probably a silly question about hubs

[HippoNZ]

hey guys,
I was just curious, I know when your hubs are on auto they only lock in when the wheel starts to slip and even then the wheel may still not lock properly but if you had free wheeling hubs and you engage 4wd do the wheels still sort of engage or is it still 2wd until locked?

cheers
Brett

[Bigrig]

With auto hubs they engage pretty much immediately when you select 4WD mate (as you roll forward). They can disengage if you roll back too far and this is a reason many people use the wheel brace to manually lock them ... I got rid of my auto hubs completely for this very reason as they would click and carry on going back and forth on tricky tracks ...

If you have manual hubs and select 4wd, you get nothing until the hubs are locked (I.e. Still effectively 2wd).

Others will no doubt have comment also ...

No such thing as a stupid question old mate!!!! Only stupid if you don't ask!!!

[HippoNZ]

cheers bigrig, also on my old mq to engage 4wd you had to reverse, is this still the case on the gq or all 4wds? I just chuck it in 4wd and drive forwards keen to tackle some rough terrain! lol

[Bigrig]

cheers bigrig, also on my old mq to engage 4wd you had to reverse, is this still the case on the gq or all 4wds? I just chuck it in 4wd and drive forwards keen to tackle some rough terrain! lol

Forwards will do it with auto locking hubs mate. Going a few metres backwards will actually disengage them ... that's half the trouble.

[Finly Owner]

Manual lock hubs should be engaged as soon as you are in 4WD H or L on the shifter, if you have got out and locked in the hubs, should be no need to travel back wards.



Tim

[Kelvinator]

auto locking hubs can be the piggest pain. If you decide to have a go at something in 2wd and unexpectedly get stuck you can find it impossible to lock in your hubs. on the other hand if youre solenoid starts playing up you may be stuck in 4wd cruising home at 40ks and hour down the highway. I recently found that aftermarket freewheeling hubs were a hell of a lot cheaper than i thought, about $290 for both side if you look in the right place. And they arent too hard to fit, if your a littlte bit mechanicly minded. Ive fitted a few over the years and the response has always been overwhelming after muckin around with troublesome auto hubs. If the sacrifice is having to get out in the mud to lock them in over having to sleep in the drivers seat in the bush they are work changing.

[the evil twin]

The "auto" selection on Free Wheeling Hubs should be treated as a convenience so that if you happen upon a gnarly spot whilst tooling around in 2WD you can momentarily engage 4WD on the transfer case which will lock them, drive thru the puddle, boggy bit or whatever and select 2WD on the other side and they will unlock all without leaving the comfort of the cab.

When going anywhere offroad when extended use of 4WD is likely or required then the Hubs should be "locked" by moving the Hub selector from the Auto to the Locked position.

Failing to do so will only result in screwing your Auto Hubs. However, if you do the above and operate as per the vehicle manual then Auto Hubs will be equally as strong and last as long as manual ones. Indeed, the Nissan Auto Hubs are arguably stronger than some (not all) aftermarket Manual varieties.

The fact that people with manual hubs will happily lock them at the start of the day and then unlock them at the end but people with Auto hubs will not has always been a puzzle to me.

"Auto" hubs work equally well in forward or reverse directions however like most things they do have a flaw and one way to fool them is if you drive forward under power and roll back with the clutch in (or vice versa) the Hub thinks you are trying to disengage.
If you then apply power 'interesting things' have been known to happen but that does not apply if they are "Locked" only if they are in "Auto"

[TUCK]

thanks for the good question and good answers.

[XTC]

Rather than replace my auto hubs with manual ones, I pulled the auto locking mechanism out of the auto hubs and now effectively have manual hubs. Not sure if this can be done to all model Patrols, but mine is a GU.

