12-16-2005, 01:15 PM
Mike Wrote:educate me: what does a locking hub do? i've seen those button thingies on like old toyota pickups and such... is that the same thing? what do they do?
From HowStuffWorks: (clicky-pow)
Quote:Each wheel in a car is bolted to a hub. Part-time four-wheel-drive trucks usually have locking hubs on the front wheels. When four-wheel drive is not engaged, the locking hubs are used to disconnect the front wheels from the front differential, half-shafts (the shafts that connect the differential to the hub) and driveshaft. This allows the differential, half-shafts and driveshaft to stop spinning when the car is in two-wheel drive, saving wear and tear on those parts and improving fuel-economy.
Manual locking hubs used to be quite common. To engage four-wheel drive, the driver actually had to get out of the truck and turn a knob on the front wheels until the hubs locked. Newer systems have automatic locking hubs that engage when the driver switches into four-wheel drive. This type of system can usually be engaged while the vehicle is moving.
Whether manual or automatic, these systems generally use a sliding collar that locks the front half-shafts to the hub.
My big thing is that it's a traditional, rugged, mean and beastly SUV for a very (seems to me) reasonable price. Alot of people I've read talking about it have said "But what about parts?!?" But considering the engine and transmission are both ford units (and I imagine the diffs are too) I can't imagine parts prices being that out-of-this-world.
1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442