Leave 4x4 Hubs Locked In Or Out ?

[tnhotrod]

Is There Anything Bad About Leaving The Front Hubs Locked In While The Truck Is In 2wd. By The Way My Truck Is A 99 Excab Psd With The Eletronic 4x4 Shift Not The Manual.. Thanks

[Logan]

I have often heard that it is not good to but wondered the same thing. There are a lot of times that I leave mine locked in because I am never sure when I might get into something where I might need the four wheel dig. Anyone else have thoughts on this. I am sure it wears stuff out faster.

[power95]

i think it kinda defeats the purpose of taking it out of 4x4, because everything is still spinning except there is no power to the transfer case. i think it will drop your mpg too

[slammedSI]

i have left mine in for a week before, lower mpg, it just takes more, now your have to turn 4 wheels insted of just 2

[mschn99]

Mechanically wise.you wear on the spindle bearings a bit more...but there really isnt a huge negative mechanically...BUT.....

you will have 2-3MPG loss with your hubs locked in. In cold weather areas, i feel that it is worth it to know for sure your 4x4 will lock in...other areas...it aint worth it...

[purduefarmboy460]

I could tell a big difference turning really sharp with mine locked in also, got it back from the dealer and they had locked them when they were workin on the axel seals, glad I figured out what that horrible sound, feel in the wheel was!!

[Billy01Smoker]

Leaving your hubs locked will wear out all of your front end drive components prematurely, it will also cause an anoying click from the front end at full steering stuff! Like Marc said in the winter up noth it may be worth while but no where else! i have spent countless hours replacing front end components because we get troops that have never had 4X4 and leave the hubs locked in

[MNDIZZLE]

Wait!!!, my hubs say "Auto" and "Lock". I was told by my techs at Northstar Ford that, when in Auto, nothing spins until you switch the dash selector to
4x4, then the hubs engage. Am I right? I was told that you would only have to switch from auto to lock if the auto vacuum mechanism fails.???

[Billy01Smoker]

That would would be correct, the lock postion is there for that reason and to give you the option to know that you have a positive front axle engagement when you select 4hi/4lo on the dash. The front hub assy. isn't the greatest on our truck and are prone to problems especially when the hubs are left in the locked postion

[Banshee34]

I know that after a year or so of lil bro's being locked in .......

yep you guessed, the hubs went KAPUT and bad!!!!!!!!!