All my trucks have always been part time, and I have been known to go in interesting places. When chasing dogs, I often go from knee deep mud, to dry pavement, and then dive off into the mud or even a small creek.
My normal procedure, is to turn my hubs when I first start off the pavement, and leave them turned.
Then, I just shift into and out of 4wd as needed. At whatever speed I happen to be traveling at. I usually am in 2wd to start, and often stay in it for a while. When I start feeling bad wheel slip, I back off the gas, drop the 205 into 4wd and get back on the gas.
You have to make sure the rear wheels are not spinning faster than the front to prevent grinding.
When I hit dry packed dirt, or pavement, I back off the gas for a second, kick the auto tranny into neutral and shift out of 4wd. Back into drive, give the tranny just a second to shift and decide which gear it should be in, and then back on the gas.
I once hit the pavement in my old truck, and forgot to shift. I got about 150 feet, and the truck started bogging down. I took my foot off the gas, and it more or less slammed to a stop. The shift lever on the transfer case was leaning at an angle, I had some serious drivetrain bind.
I shifted into reverse, then when it started rolling, I hit neutral and got out of 4wd.
Leaving the hubs turned, especially when going in and out of mud and water, does cause more wear on the spindle bearings, but being able to shift on the fly when bad stuff hits is worth it.
They make a grease tube gadget for the Dana 44, and I think it will fit others. You remove the hubs, sometimes the outside lock nut, but all of my trucks worked without it.
Then you screw this tube onto the spindle where the axle nuts are, and the axle goes up inside the closed tube. Then you put a grease gun on the fitting on the end of the tube and start pumping.
This forces grease into the spindle around the axle. Takes a lot of grease, but eventually it starts coming out the back end of the spindle.
This greases the spindle bearings without removing them, and fills the spindle with grease. I have noticed when doing a lot of mud and deep water crossings, the hubs and spindle bearing seem to stay dry. That grease in the spindle blocks the water.
I have found, that when I have water and fine mud intrusion into the hubs and wheel bearings, it usually comes in through the spindle bearing seal and runs down the axle stub. If the spindle is full of grease, the water does not get to the hubs, and does not get around them inside to the wheel bearings.
