Warn hubs

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Mar 18, 2006
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Just want to know if my rig is actually in 4 wheel drive when i put the tcase in 4 hi without the hubs locked. Sometimes i put my rig in 4 hi, and when i look underneath the truck i can see the front driveshaft engaging, but it won't get me out unless i lock the hubs. So my question is do you have to have your hubs locked in order for the front shaft to engage, or do warn hubs act like lockers?
 
Just want to know if my rig is actually in 4 wheel drive when i put the tcase in 4 hi without the hubs locked. Sometimes i put my rig in 4 hi, and when i look underneath the truck i can see the front driveshaft engaging, but it won't get me out unless i lock the hubs. So my question is do you have to have your hubs locked in order for the front shaft to engage, or do warn hubs act like lockers?



The Warn lock outs isolate the front wheel bearing hubs from the axle shaft.


If they are not locked in, your front axle shafts will not be coupled to the wheels.


They must be in lock postition for the front wheels to do anything in 4x4.


They do not act like lockers.

A locker is a traction aid that is installed in the differential.
 
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The Warn lock outs isolate the front wheel bearing hubs from the axle shaft.


If they are not locked in, your front axle shafts will not be coupled to the wheels.

Well then.

Your front drive shaft will only turn if your tranfers case is in 4x4. If you shift the lever to 4hi it will put power to it and it will turn at the same speed as your rear. This is assuming that your hubs are not locked in the 4x4 position.

The driveshaft turns the pinion or input shaft inside you front differential. The pinion then turns ring. The ring then turns the spider gears or the smaller gears that your axle shafts are attached too inside the case.

From there the power is transfered out the axle shafts to the wheels. Like poser said the locking hub isolate the axleshafts from the hubs. The hubs are indirectly mounted to your wheels. When you lock your hub you are creating a direct conection from your axle to your wheel.

If you drive around with the transfer case lever in 4x4 and the hubs unlocked the axleshafts are spinning but not connected to your front wheels in any way.

Both hubs must be put in the 4x4 position for your front axle to work in 4 wheel drive. If you lock only one hub in, it will put the power to the axle that is not locked in.


I hope that explains it.
 
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both hubs must be locked at the same time and the tcase in 4x4. The reason i'm adding to this thread is, it would do you no good to have just one hub locked just in case you didn't know.
 
I wanted to buy a Warn locking hub for my BJ 74 Cruiser. I was asked by the dealer how many splines.
How many splines do I need?

thanks
 
both hubs must be locked at the same time and the tcase in 4x4. The reason i'm adding to this thread is, it would do you no good to have just one hub locked just in case you didn't know.

I took a 2nd place at comp on a stage (Time keeping error lost us 1st) where I only ran one front hub locked in, this meant that we managed to stay on the bank which was extremely tight around a tree, without slipping in and having to winch out.

Having the front hub only on one side in (tree side) meant it pulled tight to the tree as we skirted around it. Having both hubs in caused every one else to slip in to the ditch off the bank as the extra traction pulled them off the bank. (Winch recovery required)

After we made the tree my Navi locked the hub back in for the rest of the stage.

Oh yes I had the front locker engaged from the start line till locking the other hub back in.;)

So I disagree on a technicality with the above:D

D'Animal may want to edit again as long as it won't confuse Badass too much:bang:
 
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How damaging is it to drive with the hubs locked, but the transfer in 2 wheel drive??? I am thinking of situations where I will be on snow and then on a paved road. Usually about 4 miles and speeds of around 35 mph. I would guess that the front wheels are driving the front axle assembly back to the transfer case, but not engaged in the transfer. I am lazy and hate to get out of the truck every 10 min to unlock the hubs.. Sorry to get a little off track.
 
Not damaging at all - in fact that is the way early cruisers worked from the factory as they didnt arrive from toyota with locking hubs. the warn locking hubs were generally dealer installed options - their purpose is to avoid the (minor) mechanical wear and additional fuel consumption resulting from the unneeded rotation of the front axle/diff/ds assembly when 4WD is not engaged.
 
Exactly. It is just extra wear. I don't do it often, and at slow speeds, so I will stop worring about it. Thanks!
ps. This truck does NOT like being on dry pavement in 4 wheel drive, hi or lo !!!
 
Just want to know if my rig is actually in 4 wheel drive when i put the tcase in 4 hi without the hubs locked. Sometimes i put my rig in 4 hi, and when i look underneath the truck i can see the front driveshaft engaging, but it won't get me out unless i lock the hubs. So my question is do you have to have your hubs locked in order for the front shaft to engage, or do warn hubs act like lockers?

Do you have automatic hubs from Warn (model M-240)? Or standard manual Warn hubs?

If you have automatic hubs, just shifting into 4 wheel drive should be adequate for a test. If you have stanard manual hubs, you must get out and lock in the hubs (otherwise the front wheels just free wheel as the other replies have been pointing out). Also if you are going to wheel for an extended distance with the automatic hubs, you should also manually switch them from Auto position to Manual position to lock them in 'hard'.

The automatic hubs look like this

Hub4- Complete.webp
 
...or like this.

Larry is correct. I had these same hubs back before I went minitruck FDB and spoke with Warn about them. As explained to me, they were marketed towards people as a convenience of not having to get out and lock the hubs to have the benefit of 4WD and the advantage of better fuel economy. They were apparently very expensive to manufacture and dropped by Warn. Parts are unavailable.

Posts 2, 5 & 6 in this thread are technically incorrect.
HPIM0127.webp
 
I took a 2nd place at comp on a stage (Time keeping error lost us 1st) where I only ran one front hub locked in, this meant that we managed to stay on the bank which was extremely tight around a tree, without slipping in and having to winch out.

Having the front hub only on one side in (tree side) meant it pulled tight to the tree as we skirted around it. Having both hubs in caused every one else to slip in to the ditch off the bank as the extra traction pulled them off the bank. (Winch recovery required)

After we made the tree my Navi locked the hub back in for the rest of the stage.

Oh yes I had the front locker engaged from the start line till locking the other hub back in.;)

So I disagree on a technicality with the above:D

D'Animal may want to edit again as long as it won't confuse Badass too much:bang:


That would only work on a locked front end.
 
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