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

[eurosonic]

So I got my hands on some manual locking hubs for the montero. Anyone else running them?

Wanted to know if there is any difference in fuel economy having them turned off?

[off-roader]

Probably not significantly noticeable however the bigger gain would be the reduction in wear to the front drivetrain since you can disconnect the hub from the front axles.

[vanisl4runner]

Yes...there should be a difference in MPGs. Your wheels will no longer be spinning your CV axles. Not only is it good for MPGs...It increases the reliability of your front drivetrain. Its a good call and an easy swap

[eurosonic]

Yes thats what I was thinking as well, there is quite a bit of less movement up front. Isnt that what makes the difference in the fuel economy in a 2WD to 4WD in the first place (assuming the 4WD isnt turned on)

[off-roader]

The added mass of the entire 4wd system is also a big factor in reducing mileage especially with the Montero's robust 4wd system.

[fatrat]

I changed over to manual hubs a few months ago but haven't noticed any real MPG gains however my front wheels now turn when I put it in 4wd.

[scrubber3]

I have noticed that with the tires I run coupled with the manual locking hubs, I get close to 18MPG. This is a 3MPG improvement over the 32/11.5 tires with standard flanges. When I installed the manual locking hubs with the 32x11.5 tires I only noticed a slight increase in fuel savings. I'd say it is best to use manual locking hubs in conjunction with some good narrow tires to see an improvement worth mentioning. I have seen as much as nearly 20 MPG for a tank before with my current set up.

[4D55 Performance]

It all depends on the 4wd system. The first gen Montero's will not see any benefit in MPG because the front end does not rotate when the autohubs are disengaged. On the second gen Montero with the Select trac 4wd system you will see a 2-3 MPG improvement because the front end components still move even when the hubs are disengaged.

[Monterorider]

2-3 mpg is way optimistic <=1 maybe. There is really not much to spin there. Gains would also severely depend on type of driving. Stop and go would see more improvement than hwy. Easy test for people with hubs - lock the hub (make your truck essentially same as stock Gen 2), use a tank of gas, record results, unlock the hubs, use a tank in the same manner, record. 3 mpg out of 15 is huge. it's 20% improvement. Маnufactures would jump on such opportunity. They are continuously hammered with demands to improve mpg and here they miss su...ch opportunity. No way they are so stupid. Yet they seem to go opposite round deleting CAD systems. Like current Ram truck. Big benefit of manual hubs is if you say grenade your front axle/CV/diff you can unlock the hub and drive home as opposed to taking stuff apart on the trail.

[vanisl4runner]

2-3 mpg is way optimistic <=1 maybe. There is really not much to spin there. Gains would also severely depend on type of driving. Stop and go would see more improvement than hwy. Easy test for people with hubs - lock the hub (make your truck essentially same as stock Gen 2), use a tank of gas, record results, unlock the hubs, use a tank in the same manner, record. 3 mpg out of 15 is huge. it's 20% improvement. Маnufactures would jump on such opportunity. They are continuously hammered with demands to improve mpg and here they miss su...ch opportunity. No way they are so stupid.

Yeap they really are that stupid. It's called convenience and consumer ignorance. Truth be told, most people, other than any overlanders you find here, don't want to get out of their truck to lock their hubs in. They just want to push a button or swing a lever. We talked a lot about this when I worked at Toyota. We saw benefits in MPG, drive train reliability, easier steering, and even tire wear differences. Of all vehicles you would think the FJ would have manuel locking hubs. Nope instead if you want a manual transmission you get full time 4wheel drive with a high low range and center diff lock, and the automatics gets the selectable 2wheel drive. The reason behind this, as far as I can remember was keeping an even fuel economy across the board for this particular model. It's all politics and what they think people want. The people that actually use these things for the very purpose they were built, miss out on mechanical advantages because some prissy city chick thinks its sick to drive an FJ cruiser or even a brand new 4runner for that matter. The 4runner doesn't even come with a manual transmission anymore and it has to be one of the finest offroad platforms to come out in a while. However it's been ruined by offroad equipment we don't need and anything preferable has been left in the backs of offroaders minds and on endless wish list. Well there's my royal rant for the day.