2000 w/live front axles

[Mickey Bitsko]

I've looked all over and can't find information on how my 1354e operates to engage/disengage the front axle.I'm assuming the front end turns ALL the time, but I don't know?
This all started with me wanting to put manual hubs in place of what I thought I had [PVH].. so I guess my truck is one of the unlucky or not live axle models [built in june 2000].
Also, are live axles a good or bad thing ?I have looked at the tech articles and it reads you cannot put manual hubs on a live axle..

You'd think at my age I could figure this out...not

 

[Captain Ledd]

Well I don't personally know what the PVH hubs look like on those models, but if you pull the wheel off and/or dustcap and see a big nut, you have live axles.

Not necessarily a bad thing, less to go wrong, and they'll never not engage when you need them. Technically a slight mileage penalty, but modern vehicles have come a long ways in terms of drive-line efficiency.

 

[Earl43P]

Remove the center cap covering the lugnuts.
If you find a 32mm NUT, you have live axle and that's a GOOD THING. Yes, your front axles turn all the time.

Someone else can better explain the transfer case, shift motor, transfer case clutch, etc. operation.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Well I don't personally know what the PVH hubs look like on those models, but if you pull the wheel off and/or dustcap and see a big nut, you have live axles.

Not necessarily a bad thing, less to go wrong, and they'll never not engage when you need them. Technically a slight mileage penalty, but modern vehicles have come a long ways in terms of drive-line efficiency.

Thanks for the quick response,
no pvh on this truck, just an axle nut, I guess the only way the the axle gets engaged is when I put the transfer case in 4 hi or lo. Not much information on the topic b/c theres nothing to discuss, you engage the transfer case and you have 4 wheel drive end of story.
I'm used to the mileage so, no big deal.

thanks again..

 

[Captain Ledd]

Yup, front 4x4 engagement is handled entirely in the transfer-case.

 

[AllanD]

from personal experience with an earlier truck with a TTB axle the mileage cost of driving with the hubs locked is on the order of 0.5mpg around town and ~0.75mpg out on the highway.

A small enough difference that I will often lock my hubs in late October and only actually unlock them if I am making a highway run in clear weather...

AD

 

[adsm08]

from personal experience with an earlier truck with a TTB axle the mileage cost of driving with the hubs locked is on the order of 0.5mpg around town and ~0.75mpg out on the highway.

A small enough difference that I will often lock my hubs in late October and only actually unlock them if I am making a highway run in clear weather...

AD

Agreed. I generally lock my hubs the first day we get any snow accumulation and don't undo them again until everyone is scrambling to get their taxes to the post office.


Also, I believe I read somewhere that when you go to the CV shafts instead of the u-joint setup on the TTB trucks that the MPG hit drops to something closer to .2 MPG. Basically you have to drive 50,000 miles a year for it to add up to anything skipping your morning coffee once a month can't cover.

 

[kid_crash]

On my 98 I permanently locked my hubs. They are like a bic pen spring, I cut the plastic stops out so they could never catch in the free position. Worth the small mpg loss for the reliability.