shotgun going off in the cab. the part of the front shaft that bolts to the tcase was laying on the road with the gear on it and the chain was broke in half dragging the ground. i caused some lady behind me to get a flat tire. talking about almost poopin yourself. my auto lock hubs were stuck i couldnt evern turn them with vise grips so i said screw it. then that happened.and u know what i was stupid enough to buy the auto hubs from ford again