[fat pete]

while on this subject,,what happens if you are in 4h without the hubs been locked,,ive got a 1990 gq with manual locks,,i put it in for a wheel alighnment and when i picked it up i noticed between 80kay and 90k a bit of a rummble that went away after gettn past about 90k,,i drove it for maybe 8ks before i looked at the little shifter and noticed iit was in 4h,,so i pulled over and put her in 2h and after that it was all sweet again,,anyway i was reading the old handbook that came with the gq and it said to never drive in 4h without the locks on the hub been locked,...it all seems fine,,can you do any damage doing that..??

[growler2058]

I had a lowlux work ute and a funny fella on site thought he'd put my transfer in neutral so when i started up it wouldnt go but he put it in H4 and i drove for 150km before i realised and it seemed ok after

EDit dont rekon itd be real good though

[fat pete]

what im wondering is,,what can happen??what sort of damage??

[MudRunnerTD]

Hey Pete, you should have done no damage at all mate, In fact running in 4H should have made no difference to your car at all.

Running Manual Hubs requires you to select Lock on your hubs to engage 4wd. so 4H would have been 2H to your box as your front hubs were not locked in and engaged.

The reason your manual says never do it is because your 4wd wont function without your hubs and you will get bogged. Even 1 hub engaged will let you down.

Another benefit of manual hubs is that you can select 4L without locking your hubs and effectively run in 2L up a big hill towing a trailer if you need too. If you are someone running a NA TD42 without a turbo you will know what i mean. Running up that big winding mountain road towing the trailer in the high country and revving out in 2nd but bogging down in 3rd is a thing of the past. Pull over, whack it in 4L, and use your gear box and enjoy the climb.

DO NOT do this if you have Auto Hubs!!! BAD!

Also Pete, you can select between 2H and 4H on the fly mate, upto 80kph you should have no hesitation, in fact it is easier when your moving, flick your done. 4H to 4L you should be stopped though

Cheers MR

[fat pete]

thanks for the response mudrunner,,if its supposed to be the same in 4h as it is in 2h without the hubs been locked then i wonder why i could feel the slight vibration at around 75k to 90k then all smooth and quiet again,thats why i stopped and looked at the shifter and then realized that she was in 4h and not 2h,,when i put her in 2h it was back to normal for me,,i havnt owned the patrol for long and there where a few things that i wanted to sort before i whent to far away,,well ive done everything now so its time to check out the 4wd out in the bush now,ive never owned a 4by4...if i lock the front hubs and select 4h then thats me in full 4x4 mode i guess,,do you notice any difference while driving in 4x4mode,,like do you get anymore noise or vibes at all??or cant you tell the difference...ill go and see what she feels like on the dirt..
oh yeh she be a 1990 gq rb30...

[growler2058]

thanks for the response mudrunner,,if its supposed to be the same in 4h as it is in 2h without the hubs been locked then i wonder why i could feel the slight vibration at around 75k to 90k then all smooth and quiet again,thats why i stopped and looked at the shifter and then realized that she was in 4h and not 2h,,when i put her in 2h it was back to normal for me,,i havnt owned the patrol for long and there where a few things that i wanted to sort before i whent to far away,,well ive done everything now so its time to check out the 4wd out in the bush now,ive never owned a 4by4...if i lock the front hubs and select 4h then thats me in full 4x4 mode i guess,,do you notice any difference while driving in 4x4mode,,like do you get anymore noise or vibes at all??or cant you tell the difference...ill go and see what she feels like on the dirt..


I rekon its because the transfers engaged when i did it in the lolux there was a different sound

Or because the front tail shaft is now under power or the front centre

[nowoolies]

i used my auto hubs today on a rocky climb on the power lines, i was wor ....w.w...ww.that word honest i was .
but i now no why they disengaged when reversing back down a steep spot , lost traction very quickley.
thanks for the info guys
from now on lock em in then engage 4x4 and dont have to get outta the cab againhahahahah

[Bob]

I always lock them in when I get to the Bush and unlock them coming out. Auto Lock is OK when you need 4WD quickly

[fat pete]

I rekon its because the transfers engaged when i did it in the lolux there was a different sound

Or because the front tail shaft is now under power or the front centre

yeh theres deffinately a slight difference,makes sense what your saying,,thanks growler