Manual Locking Hubs

[Solitude]

I believe that even a 2 mpg gain on a standard US TOD would be worth the cost. I am still curious if there are down sides besides lack of AWD get up and go. I don't think the back lash would be an issue since there is no forward or back up pressure on the freewheelin front parts. --at least thats how my head sorts out what I have read so far..

The only time I see more then standard power applied to the front tires on the display on the dash is when I FLOOR the throttle.. and I rarely do that any more.. There is enough OOMPH in the regular driving to avoid situations I get Myself into on the road..

OffRoading I would think that you would engage the hubs even when you thought about going that direction since the system is designed to run that way anyways.

I really wasnt looking to install a new TOD 2HI/4HI/4LO. Just add the hubs

Thank you for the replys so far.. we have been keeping on track fairly well..

Thanks GM for your input.. (I never really thought about the JDM side of this issue and your insight has benefited this thread immensley.

So far I have learned that the hubs will help out if I lost CV.. and that there is a cost for isolating the fronts out of the system.. Albeit good or bad..

I reread this thread often as I can to see if I missed anything..

Thank you again (so far) for the time you take to enlighten Me.

Peace
Jeff

[Ldub]

I really wasnt looking to install a new TOD 2HI/4HI/4LO. Just add the hubs

Thank you for the replys so far.. we have been keeping on track fairly well..


Peace
Jeff

Agreed, nobody has mentioned a dog, cat, rat, fish, turtle, aardvark, wombat, snake or lizard...yet.

But the idea of having the Trooper TOD system, with selectable hubs, has been rollin' around in my noodle for a while now.
The increase in mileage would be a huge plus, as would the diminished wear & tear on the CVs, CV boots etc.

[JHarris1385]

A 2mpg increase would be GREAT, that would put me right at about 20 mpg. Which is crazy given I am lifted and a year ago was getting near 11mpg.

[BigSwede]

From what most 98+ Trooper guys have said, they get about 1 mpg additional after conversion to hubs. Of course this is a rough number, 2 mpg isn't out of the realm of possibility...and a VX is a little more aerodynamic than a Trooper , might be able to take advantage better.

[kpaske]

Here's some food for thought... let's say you do get a 2 MPG increase by switching to manual hubs, and you normally average about 16 MPG with your VX, and you drive 10,000 miles per year, and gas prices average $4.25 per gallon..... that's a savings of about $295 in just one year (so the hubs pay for themselves in about 4 months).

I just got mine installed a couple of weekends ago and personally I really like them. The handling really isn't much different and the acceleration feels a little less restricted, so if I get a 2 MPG savings to boot, I have no complaints.

[nater]

Guys, I am fairly certain that the TOD system has one pin grounded for TOD on, and another for true 4wd. It is my understanding that this second pin is empty on the Trooper and VX and that the first one is switched on the Trooper, but hard wired on the VX. If we figure out what pin it is, we can put Trooper switches in the VXs, add the manual hubs, and you're done. The whole project would likely be under $100 from a junkyard.

I've got the wiring diagram for the Trooper. Anybody got a wiring diagram for the VX's TOD module? FYI, it is likely safe to short each of the empty pins on the TOD module to ground as long as you have a handful of fuses. Frankly, good automotive engineers know that shorting to ground should be tolerated on all pins as a temporary condition. That is to say that once the short is removed, the module should still function normally, rather than get fried. Of course, there's some risk that the module wasn't designed properly as well. Perhaps the next VX to get totaled could have this experiment run by the owner to find the full 4wd pin (all lights on the indicator should light up).

Nate

[BigSwede]

AFAIK the mpg savings on a Trooper comes from not having the drag of the front drivetrain turning all the time...so I'm not sure you are going to see much if any improvement from manual hubs on a VX unless you come up with a way for 2WD on your t-case...