Snow and 4wd

[dieselcruiserhead]

I have a feeling maybe your hubs are stuck in the locked position which would explain your poorer mileage and if your 4WD is actually working.. In 4WD especially in a 60, it is a clear noticable difference when you are driving it when you are in 4WD. You can check to see if they are sticking, maybe sure its in 2WD and get under your truck and try to turn your front driveshaft. If it spin with your hubs in the open position easily with your hand, then your hubs are working right as they probably are. If it doesn't then they are stuck in the locked position. You can then lock them and spin the driveshaft till the hubs pop in then you should get no movement from the front driveshaft. If it were me, and I used it often, I'd leave them locked all the time except for trips beyond town and when you wanted better mileage... It is pretty easy to rebuild front hubs if it matters. Trent Fab in tahoe could probably do it for you easily. Also lucky Tahoe uses no road salt, that is pretty neat. I LOVE driving cruisers in winter but it is no secret it takes its toll on them... I had an immaculate FJ40 restored by TLC that drove over two winters and rust came in exactly the worse possible spots to borderline need a new tub. Kind of sad unfortunately.. andre

 

[Dunbar]

I wish we got snow... tuck fexas

Just move to West Texas or the panhandle. We got ice storms frequently in Midland and 5 or so snowfalls a year. Only one would be over 3" or so and we would get a foot or more every other year.

I drive in blizzards in the UP and WI every year with unplowed snow over a foot deep on the highway at times. I dig it and my 62 rocks.

But hey, I love living in Texas, so tuck Fu.

Dunbar

 

[WckedMidas]

last year first snow of the year here in baltimore i got the pleasure of pulling the newspapper guy out the ditch driveing a ford f350 4x4 i loved every minute of it. even mentioned how fords realy are found on road dead!

 

[60wag]

well I have had the chance to try spinning the front drive shaft and.....
I can only get 1/2 -3/4" of play. Sounds as if something in the hubs isn't quite right.


Thank you to everyone who has responded. I greatly appreciate your help.

Your hubs are locked regardless of what the knob says.

Here in Denver/Boulder we've got the magnesium chloride liquid deicer. Evil stuff it is. Trees along the roadways are dying. I can watch my Cruiser rusting before my eyes.

 

[pismojim]

well I have had the chance to try spinning the front drive shaft and.....
I can only get 1/2 -3/4" of play. Sounds as if something in the hubs isn't quite right.

I'm not surprised. It may be a good thing.

You asked about what not to do, well one thing I would NOT do is shift from 2H to 4H with the hubs "FREE" while driving on the freeway.

As noted above, there is rotational mass - driveline, diff, axles - just sitting there, ie; not spinning. When you shift to 4H at speed you're accelerating this mass quickly without resistance. I doubt it would be as "smooth" as you describe.

Whereas if the hubs are "Locked", the axles, diff and axles are spinning at the same speed as the rear. When you shift to from 2H to 4H it should be much smoother. The transfer case is simply connecting two things that are already spinning in sync.

As for snow driving, how about at night, wind blowing snow at you in your headlights with an all white background, no visual clues to speed. You think you're moving fast only to find you're practically stopped and everthing is blowing past as you sit there.

 

[tclndcrz]

Your hubs are locked regardless of what the knob says.

Here in Denver/Boulder we've got the magnesium chloride liquid deicer. Evil stuff it is. Trees along the roadways are dying. I can watch my Cruiser rusting before my eyes.

hey i was just in boulder over thanksgiving. do you ever run the trail "carnage"?

 

[60wag]

hey i was just in boulder over thanksgiving. do you ever run the trail "carnage"?

Carnage canyon is part of the Lefthand Canyon OHV area. I've been in the OHV area but not specifically driven Carnage. Back in 2000 I was passenger for a Carnage run when the Venezuelan crew was visiting the US. The trail was really tight back then. There were spots that a 60 would have had major trouble with. I imagine that its gotten a bit wider over the years. Carnage is actually scheduled for closure shortly. Apparently there was a designated trail in the canyon but the traffic moved down to the middle of the drainage and trashed it. Too bad. That whole OHV area sees a LOT of traffic. It takes a lot of maintenance to keep the area from being a real garbage pit. It was so bad some years ago that there was a push to close down the whole thing. Fortunately enough volunteers stepped up to do reclamation work and the area is open. It takes a big effort to keep the post & cable in place to keep the morons on the trail. The area is really too crowded for me, especially on the weekends but I'm glad its there as is concentrates a lot of traffic that would otherwise be out seeking other trails.

 

[LnMsjf]

Quite possibly the finest line up ever?

http://realcruiser.com/

 

[tclndcrz]

Carnage canyon is part of the Lefthand Canyon OHV area. I've been in the OHV area but not specifically driven Carnage. Back in 2000 I was passenger for a Carnage run when the Venezuelan crew was visiting the US. The trail was really tight back then. There were spots that a 60 would have had major trouble with. I imagine that its gotten a bit wider over the years. Carnage is actually scheduled for closure shortly. Apparently there was a designated trail in the canyon but the traffic moved down to the middle of the drainage and trashed it. Too bad. That whole OHV area sees a LOT of traffic. It takes a lot of maintenance to keep the area from being a real garbage pit. It was so bad some years ago that there was a push to close down the whole thing. Fortunately enough volunteers stepped up to do reclamation work and the area is open. It takes a big effort to keep the post & cable in place to keep the morons on the trail. The area is really too crowded for me, especially on the weekends but I'm glad its there as is concentrates a lot of traffic that would otherwise be out seeking other trails.

i heard about that. it looked to me that it wasnt the wheelin thats hurt the area but all the jackasses shooting their guns in the area. at the beginning of the trail there were lots of tvs trash and fridges that were scattered by where the people with guns shot. it was a shame and was very sad to see. the people with guns trashed the trail and are probably the reason why the trail is being shut down.

personally i think guns are pretty cool but i dont see why people need to trash an area with their so called "targets" and ruin everyone elses fun. just pisses me off...

 

[hobiesbestfriend]

If the hubs are free, there should be very little torque needed to spin the front driveshaft (no resistance from the front wheels). So I don't think there would be hardly any change with the amount of torque making it to the rear tires. Maybe, at the most, it's the equivalent of using a tiny bit less throttle.

Well, as I said, that was just a theory, as there really is no other way to explain his situation. However, it's not just the front driveshaft being turned. At the very least it's the front driveshaft and the pinion and ring gear and at least one halfshaft. Again, this is assuming nothing else is wrong with drivetrain. Just because the wheels arent attached at the hubs, doesn't mean the torque isn't being split at the transfer case, and at high speeds with a heavy vehicle with this amount of tourque, there's a good chance that difference would be noticable. As it turns out, he does have hub problems. Again, my 2 pesos