My truck has its auto-locking hubs. It works as it should. I used 4-wheel drive a couple of times last winter, and had no problems with it engaging and releasing.

This summer, we took the front hubs apart and re-packed and greased everything. There was nothing wrong, but I always feel better knowing that the grease in the axles is in good shape when I get a new toy that I don't know very well... yet.

I expected issues, as I've caught the previous owner in a lie. He told me that the transmission had never been serviced, other than a fluid change. I ended up doing so extensive work on it, so I no longer trust what he told me at all.

I guess it's owner usage that ruins the auto-lock hubs. I don't think the truck was used in 4-wheel drive. He was a plumber, and the truck never moved on snow days. I got this from an employee of the previous owner of my truck.

 

From what I can gather, three things can cause auto hubs to quit working.

Abuse will break them. When that happens they won't engage. And by "abuse" I mean pretty normal useage for a 4WD truck. Stuff like shifting from forward to reverse while in 4WD. And then of course shifting from reverse back into forward. "Abuse" like that will kill auto hubs. They'll stand up to it for a while if you don't use any throttle until after you're moving in the new direction. They can go right away if you're on the gas hard.

Getting the grease contaminated can make them stick. I know they can get stuck locked, but I'd guess they could get stuck and not lock too. Servicing them can prevent this failure, but...

Overgreasing them can also make them stick. Especially when it's cold out so the grease stiffens up (and you're more likely to need them).


Overall I'm not a fan of auto hubs (I've only had them on one of my trucks and I replaced them as soon as I could). But I'm not as "anti" as FORDF250HDXLT is. I think there's a place for them on a 4WD that's not going to see any heavy use, and where convenience is more important than reliability. That doesn't describe very many of us on this board. But my wife had auto hubs on here Explorer for 12 years and 100K miles and they were perfect for her. I can certainly see others using them similarly.

 

Not always. I mean yeah if all you do is run up the grassy hill out back once in a while then they'll probably be okay but only using them once in a while means you have less chance of experiencing a failure just for the simple fact that you hardly ever use them in the first place. They're really not meant for heavy-duty use in my opinion. It's more of a convenience thing for the person that only uses 4wd once in a while.

The other cause of failure is lack of maintenance. Now even manual hubs will fail with no maintenance but the auto's are much more picky about it.

 

I always find threads regarding auto hubs interesting. I have them on my '92 & use them almost daily during the winter and so far for me they have not let me down...yet. YET simply means You're Eligible Too. I have read too much about how they fail so I really try to not overwork them. If they make it to Spring when the weather is warmer I will replace them with manuals. It is better to be safe then sorry.

 

I replaced my auto hubs when my truck was two years old ( they worked when they wanted to ) with super winch ones. Have never had a problem since. I did throw the auto ones in my tool box in case I broke one off road. Makes it easier to get home with less damage. Which ever you choose, proper maintenance is the key to hub life and an enjoyable time 4 wheeling.