Have I done any damage?

G'day everyone. This will probably sound like a stupid question but while away camping on holidays I was retrieving my boat quite a few times on a muddy ramp and travelling a short distance to my campsite. My normal routine was to leave the hubs locked in switch to low range when pulling out of the ramp and then back into 2wd when back on solid ground, the hubs I would leave locked in for the short drive back to camp each day. The problem is when I packed up camp of course I had forgotten that the hubs were still locked in. After about 20 minutes on the bitumen I realised this and unlocked them. I didn't notice any unusual noises or anything just wondering if I should be checking anything out.

If it was in 2wd it won't be a problem, you can drive round with the hubs in all you like when the transfer is in 2wd, unlocking the hubs just saves wear and tear on the CVs and diff when they aren't needed, it also saves a little fuel as well.

I do that all the time Jon.

Just lazy I guess.

No problems yet.

I would have drove 200k today with them on lock. (in 2wd).

I had my front hubs locked for ages (like, before i got flooded) and it never made a difference with my car. then again in the landcruiser i had, i snapped am axle somehow and the mechanic told my that is was because the hubs were locked. hasnt made a diff with the navara but

Sweet, thanks guys. I figured that was the case. Good to know for sure though.

I lock my front hubs in a couple of km's before heading off road (transfer in 2wd). It warms the front diff up before I get into it off road.

Dave.

if you don't do much 4x4, lock the hubs foe a bit. driving with hte hubs locked will lube up the bearings/cv's/diff/driveshaft and stop the greae from go solid.

driving up the ramp in 4x4 can do some damage if your not carefull. just keep it straight so you don't wind the axles up.

No it wouldn't have done any damage on the ramp, it wasn't an actual ramp as such. Just a boggy entrance to the lake I was using. Fairly thick mud and wet grass at the top. The only way I was going to pull the boat out was in 4wd.

Pretty sure the manual actually recommends that if the hubs are not used regularly you drive around with front hubs locked in every 10,000km to circulate the grease

I'm pretty sure it says something in the manual about locking the hubs in as well, can't remember what the time frame was though, I do it once a month for a day or two depending on how many ks I'm doing.

Good excuse to go wheeling more

As good an excuse as any I reckon.