What is the general feeling about leaving hubs in the locked position (as compared to free) for 4WD Tacomas. Of course this pertains to keeping them locked but continuing to drive around in 2WD. What about if someone has only one locked and the other is free.
Eric
Slight increase in wear and tear on the front driveline, CV boots mainly as well as spinning the front driveshaft and a slight MPG reduction due to the added drag. Locking only one hub (assuming an open front differential) will result in the spider gears spinning inside the diff, probably won't cause any major problems, I once drove ~400 miles on the highway only to find I had one hub locked when I arrived at my destination.
Some folks in snow country tend to lock up the hubs when the snow starts falling and leave them locked until spring, engaging 4WD as needed.
You get a bit worse fuel mileage from the added drag of the spinning axles and parts. And the steering can get a little funny from the added mass spinning also, but you get used to it.
I don't leave mine locked in 2WD unless I'm driving in foul weather or into places where I might need to shift into 4WD - saves wading out into knee-deep mud to lock them after the fact.
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I went to Toyota about this and a mechanic said that he said he keeps the hubs locked during winter which also helps keep the gears etc lubed.
ever since i had my '75 CJ, as soon as the snow starts falling i keep the hubs locked until spring. never had a problem with any of my
4wds. gas milage sucks, more noise because more things are turning inside, and it's harder to steer, but i'd rather deal with that than being caught in a bad situation without the 4wd option.i heard that if your pickup is lifted, especially w/ the ifs, leaving the front hubs locked when driving at high speeds puts too much stress on the front end and could cause serious, premature problems, as noted above - cv boot wear, u-joint wear, etc.
yes, that is true. i don't have any lifted ifs vehicles, so i never worry about it. but yes, it is not good to be turning the front axle when the cv joints aren't level.
not if it is out of 4wheel drive ...
Correct. Most of the stress on CV joints is a function of the load (torque) placed on them. When running in 2WD, the torque is minimal. The slightly shorter life due to the small amount of remaining wear may be offset by the benefits of keeping the lube circulating.
On my '79 FJ40, the hubs stay locked whenever I'm driving around town. I only unlock them for extended highway travel in good weather. I'd guess that my front drive components will outlast those in the rear by quite a bit.
Eric, having them locked wont hurt anything. Everything will turn, but no drive force applied. May notice some extra vibes. As for having one locked, not too good, this will wllow your pinions (spiders) to whiz around pretty quick like, either both locked or unlocked. But in dry conditions, leav ethem unlocked. As you head into the woods, lock them, then just pull it into 4Hi on the fly and out as needed.
Typically ifs tacos can only be suspension lifted about 2.5 - 3" because of the same problems you are talking about with the CV boots etc. course keeping in mind that I think all of the newer 4x4 tacos in the US have ADD which leaves the axles always engaged. I've spoken to people with 3" lifts that have 100k miles or more and have had little or no problems with them.
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