my 1994 ranger 3.0 supercab 4x4 xl 5-speed has manual locking hubs for 4x4

to engage 4x4, you need to turn the hubs on, and then push the 4x4 button inside the truck.

what if you just leave the hubs turned on all the time while in the winter.

how much will it hurt gas mileage or your truck if you dont have the 4x4 button inside turned on?

 

i have heard its fine, just spins your axles which in turn does hurt MPG like 1-3 depending. idk if i would do it but hell i dont own a 4x4...

 

i wouldn't do it....not only does it hurt fuel milage a bit....1-3 mpg MAYBE! but it also turns the axle, wearing out the axle parts faster than they need to be worn out.....such items as u-joints, bearings in the housing, and so forth.....

 

now if you know it is going to snow the night before it would be fine, but if there ins't a chance of snow, then it wouldn't be neccessary...

 

I imagine this would be the same or more problem in a TTB with the Hubs locked as my Live axle rangers (00 1/2- current) Sometimes if I was in 2hi and I came up suddenly on some ice, the resistance of the front drive train turing would be enough to make the front end squirrely with out much notice. Didn't happen often but it did happen.

~HJ

 

na with the TTB and the hubs locked it handles just like if they weren't.......it is a pretty stable setup w/ or w/out the hubs locked.......

 

so if you have manual hubs off and turn 4x4 on in tuck, it doesnt do anything, right?

 

i am not really educated with what the manual locking hub does, can someone please explain to me what exactly turning the hub on does?

how does turning the hub on make the axle spin?

i just dont understand

 

correct.....with the hubs disengaged and the transfer case engaged, the axles will turn in the front, but it will not pull the truck

 

what it does is lock the spidle to the axle shaft.......the hub grips onto the end of the axle when the hubs are locked....when power is transfered from the transfer case to the axle, it splits it out the the tires........

 

if you drive with them on, does it make a sound you can hear when coming to a stop?

i heard soemthing today, but maybe it was just my imagination or maybe it is like that because i had the hubs on but was not in 4x4 because i didnt know how the roads would be on the ride home from work.

 

you shouldnt hear anything......you prolly have a wheel bearing that needs replaced....had the same problem with mine and it needed wheel bearings....

does it sound like a metal grinding on each other?

 

i ouldnt say a grinding, ever second or so, you hear a sound coming from under front of truck.

maybe every rotaion of rotor, i am not sure.

i had new wheel bearing installed back in september 06

whatever it is, i am not worried about it, a truck with 163, XXX miles on it, you gotta expect some noises.

 

did they install both the inner and the outter wheel bearings?

if they did, then take the brake caliper off and see if you have a rock stuck in between the brake pads and the rotor.....if not, then take it back to whoever put in the wheel bearings and make them check it again....

 

if i had something stuck, i would hear this sound i heard at all times stopping, i only heard it stopping with manual hubs on and 4x4 off coming home, i will wait and see if i hear it a few more times before i take it in.

i will listen for it with manual hubs off and 4x4 off tomorrow while it is not suppose to snow at all.

 

you may have a bad hub....

 

If these are anything like Jeeps you might notice some gear noise from the transfer case when in 4wd, but you shouldnt be hearing any noises from the front axle.

Does it do it only when you brake or while driving slow?

 

Rangers dont come with gear driven transfer cases....they are i believe chain driven...........the last real stock transfer case that was gear driven, i believe was the NP205....

 

well i went to work last night with the hubs off and dont remember hearing a noise, but i forgot to really listen for it.

snowed during the night and drove home with hubs on and sometimes 4x4 on. i heard it sometimes when 4x4 was off with hubs on when i came to one stop. much harder to hear it while driving due to other noises outside like road noise. sounds like a rubbing noise, not a grinding noise in my opinion.

the bearings are new on the front passenger side and the hub was replaced last summer also.

i have a feeling it only does it when hubs are locked for 4x4.

any ideas why only when hubs are on?

i will continue to listen whenever i come to a stop now.

it is definately coming from the passenger side, maybe it is something in he door panel or something or from the underside of the dash, hard to tell.

 

you may have a blown hub....or there could be something inside the hub that isn't susposed to be there...like a rock, or a piece of metal that has broken off inside the hub....

take you wheel off and remove the hub and look inside it....run your finger through the grease to see if there is anything inside it.....if there is no grease inside the hub, then that could cause your problem also...

 

how could the hub be bad already, it is only like 5 months old, if that?

i wont be able to get wheel off til this snow melts some weekend probably.
if no grease, should i rub a bunch in it?

thank god i bought 2 hubs back in the summer, i am glad i still have the other one.

but still, why would it just make this noise with it locked and not unlocked?

 

you hub could be bad already if there was no grease in it when you put it on....and some foreign object could have got inside there and broke something or that foreign object could be what is makeing the noise...

could also be something that is rubbing your axle shaft, or something could have broken loose inside the diff.........maybe a u-joint in the axle shafts could be bad...there are 2 u-joints on the passanger side and 1 on the driver side that could be bad

it only makes that noise because it is something that is in the axle itself that is wrong.........and the axle doesn't move until the hubs are locked...when they are unlocked, the axle just sits there....

 

oh yeah, the 3 u-joints were replaced last june also.

 

then you have something either rubbing an axle, something inside the diff that is broke or lose, have a bad hub, or something inside the hub........

without you physically looking at all these parts i dont think we can say what is wrong with it.....if it only does it when the hubs are locked, then those possibilities are the only ones it could be....because everything is left not turning when the hubs are unlocked......

 

when the snow melts, i will pull wheel off and have a look at the hub....i hope it is the hub now and not the diff.

why would a lack of grease cause a noise?