Can i leave hubs locked in 2wd?

[AJMBLAZER]

When I lived in Michigan I just locked the hubs in around the first heavy, permanent snow in November and unlocked them when the melt was done in March/April.
Always worked fine in several different vehicles, SFA GM's as well.
It's about what everyone up there did/does.

 

[sweetk30]

shift/float to 4h or 2h on the fly yes. but dont force it under power. let off gas just a bit to float in or out then go with the skinny pedal.

and auto hubs can unlock going from fwd to reverse or vise versa.

the reg non auto hubs once in thay are in unless broken or unlocked.

 

[blazin' j]

I agree it doesn't hurt normally...jus gotta make sure everything is in good workin order...It doesn't snow much here n baton rouge la...I would have to rethink my front locker if I lived where it did snow ALOT...

 

[DrkZide]

I don't think mine shifts on the fly. I'll be driving an try to shift into 4HI and it'll start acting like I'm grinding a gear (i.e. trying to shift into a gear without using the clutch while driving) I can feel something kicking it back and forth as if it were it were trying to catch a gear.

 

[diesel4me]

On all my old GM's I'd lock the hubs in durning the first snow,and usually just left them locked all winter--but my '82 K2500 has a NP-208 that must have an issue internally,as it still sends power to the front shaft even when its shifted to "2WD" --so that makes for jerky turns and binding on dry pavement,and could prove damaging..it makes it a pain to use when it has snowed,because unless your in 4WD with the plow on it,the rear wheels spin far too easy even on dry tar,to be able to pull out into traffic safely...but a 1/4 mile from that icy intersection,the state road becomes bone dry,and I'm sure thats hard on the transfer case ,tires,etc...but I'm not about to do anything to fix it now either,its too cold and I have a spare T-case to pop in it if this one craps out...it works perfect in 4WD,so I just unlock the hubs if I know the roads will be dry where I'm headed,and cringe every time I come to a snow covered intersection...

I doubt not locking the hubs in every so often would allow rust to form on a ring gear,etc..even in frigid weather I'd think the gear oil would flow when you go around corners,slosh around when you hit bumps,etc---and on every truck I've owned,I can see the front drivehaft spin for several minutes even with the hubs NOT locked in,the grease in the hubs is thick enough to turn the axles until it warms up some anyway..

 

[K5dreamer]

proper operation of the manual locking hubs calls for you to lock them and put the vehicle in 4x4 mode and drive it on a certain interval to maintain proper lubrication, id have to look up what that interval was, but its something like 10 miles every 6 months or something like that. So if that is the recomended operation procedure, i would imagine the hubs do not get lubricated in regular unlocked/2wd operation.

I also have left my hubs locked when driving around in snowy conditions as i have shifted back and forth from 2wd to 4wd throughout the trip. no adverse effects yet.... although recently i did find my front driveshaft holding on by two loose bolts instead of four tight ones... although i cant directly link that to that style of driving. my truck is kind of a heap

 

[djtejas]

proper operation of the manual locking hubs calls for you to lock them and put the vehicle in 4x4 mode and drive it on a certain interval to maintain proper lubrication, id have to look up what that interval was, but its something like 10 miles every 6 months or something like that.