new to offroading, locking hub question

[shootmymime]

i have a 1996 4runner SR5, and i have needed to pull a few people out , in 6 inches of mud, (man that was fun!)

so we recently got a few inches of snow and decided toplay wound and mess with hi4 and lo4. i started climbing this hill in my yard (very slowly) and then the left front tire started spinning

so im wondering if i can lock the front wheels to get better control...

i have popped off the center hubcap and i think, but not sure if i can spin anything,
will someone give me some advice and a picture of what it looks like.. this is my front wheels

front

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rear

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[Mike07SE]

The hubs on your 4R aren't manually locking hubs, so that's nothing to worry about. The reason that one of your front tires spun when climbing the hill is because you have an open front diff. Soon as one wheel on that axle looses it's grip, it's all over. To cure a problem like this would be to look into getting a limited slip or locking diff (i.e. ARB Air Locker).

 

[shootmymime]

ok thanks! that helped! well i really dont need a locker cuz i dont do that much wheeling... might just give it a bit more gas from the start to get up a hill and i cant go slow! thanks alot dude

 

[Mike07SE]

Old 4-wheeling trick to do in this scenario (which is also now a traction control thing), is to ride the brake pedal a little bit. What this will do is hopefully lock up the spinning wheel and help push more power to the other side that has more grip.

 

[shootmymime]

ok that seems like it would work, good idea

 

[techno]

Old 4-wheeling trick to do in this scenario (which is also now a traction control thing), is to ride the brake pedal a little bit. What this will do is hopefully lock up the spinning wheel and help push more power to the other side that has more grip.

I have found this can work sometimes with LSD's but usually didnt help with open diffs. The beauty of trac control is it can apply braking to individual wheels unlike the pedal which brakes all four.
With open diffs, gererally speaking, it comes down to more right foot in the slippery stuff and less right foot on the technical stuff.

 

[Mike07SE]

Yes, that trick really is more of a benefit with LSD's, just something to sometimes help in a crunch. But this is also the point I've been trying to follow up on by putting in an LSD at least to start with in the rear diff of my 4R. A LSD with the trac control would make for a real sure footed off-roader while maintaining decent onroad manners.