Manual locking hubs....any difference in MPG?

[Monterorider]

My calculations are pretty simple and straight forward actually. The 33" tire is ~12% larger than the 29" tire hence it's a 12% increase in speed regardless of how accurate the speedometer is.

IWell it can't be reagardless since it's oranges and bananas. One is off one way another the other.

Now that said it is important to know your actual speed and in my experience comparing the speedo against several gps units, the OE speedometer has been accurate to within 1-2mph or so at freeway speeds.:ylsmoke:

I like to be exact. what car/truck on what tires? If it's modern car then yes lately they've been more accurate. If it's Montero on 33's then speedometer was way off on stock tires.

 

[SOFpirate]

My argument is this:

If Mitsubishi thought that they needed locking hubs on the Montero, they'd put them on there. I'll gladly change CV joints every once in a while.

The farther you go from stock with major components, the more can go wrong. Just my $0.02.

I'll caveat that with ... bigger tires are always cooler.

 

[Monterorider]

That is the method in which I calculated 22mpg.

Extraordinary claims you know require.... I can't disprove it of course but neat picking

Yes, I religiously check my fuel mileage and I rarely fill up before the gas light comes on.

Maybe I should clarify, the hwy mileages I mentioned was from a trip where I traveled at 65mph on the interstate From Dallas to Alexandria, LA- 340 miles each way. Two consecutive tanks one at 22mpg and the second at 21 (sped up to 70) and it was all hwy.

On the way back, on the same hwy, i got 19 and 20mpg.

You say you refill only when light comes up. Well 340 miles trip would only use about 16 gal that's 2/3 of 24 gal tank Monty has. I see no reason to fill up twice or even for light to come on even if you travel all the way on single tank. Yet you filled up twice which means you filled up 8 gal on average. With fuel cut off switch on the pump set to what ever value you can be off by gal or 2 each fill up. That's up to 25% observational error worst case but 1 gal is easy 12%. Even truck loading would affect how much gas you can put in. That's why I'm saying small measurements are just not true enough. Few tankfuls you start seeing good pictures. Few gallons here some gallons there not good enough in my opinion. I'm not saying you don't get what you are claiming. I'm just not convinced. Anyway if we start averaging we prob start seen real figure of 22+21+20+19/4 that's 20.5 average more realistic but still really good value.

Yeah "I've seen" my Power Wagon getting 14.5 for awhile. Yet I averaged 12.5 on the way from Portland to Sacramento. and 12 going back with camper (slowed down a bit). Unfortunately that's what defined in the end what I payed for gas.

 

[scrubber3]

My argument is this:

If Mitsubishi thought that they needed locking hubs on the Montero, they'd put them on there. I'll gladly change CV joints every once in a while.

The farther you go from stock with major components, the more can go wrong. Just my $0.02.

I'll caveat that with ... bigger tires are always cooler.

The only reason they didn't was because of the super select TC. For the lay person, they wouldn't think to lock the hubs before engaging on the fly. The only reason they didn't put manual hubs on it was because of this and the fact that the general shift in the automotive industry was to get away from the manual locking hubs due to improper use from uneducated people.

IMHO there is really no reason not to do it as the reliability is just the same yet yields multiple advantages verses flange plate. So long as you remember to lock the hubs that is.

 

[Monterorider]

Well idea of full time 4wd on demand just doesn't play very well with manual locking hubs. Reliability/wear in normal usage is mute issue. I've still got my original CVs from 20 years ago. Yes boot were replaced but that's about it.

 

[SOFpirate]

Well idea of full time 4wd on demand just doesn't play very well with manual locking hubs. Reliability/wear in normal usage is mute issue. I've still got my original CVs from 20 years ago. Yes boot were replaced but that's about it.

That's 2 of us!

 

[off-roader]

Mitsu moved away from Manual hubs because as buyers, most of us are lazy plain and simple (who wants to go out in sub zero temps to switch to Lock when you don't have to) so having it automatically lock is a more sellable feature.

 

[4D55 Performance]

I will be installing my manual hubs over the weekend. I just filled up today and I went 411 miles on 20.7 gallons of gas. I can't complain about getting 19.9mpg in city driving. It was all city driving. Most of the trips were under 10 miles with the AC on full blast. This is pretty normal for my Montero. The only mod I have made is to add an aftermarket roof rack.

 

[Monterorider]

Awesome. High altitude helps quite a bit.

 

[Monterorider]

Throwing some number around air density at say Salt Lake City is about 20% (0.0745 lbf^3 v 0.0632 lbf^3) less than at sea level you get less horse power, accelerate slower, have less air resistance, lower pumping losses in engine, etc. You might expect corresponding 15% improvement in mileage even 20% I suppose. Give or take. Which lines up nicely with stock 17-18 mpg at sea level.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Extraordinary claims you know require.... I can't disprove it of course but neat picking

You're right, its not what I average, but what I observed on one trip. And regarding the waiting till the light comes on routine, thats for around town... not on a road trip with family in the car. No sense walking to the next gas station....

 

[4D55 Performance]

Throwing some number around air density at say Salt Lake City is about 20% (0.0745 lbf^3 v 0.0632 lbf^3) less than at sea level you get less horse power, accelerate slower, have less air resistance, lower pumping losses in engine, etc. You might expect corresponding 15% improvement in mileage even 20% I suppose. Give or take. Which lines up nicely with stock 17-18 mpg at sea level.

Yeah, I am certain it has something to do with it. We are at 4300ft above sea level. Nicest part is, I can see the Great Salt Lake right out the front window. So it is kinda like living by the ocean. I try to make it to Yellowstone (9000 ft above sea level, 60-70 degrees, and 45 mph everywhere you go) a few times a year and in Yellowstone the MPG's go through the roof. Most vehicles I have owned with the exception of my 2009 tdi, will see a 30-40% increase in MPG in Yellowstone. The lowest octane you can buy in Yellowston is 87-89. Surpeme is like 95 octane in at that altitude. My 1996 FJ80 went from getting 13 to 20 mpg. My V6 2wd Dakota was getting almost 30mpg on one trip a few years ago. I think the TDI sees very little improvement because it's a turbo diesel. Last trip the Jetta only got 54mpg, which is only 10% increase. I am interested to see how well the Montero will do when we go up there later this year. I doubt a Montero could achieve 30mpg, but you never know. It currently gets 24 on the open road, so a 30-40% increase would put it right around 31-34mpg.

 

[RichardT]

There a 4 brands currently 'available'...
Aisin made the OE units and are highly regarded over all others due to their reliability and simplicity.
Tuffpans sells what look like aisin knock offs from china. So far they've been reliable.
Rugged Ridge also make a set
Superwinch also makes a manual hub set although I'm not sure they're still in production.

Have you heard anything about how reliable the Rugged Ridge hubs are? So far they're the cheaper ones I've seen at $125ish

 

[off-roader]

Have you heard anything about how reliable the Rugged Ridge hubs are? So far they're the cheaper ones I've seen at $125ish

No although I recall some mitsu owners are using them. Aisins can be had for as little as $50 for a pair when bought at a pick n pull..

 

[RichardT]

No although I recall some mitsu owners are using them. Aisins can be had for as little as $50 for a pair when bought at a pick n pull..

From what I've read those Aisins are awesome, it's just too difficult to find Monty's around here in the junk yards, so I'm sure it'll be even more rare to spot one with locking hubs