Manual or automatic?

Looking into the 4WD capabilities of Tacomas before I decide which Gen to get. What people think of the Auto Lock Hubs vs. Man Lock?

 

ive always liked manual personally, but sometimes it can be a pain when its freezin cold outside and ur hubs wont turn. it is nice to have auto, but i can always trust manual

 

i've never seen one where you lock the hubs, how do you do that?

 

I prefer manual, but auto is convinient. The last 4WD I drove was an 01 XTerra. It never had a problem with the auto hubs, but my 84 Suburban went through 2 autos before I put manuals on it.

Manuals are just more reliable.

 

I've heard a lot of the same things about domestic auto makers.

 

For a daily driver.....I'd rather have the *shift on the fly* 4WD setup (auto hubs). Both my tacomas had auto.
I wheeled my first tacoma a lot - and never had any problems with the auto hubs for all those years of wheelin.

On the other hand.... my Jeep was built specifially for the trails and it has D44 and we installed manual hubs. I wouldn't have anything else for it. Besides the fact that the axle shafts vibrate when they're turning all the time (nature of the beast) but the fact that you can disconnect one front wheel while the diff is locked up (in technical rock crawling situations). I have Warn hubs and you can buy hub diffusers that are designed to break before a u-joint (tacomas don't have u-joints in the front axle shafts).

So - it all depends on what you're using the truck for.

 

The older tacoma's had manual hubs. I think it was either an option or came only with specific trucks. A friend of mine had a 99 Regular cab w/ manual hubs.

It's a dial on each front wheel that you turn to 'LOCK' or 'FREE'

'LOCK' simply means the wheels and axle shafts are connected together and turning together. This also means the inside of the front differential is turning also.

'FREE' simply means the wheels are turning but not the axle shafts. The front differential is not turning.

Vehicles with Auto hubs - the shafts/wheels are always connected and always turning together along with the inside of the diff.

 

right now all i have to do is turn a knob and i'm in 4wd. But manual locking hubs you have to actually get out of the vehicle and twist a knob on the hub to lock it and unlock it. you have to do it to both sides. its a pain but if i had a machine for just off road use i'd want it since its more reliable. In a vehicle with manual hubs you can put your vehicle in 4wd but the front 2 wheels wont be turned by the motor until you lock the hubs. For an occasional off-roader automatic is fine though

 

with as much as i thought i knew about cars, i'm surprised i've never heard of that before. then again, i know about go-fast cars not get-dirty trucks lol

 

I offroad whenever I can and no problems with the auto hubs. blew out the front diff, but no problems with the hubs.

 

then off-road your way down to NC for the taco meet bro, 3 days of trails, mud, and taco bell..woot...oh and fishing/beer too

 

When is that again? Still unemployed so maybe I could get away from the snow for a couple days.... lol

 

april 25th-27th, Uwharrie national park in NC...it's been about 4 degrees here for the past couple days, including today, and sunday it's supposed to be 52 lol....damn illinois

 

I almost ran a guy over when he got out on a big blind hill to lock his hubs