Front Hubs Not Locking UP

My 1989 Suzuki Sidekick has four wheel drive. When I turn the knob on both front wheels to lock the hubs, then shift it into 4H, the 4WD indicator lights up green but the front wheels don't turn. I know this because I got stuck on a hill today in the snow and got out to lock the hubs and noticed that the rear wheels were spinning but the front wheels were not. What could be wrong? Thank you.

I joined this website so I could find out the answer to this question too. I put the shifter into 4H or 4L and the green light comes on but the front tires wont spin. Im not sure what this hub stuff is about on the front tires. I don't see anything that switches on my rims but there are cosmetic caps on them that the previous owner installed. I just hope the differtial isnt broken. Anyhelp would be appreciated.

is the front drive shaft turning if not maybe something wrong in transfercase( frafreg)
if drive shaft is turning then it could be the hub.
(chanel one) do you have manual locking hub you may have to pull the tires off to see and if you do then the cover have to be taken off of the rims to access the front dirrerential.

The reason I know the front wheels weren't locking up is because I got stuck on a hill on some ice and I looked at the front wheels and the rear wheels and noticed that the front wheels weren't turning and slipping like the rear wheels. I have done some research and it looks like I will have to take the hubs off and see what the deal is. One thing I noticed is that the knob on each wheel seemed easier to turn. I used to have to use a pair of plyers to turn the knobs from "FREE" to "LOCKED". Now, I can turn them easily with my hand. I suspect that may have something to do with it. I have 110,000 miles on it and its due for inspection next month. It needs new valve stem seals because it burns oil, the exhaust system from the catalytic back is like swiss cheese, the brakes need work, and the idle is irratic. I will report back to this forum with my findings. Any help with this would be much apprecitated. Thank you very much.


is the front drive shaft turning if not maybe something wrong in transfercase( frafreg)
if drive shaft is turning then it could be the hub.
(chanel one) do you have manual locking hub you may have to pull the tires off to see and if you do then the cover have to be taken off of the rims to access the front dirrerential.

Ok, i did fix my problem. I have free wheeling hubs on mine, so i had to follow the instructions and it worked, kind of. You say when your on a hill the back tires were spinning and the front ones wernt... I had that problem to but when I shift into 4L the thing is like a bat outta hell. So im thinking that either theres a problem with the 4H setting or it just evens out the traction on all 4 tires a little less than when in the low setting. Its hard to look out the window and see if the tires are spinning, but i managed and when in 4L mine were spinning but not in 4H. So I guess my question is have you tried to drive it in 4L? I know it sounds like a tank in 4L but its loads of fun in the snow, especially with this monster storm we just got.

I meant to get to the hubs last saturday but the belts on the wife's Maytag washer went bad and that had to take priority ove the Sidekick.
Okay, I tried to remove the front hubs but was unable to because I couldn't find the right size allen wrench. The one I have is slightly smaller than what I need. It must be a metric size. The Haynes manual I have shows hex nuts holding the hubs on. The Haynes book doesn't give any information about rebuilding of fixing the hubs either. Until I get the hubs off, I can't update. I'll try to get the right allen wrench from Auto Zone or Home Depot and see what happens.


Ok, i did fix my problem. I have free wheeling hubs on mine, so i had to follow the instructions and it worked, kind of. You say when your on a hill the back tires were spinning and the front ones wernt... I had that problem to but when I shift into 4L the thing is like a bat outta hell. So im thinking that either theres a problem with the 4H setting or it just evens out the traction on all 4 tires a little less than when in the low setting. Its hard to look out the window and see if the tires are spinning, but i managed and when in 4L mine were spinning but not in 4H. So I guess my question is have you tried to drive it in 4L? I know it sounds like a tank in 4L but its loads of fun in the snow, especially with this monster storm we just got.