Hey guys, My vacuum hub seals are gone again in my 2009. Winter is coming and I was wondering if I manually lock my hubs but don’t flick it to 4hi is the transfer case still activated or is it just free wheeling on the front drive shaft until I turn the ****?

 

correct - drive shaft doesn’t turn until you switch to 4wd.

i manually lock my hubs at the beginning of each winter and leave them locked until winter is over, then just engage 4wd when needed.

 

Thanks for the info !

 

driveshaft DOES turn when hubs locked but freewheels in transfer case till 4wd selected.

Slightly more wear on front end parts if they turn all the time but some may say the joints may last longer if they are turned more frequently, warm lube.

You can drive all winter with hubs locked if you want. If front u joints and front diff and front driveshaft U-joints are all in good condition you might not notice it’s even locked. Sometimes in a full lock turning in a u turn or parking lot you can feel a little binding in the front end, I think that is normal to a small degree.

I find in long distance freeway driving my excursion tracks a little straighter if I unlock hubs. We go up in the Adirondacks in the winter often so I re-lock when I get off the highway because you never know where the snow starts.

 

About three years into my 2001 F250, the front hubs started failing. Replaced with Warns, and never looked back.There will be a slight binding feeling in tight turns, because of u-joints in the knuckle instead of a CV joint. Not a big deal. I locked them every winter, and left them until spring. And sometimes forgot to unlock them

 

My hubs were holding vacuum and working fine with ESOF however the **** was very tight to turn to LOCK. It took them out and took apart to try to clean but no luck. Anyway I went ahead and replaced them both with genuine Ford parts. So far so good.

 

If you're going to replace them with vacuum units, buy the Ford ones.
But you'll be absolutely fine manually locking them in for the winter. I did it for years.

 

My objection to the OEM vacuum hubs was not only that they failed to lock, they also failed to unlock, so I was driving on the highway with one hub locked didn't know it. I installed Milemarker hubs and operate them the way the good Lord intended - manually.

 

Out of curiousity, why the MM hubs? If I recall those only come with a year warranty, while Warn is significantly longer. Of course that may have changed.

 

I seem to recall the "upfront" was cheaper.

Whenever I contacted Warn over the years I had their hubs on my '01, they never balked at helping me. "Oh, you have Warn hubs, how can we help?" - no "where's your receipt" nothing.

Of course, that wasn't a complete failure or anything, just that I needed a few extra locking rings to lock them into the knuckles without rattling over bumps. But even still, what company spends at least $10 or more to USPS extra lock rings at the drop of a hat?