Adding weight to your Deli for the winter

[Erebus]

My hubs lock up with a very quiet clunk. Almost more of a click. Sometimes hear two, usually only one. The "wheel lock" light comes on before or after the clunk, depending on the mood it is in.

Same for unlocking. Just to clarify for people, unlocking the autohubs should only happen by backing up in 2HIGH. Backing in 4H or 4Lo better not unlock the hubs, and they should never unlock with forward motion. Sometimes unlocks in a foot or two, other times several metres needed.

When the hubs are locking, the drivetrain and the wheels should both be turning, so there is basically no relative movement between the two halves. Once or twice I've gotten stuck with the hubs unlocked. When I put it into 4HI and gave a bit of gas, the hubs lock with quite a nasty clunk. But that is to be expected, since one half of the mechanism is turning, the other half isn't. That is the lesson to make sure you lock up the hubs BEFORE you need them.

Once hubs are locked, switching from 2H to 4H should take no effort.

I usually take my foot off the gas and then once I'm coasting I'll disengage.

I wouldn't recommend taking foot right off gas, 'cause then you are still putting a (negative) load on the drivetrain. You should ease up slightly, to try to get no load -- no acceleration, no deceleration.

As for weight in the back that started this thread, I noticed a big difference in the handling between having the sleeping platform in the back versus the 3rd row seat. Even though the platform is 3/4" plywood, it is still much lighter than the seat.