Full-Time 4WD vs. Part-Time 4WD

You must make up your own mind weather converting to part-time 4x4 is really worth it to you. In my own opinion, I love the full-time 4x4. Here's why: people always have many arguments against full-time, and I've heard them all. I've owned both kinds and I am mechanically familiar with several trucks that have both kinds of t-cases and made my decision based on all that, plus, considered my location and the kind of driving that I do.

Here in northern Utah we have hard cold winters. The full-time really shines in the winter. When guys with part-time are trying to decide if the road is slick enough to get out and lock the hubs use 4-wheel drive, I'm already driving away. If the road does get a little slick, I just let off the gas for a second, lock the t-case and I'm on my way. In my part-time Dodge that I use to own, I often found my self going sideways down the road when I thought the road was to dry. If the ice was just patchy, I felt like it wouldn't be good to use 4-wheel drive because so much of the road WAS dry. When temps got really, really cold, I couldn't lock my hubs and therefore HAD to use 2-wheel drive. On most part-time trucks, the front drive shaft isn't balanced and is horrible to drive over 30mph with the hubs locked. With my full-time Dodge, I have NONE of these problems!

People often claim that full-time is bad for gas mileage. With a 318, you can expect about a 3 mpg drop in mileage. With a 360 or 400, its about 1-2 mpg. With a 440 its about 0-1 mpg. I don't feel that these are excessive amounts. My 1975 club cab, long bed, 3/4 ton, has 4.10:1 gears, and a 440/4 speed. My best highway mileage has been 13 mpg empty, and 11.5 mpg towing a 7000 lb trailer. Concerning the extra wear on the front end, obviously there is a small increase, but I am familiar with several Dodges, all near or over 100k miles that have never had a full-time related failure of any kind in the front end with the exception of u-joints. Think of it this way, the rear axles last for 100's of thousands of miles, with good care, the front end is virtually the same thing. There is one area to pay attention to thought, the small bolt pattern on the 1/2 ton Dodges and the bearings in the front hubs. The front bearings are large, but thy are very close together. Also they cannot be tightened as they wear like most conventional front hubs. As long as you don't run large tires AND do a lot of off-roading, you will probably never have a problem.

If you decide that you do want to go to part-time, this is expensive. There are basically two kits available from MileMarker to convert the t-case (from "loloc,lo,n,hi,hiloc" to "4low,2low,n,2hi,4hi"). The cheaper one locks the differential, it eventually wears out and is not recommended for engines over 300 hp (I think). The other replaces the differential with a solid shaft and is far superior to the cheaper one. Next you must install hubs on the front axle, I believe MileMarker use to make a special hub just for the Dodge full-time front end. If those hubs are no longer available, you will need to change out the entire hub assembly from the ball joints out. For more information on this subject, see my other article:

Important Information on All Dodge Dana 44 Swaps and Disc Brake Conversions

If any of this is unclear, just let me know!

Trenton