Hubs - why?

[Bulbous]

Hi Guys,
I have a question regarding hubs.
It's not just your site, but many Patrol sites are full of issues about hubs.

Might need an engineer here, but why do you have them?
I live in Dubai and have a Gulf spec 4.8 VTC. No Gulf spec vehicles have hubs, think about it. How do you tell an arabian gentleman that he must get out of his car in 50 degree heat to walk around and engage/disengage his hubs? the response is likely to be "Shoo Hada" which generally translates to "What's this". Of course depending on the tone used it can also mean "WTF".

Here's where the engineers need to get involved - So my front wheels are directly connected to the drive shaft which is disconnected in 2WD at the transfer case. So while in 2WD the freely rotating front wheels are just spinning the drive all the way back to the TC, but the front drive is pretty well synchronised to the rear drive.

With hubs then the wheels are rotating independent of the drive shaft, which is effectively disconnected at both ends so the selection of 4WD requires the drive shafts to match speed - yes?

I just head off-road (sand is the terrain here) and I can just pull back the transfer lever and drop straight into 4WD at just about any speed I choose. How do you do this with hubs ?

[growler2058]

You i imagine have auto locking hubs how they work i have NFI

[Bigrig]

You i imagine have auto locking hubs how they work i have NFI

X2 mate. I would suggest they're all auto locking hubs (like the higher spec patrols here). I had auto hubs and actually got rid of them when they started playing up and installed genuine Nissan hubs thanks to YNOT (Tony). Auto hubs are great, but if they do go, you have to get out and lock them in manually with a wheel brace or socket.

No offence intended to your gentlemen Arabian counterparts, but when driving on said sand, who gets out and lowers the tyre pressure?? Good thing about manual locking hubs is you get out and whilst doing it, have a chance to inspect the vehicle also. Generally speaking also, when I go out for a spin, I'm not wearing neck to toe, all white clothing either, so I don't mind getting dirty!! lol

[Silver]

If the hubs are engaged one can select high 4 at speed.

If there were no hubs one can do the same.

If I lived in a place where petrol was as cheap as it is in the Middle East, I would probably not bother with free wheeling hubs, auto or manual

[Bulbous]

X2 mate. I would suggest they're all auto locking hubs (like the higher spec patrols here). I had auto hubs and actually got rid of them when they started playing up and installed genuine Nissan hubs thanks to YNOT (Tony). Auto hubs are great, but if they do go, you have to get out and lock them in manually with a wheel brace or socket.

No offence intended to your gentlemen Arabian counterparts, but when driving on said sand, who gets out and lowers the tyre pressure?? Good thing about manual locking hubs is you get out and whilst doing it, have a chance to inspect the vehicle also. Generally speaking also, when I go out for a spin, I'm not wearing neck to toe, all white clothing either, so I don't mind getting dirty!! lol

No - don't have hubs at all. I know because when the car was new, I spent quite a while trying to figure out how they worked and what routine I needed to carry out.

Good point about the deflating though, they don't seem to mind getting out and removing the valves. Having said that, many of them use Siam sand tyres and don't bother deflating

[Bulbous]

Generally speaking also, when I go out for a spin, I'm not wearing neck to toe, all white clothing either, so I don't mind getting dirty!! lol

They don't mind getting dirty, see the interesting sequence of photos below. What you don't see is the guy snatching the shovel out of my mate's hand because he wasn't digging well - LOL

[growler2058]

HAHAHAHAH good stuff geat pics mate.

[the evil twin]

Hubs as in Free Wheeling Hubs (FWH) that need to be manually or automatically engaged are only a relatively new standard fitment in the scheme of things. They were introduced to reduce fuel consumption when 4WD was disengaged on the blacktop and also NVH as the entire drive train isn't turning so no noise from the front diff or shafts.

People have been 'abusing' them, verbally and in practice ever since. Especially Auto FWH as many do not understand exactly how to use them.

Old School 4X's Jeep, Landies, early Tojo's, Nissans etc didn't have FWH's at all and the axle drive went directly to the hubs just like the rear. The advantage of that is of course no FWH mechanisms to increase the drive line complexity and cause issues. There is absolutely no 'mechanical' requirement to have FWH's. As stated they are purely an on-road fuel efficiency and NVH driven component and our Isuzu 4WD trucks at work where fuel and NVH are irrelevant don't have FWH.