Auto locking hubs

I was having a conversation the other day with a toy truck driver who claims he has towed a Tacoma with the front wheels on the ground because they disengage. I know without locking hubs (manual or auto) our front drive shafts are always spinning (correct me if I am wrong here) and therefore towing with front wheels down is a bad idea. This got me thinking, why don't our trucks have auto locking hubs? Are manufactures getting away from this? I can remember my old Pathfinder having them (and me breaking them one cold winter day while engaging 4x4) but overall they were fairly reliable and a lot of people changed them out to manual.

 

If I had to guess, I would say cost. Its probably cheaper for Toyota to make one differential disconnect versus two locking hubs.

 

huh ? what planet do you live on ?


locking hubs are far, far cheaper

 

AFIK the only trucks that have front hubs that lock and unlock (manualy) are the solid front axle trucks of ford and dodge....

all IFS stuff unhooks typically the passenger side CV up at the diff.