Hubs stay locked?

Nissanloyalist · 01-04-2006, 09:06 PM

Just rotated the tires today and noticed that the hubs are locked because when I turn the brake rotor everything turns

. My '04 Xterra has free running hubs and doesn't do this. Is this normal for the Titan? IF it is it seems like a lot of drag and unnecessary wear on the front drive train. Any info would be much appreciated.

ORTitan · 01-05-2006, 05:16 PM

You are correct Sir!
The front driveshafts are splined and fit directly into the hub assy. The wheel hub's, driveshafts, front differential, and front propeller shaft all turn all the time. The "locking in" part is handled in the transfer case. Part time locking hubs would be very nice indeed, but I have not seen any advertised for sale yet. If/when they become available I will buy a set.

**Helinut1970** · 01-05-2006, 05:24 PM

Hubs are always locked that is why you can shift out of 4x4 with out going in reverse. I just learned that to last month. I always went in reverse to shift out, but found you can shift out of 4x4 while rolling and keep going without doing damage to the drive train. I like it.

Smoke05 · 01-05-2006, 07:29 PM

In a truck with auto hubs you do not need to shift into reverse to get out of 4wd. All backing up does is disengage the hubs to freewheel. When you shift the transfer case back into 2wd you shut off power to the front axle and you are effectively in 2wd.

Nissanloyalist · 01-06-2006, 10:12 AM

I appreciate the reply's. This does make sence since the front spindle assembly appears like a two wheel drive's would. This just seems like a lot of drag for fuel economy and wear on the front cv joints, axels and differential.

Have an appointment for this at Nissan since they stated I should have it looked at. I will keep the appointment anyway since I wanted the brake pedal feel check and they said it is related to the brake tsb so I'll have them look at that and get rid of the "mush".

Smoke05 · 01-06-2006, 02:21 PM

Now that I think about it, is everyone positive the Titan has no hubs to free up the wheels in front?? Both Chevy and Ford have them on their trucks. Chevy's were vacuum activated last I knew, not sure about Fords method. Basically, when 4wd is engaged the transfer case is engaged and the hubs lock. Chevy used vaccum to lock and unlock the hubs. Old school auto locking hubs locked mechanically when power was applied from the transfer case. When you went in reverse with the transfer case engaged the hubs would actually briefly unlock, then relock to give 4wd in reverse. Backing up with the tranfer case disengaged would just unlock the hubs as there was no power there to re-engage them.

Sammy Sandbag · 01-06-2006, 02:24 PM

Chevy used vacuum for their front axle disconnect, not the hubs. Which BTW, was a crappy design and leads to premature loss of four wheel drive. Alot of guys replace the system with a cable actuated axle disconnect.

Yomama · 01-06-2006, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sammy Sandbag

Chevy used vacuum for their front axle disconnect, not the hubs. Which BTW, was a crappy design and leads to premature loss of four wheel drive. Alot of guys replace the system with a cable actuated axle disconnect.

He's right, I had an S10 that I had to get out, open the hood (after engaging 4x4) then pull on the vacume connecting rod. What a piece of .....

Sammy Sandbag · 01-06-2006, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yomama

He's right, I had an S10 that I had to get out, open the hood (after engaging 4x4) then pull on the vacume connecting rod. What a piece of .....

My old college roommate's S10 Blazer did this constantly, is was a giant pain. I also had an S10 Blazer, but was newer and the vacuum lines still worked.

Here's what I was talking about earlier: http://www.4x4posi-lok.com/

Nissanloyalist · 01-07-2006, 07:39 PM

I have an appointment Monday so I will let you all know what the techs at Nissan have to say about the hubs.

Nissanloyalist · 01-07-2006, 08:58 PM

I may have a bigger issue than locked hubs. Just wnet to check the drive shaft and it doesn't turn. The switch is in 2wd. So maybe the Titan does have hubs which unlock. I will post here what Nissan says when they tell me. Hopefully it is just a relay or something easy to fix?!

CaptFDU · 01-08-2006, 01:00 AM

Let us know...I gotta go check mine now...

Nissanloyalist · 01-09-2006, 04:50 PM

Talked with the techs at Nissan and the front hubs are splined to the axel. There are no "locking hubs" persay on the Titan. All is well with the front 4wd system it is norm for the front driveshaft to be very tight in 2wd. They couldn't find anything wrong with the brakes. Figures. They replaced the BCM for the tow package on the recall. I'm glad I put the Amsoil severe gear in the diffs. 2k miles and no heating prblems whatsoever.

ptgarcia · 01-17-2006, 04:53 PM

It sounds to me like the Titan has a central axle disconnect (I think that's what its called) much like the Toyotas and Chevys had (and maybe still have, I don't know). The way it works is there are no hubs that lock or unlock, the axle on one wheel unlocks (I think its the driver side, but not sure). What we did with our Toyotas was install a set of Warn Premium locking hubs so not everything in the front end was still rotating while in 2wd. When we wanted to go into 4wd we had to hop out of the trucks and manually lock the hub.