Fast79Chief wrote: ↑Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:21 am
Thank you Tim ... you have once again reaffirmed your superior knowledge on all things Jeep. lol
I use this forum to seek knowledge and share my experiences with a new addition to my collection. Don't let my questions on here mislead you, nor should you ASSUME that you are responding to someone who has forgotten all his mechanical knowledge hard earned since the 1960's ... we are not all newbies to the 'wrench' Tim. Again lol. I would suggest to you that you bone up on the Quadratrac system as designed from the factory for the 1979 FSJ. Comparing this system to LESSER systems voids a lot of your input.
Releasing the front hubs/wheels from the burdon of constant driving force equates to a SERIOUS reduction of energy. Especially the full size Dana 44, steel wheels, and heavy 32 x 11.50-15 tires.
Not to further debate this with YOU Tim ... I welcome input from other members who can simply answer the question, "Can this Dana 44 factory front axle be free wheeled as other Fulltime Dana 44's can?"
P.S. no "part-time" kit was ever mentioned by me in my original posts. I did SAY "I am not interested in going into the transfer case again at this time." Read.
Thanks
Ok, you need to stop with attacking people that are giving requested advice. For whatever reason this is an ongoing theme from you. Cut it. If you don't like the advice, that's fine. You are not required to use any advice offered.
As for your original question, yes, you can put manual locking hubs in, and yes, you run the risk of destroying your t-case if it pops out of e-drive. The reason old part time 4wd vehicles had manual locking hubs is because driving them for extended periods with them locked, but in 2wd would result in overheating the transfer-case. Selectable hubs will prevent wear and tear ONLY IF the t-case is part time also. A QT in e-drive will continue to power that front axle, all the time.
And no, you will not see any big difference in fuel economy (its been tried, and tested, some saw a few tenths of a mpg difference). If you don't believe me, look at current day 4x4's which have to meet very tight fuel economy regulations. The ONLY one with manual hubs is the super duty, which does not have to meet any fuel economy regulations because of its GVW. But most vehicles from Toyota, Ram, GM, Jeep, etc spin the front axle all the time. Some have an axle disconnect so the drive shaft doesn't spin, but the axle shafts still do. Heck, a large number of cars and CUVs today are AWD where everything spins all the time.
Also, the front tires will still cause the exact same amount of drag in 2wd as they will in 4wd. The drag will just be transferred to which ever tires are powering the vehicle. And as the tire/wheel drag is significantly more than the axle shafts or carrier, disconnecting the axle has very little impact on economy. Drag grows exponentially as the diameter of the rotating object increases. So an axle shaft may be heavy, but it has significantly less drag than a tire and wheel because it has a 1.3" diameter compared to a 30"+ diameter of the tire and wheel. And if you are moving, the drag induced by the tire and wheel is being applied to the vehicle.