Manual Locking Hubs

[kodiak]

And if you don’t have hubs you still get wear on the front components.

[JHarris1385]

I am in the same ball park as Bart..... I would like a little more insight on this. So if I installed manual hubs my front IFS would not be powered? Grease what is needed in order to make only the rear driven?

[tom4bren]

Check my logic on this please someone:

1) You are still sending power down through the half shafts but it doesn't reach the ground since your wheels are now free spinning.

2) The gear train for the front drive is designed to operate under load and it MAY not like freewheeling.

3) Since the gear train is still active, you may save some gas but not much.

4) Since the gear train is still active, you may gain some power but not much.

5) No increase in reliability since the drive train is still active (maybe less since 2) may decrease the longevity of the transfer case).

IMHO - not worth it, my front drive train stays functional.

[kodiak]

I am in the same ball park as Bart..... I would like a little more insight on this. So if I installed manual hubs my front IFS would not be powered? Grease what is needed in order to make only the rear driven?

Grease

All the manual hubs do is allow you to ether connect or disconnect the front wheels from the front axel allowing you to do what’s called free wheel the TOD will still sent power to the front axle when it thinks it needs it but it just wont make it to the wheels. Now when you are cruising down the freeway the TOD usually isn’t sending anything to the front wheel so if you have the front hubs in free wheel your not needlessly turning the from axle and wasting gas.

[So-CalVX]

we ship a JDM transfer case over and swap it into one of our VX's... Would that work? Or would we need the tranny, t-case and bellhousing since the jap engine is different. (although I think it's only the heads that are different, correct me if I'm wrong)

If I had the money that would be my conversion. Especially since its a PITA to get a RHD legal in Cali.

[Greasemonkey]

Hi the JDM and the US vehicross are almost identical the difference in the engine is a shorter con rod and a longer crank web to get the 3.2 to a 3.5 the TOD is identical and i recon its just a gear lever gate that stops you selecting 2wd the TOD can be swopped form 2wd to 4wd and back at any speed upto 50 MPH
i would have a good look under the gear gaiter and see if you have the facility i will make a short video of the 2wd this weekend and post a link for you - NB in 2wd the front prop still turns but the drive is disconnected by the electronic clutches in the gearbox - i find it hard to beleive that Isuzu would make 2 different TOD gearboxes the cost just wouldn't be viable
cheers
Steve
PS call me GM for short

[kodiak]

Hi the JDM and the US vehicross are almost identical the difference in the engine is a shorter con rod and a longer crank web to get the 3.2 to a 3.5 the TOD is identical and i recon its just a gear lever gate that stops you selecting 2wd the TOD can be swopped form 2wd to 4wd and back at any speed upto 50 MPH
i would have a good look under the gear gaiter and see if you have the facility i will make a short video of the 2wd this weekend and post a link for you - NB in 2wd the front prop still turns but the drive is disconnected by the electronic clutches in the gearbox - i find it hard to beleive that Isuzu would make 2 different TOD gearboxes the cost just wouldn't be viable
cheers
Steve
PS call me GM for short

That would be freaking cool! Thanks man.

[So-CalVX]

Now that's useful information.
I would be out right now checking under my lever but I left my Bee in TO. I'm driving my grandma's liberty till the 11th. Someone check that out. I'd like to be able to kick into 2WD or 4WD below 50MPH, I'd feel like I'm back in my 4Runner.

Richard

And Grease monkey, thanks. But the last GM I knew fired me for doing 3miles over the speed limit, and there was no police involved. I'll just call u Greasemonkey. Don't wanna get fired again

[Greasemonkey]

Hi no problem i'm a bit of a Vauxhall nut and i am a fitter by trade so the Greasemonkey and GM (General Motors) thing kind of stuck - most of the uk sites have me hanging around helping out with tech stuff - just well chuffed with the VX it has the same engine as both the Isuzu trooper, the Vauxhall montery (trooper) and the vauxhall Frontera (rodeo) so spares are real easy to come by - i just need to get the local Isuzu dealer to make friends with a Jap dealer for the accessories
And the 2wd is pretty scarey round wet sharp corners when you have got used to the TOD being in
cheers
Steve

[VehiGAZ]

My 2 cents...

the TOD is identical and i recon its just a gear lever gate that stops you selecting 2wd the TOD can be swopped form 2wd to 4wd and back at any speed up to 50 MPH

This statement isn't true. The JDM ToD is the same one as was used in other Isuzu products in the US that had optional ToD such as the Trooper (it might however be interchangeable between the 3.2 and 3.5L engines, though). The VX ToD is unique, and cannot be shifted into 2wd. The US Trooper with the 3-position ToD (JDM VX ToD) also had auto-locking hubs which would engage once you put it into 4WD and started rolling. That's how it was able to go true 2WD - disconnect the front axle at the transfer case and the front hubs would automatically unlock and disconnect from the front axle drivetrain components (by driving backwards IIRC?) so it did not uselessly spin them via either the wheels or the t-case. If mbeach had been successful with the ToD intercept, we could have used such a device to completely disconnect the front of the drivetrain and used manual-locking hubs to truly get 2WD-Hi operation.

(Bart, you have reason to be unclear about the manual hubs mod - even if people do see some benefits by doing it, it does not provide a true 2WD mode because it will still be spinning the unused drivetrain components which saps power and fuel economy).

Personally, I wouldn't do it to my VX... there's so little upside to this mod on an unlifted VX and way too much downside (i.e., pulling unknown-quality parts off a junked car and putting them on your VX). I've had my fill of "improvements" that screw up something in the process... I don't need any more of those headaches.

[Greasemonkey]

Hi the JDM TOD 2WD tottally disconnects the propshaft in the front axle using the shift on the fly technology found in the later Troopers the front drive shafts do turn though . i had a good look round the other day
cheers
Steve