got a 95' two dr sidekick and was wheelin this past weekend when all of a sudden my front diff wasnt engaging or something. the front drive line was spinnin but the front wheels were not able to spin.
i put it in both hi and low range and still the the wheels would not spin. thought maybe the hubs but i never heard a loud break. so...

so wat are some of the possibilities that the 4x4 is not working??

If the driveline is moving but not the wheels....could be the hubs.

Exactly what happened to mine...went to the auto parts store....bought new hubs for around 120....put em on in 10 minutes.  Problem solved.

You might want to think about ditching the auto hubs and going with a manual style off of a samurai or some sort of aftermarket brand.

Those auto hubs are known for disengaging or not functioning at all.

Amilla

Check to see if the front diff is broken in half, that's what happened to mine

haha ya i know how you feel SUVA. that has happened to me as well because my diff housing was sittin on the cross member. but made some changes to the cross member and now about 1/4 inch in between the frame and housing and runs great until this.

ok so the manual hubs are a better way to go??   

advantages/disadvantages??

Advantages are you know when it's locked in and when it's not.  It's either working or not.  You don't have to worry about them unlocking when your backing up on a trail.

Disadvantage is you have to buy them, and lock them in manually. 

Its surprising how many people poo poo manual hubs just because they have to get out and lock them.

I have 2 sets of samurai hubs if your interested.


Amilla

You might want to get the oem manual hubs if you can get them (Hawk most likely).  I swaped mine for the Warns, cause' heck their Warns and stronger right?  They did not hold up on the trail at all, had the oems in the cab as spares.  Threw thems back on and no problems since.

I have a buddy that is in a big Toyota 4x4 club in CO and he said that the oem hubs held up alot better then the Warns as well for them.

Just my two cents.

My OEM hubs are Warns although they're not the same as the ones they sell as aftermarket items. The OEMs don't hold up well either, they have a plastic cam inside that breaks. The ones that you want are the Asins but if you get the Sammy ones then you need to add a shim/thick gasket to get clearance for the circlip.

My OEM hubs are Warns although they're not the same as the ones they sell as aftermarket items. The OEMs don't hold up well either, they have a plastic cam inside that breaks. The ones that you want are the Asins but if you get the Sammy ones then you need to add a shim/thick gasket to get clearance for the circlip.

That plastic cam is supposed to save more important components like axles and diffs.
My buddy had a jeep with warn hubs and those would always get destroyed, so he just got a handful of extra cams to get him home.

Anything asin the way to go, they seem to hold up forever with lots of abuse.

Amilla

well i was sayin that my front wheels aint workin when i engage it into 4wheel.
i didnt do a thing to it but drive it cause it is my daily driver. and today i put it in 4wheel and whatta ya know it engaged and worked.

so i am guessin that there is something either in or wrong with one of the hubs. possily out of lube or somethin. i dont really know. so some feed back would be great!

thanks!

It is most likely a hub problem.  One way to check is next time it happens is to make sure the front drive shaft is working.

Unfortunently without a locker up front all power will transfer to the one wheel that is not properly locked in.

Its surprising how many people poo poo manual hubs just because they have to get out and lock them.

I like to drive in mud & snow in RWD. Sometimes I need 4WD to get out of a bad spot... in mud... or snow... Auto Hubs have a big advantage in this situation. The work-around is to install twin sticks, which are on the way soon

i didnt do a thing to it but drive it cause it is my daily driver. and today i put it in 4wheel and whatta ya know it engaged and worked.

My bet is the hubs need a re-build. They've probably not been clean & lubricated in 20 years, so they're not moving freely enough to engage / disengage reliably. It took me about an hour to do both sides for the first time. Would probably take me 20-30 min now that Ive done it. Search ACK's FAQ for instructions on how to do this. Remember, when it comes to lube, less is more. You don't want a LOT of lube that will attract debris.

ok i will do just that. thank yall very much for the replies!!