Driving in 2wd with hubs locked

So this winter it snowed quite a bit, so I had my hubs locked, I was going down the highway in 2wd while hubs were still locked, I heard a pop and felt grinding, then smelled some kind of burning smell. Unlocked my hubs and everything was okay but the 4wd still grinds and groans and sounds like my truck is going to explode.

My cv axles are fine and I don't see anything external that is wrong. All the U joints are okay. I grease them everytime I change oil.

The groaning and grinding sounds like it's coming from the front so I'm halfway thinking it's the front axle? Probably not the T case. But what do you guys think? I always thought driving in 2wd with locked hubs was okay but apparently not..

 

Most likely it's the manual hub locks. It's the weakest link.

 

I stripped the ring gear in a '68 IH Travelall doing that.

That was a thrill as it locked the front tires every tooth right before it sheared off.

 

Drain the gear oil from the front diff, see what comes out.

 

Check oil with a magnet.

 

Agree with this, but for the hub locks to seize up, there was likely something causing too much resistance between the hubs and the front differential. Drain and fill the front diff oil anyway since it often goes overlooked. If you see chunks and sparkles in the oil, or find that it's thicker than molasses, then you've probably found your problem. Otherwise take a peek in the hub lockers and let us know what you find.