Its been cold and dry here the last week or so and therefore no sloppy slush and salt on the roads. Time to drive my Raider. This morning (about 4deg F) I noticed a funky growling noise when first pulling away from the house. As soon as I slowed down to a stop, there was a light clunk and the Wheel Lock light came on. I was not in 4x4 mode. Tried reverse and to no avail Wheel Lock stayed on. Drove about 2 miles and tried reverse again - bingo - unlocked. Kind of odd I thought. First of all, is there any damage to be done by driving a few miles locked in and not having the T-case engaged? Secondly what the heck is up with the wheel locks engaging at low temp? Third how bad am I going to cry when I open the hubs?

my old auto-hubs used to grind, growl, pop, snap, bang, thud, crunch etc...I pulled them apart when I did the front brakes and everything looked fine inside. they just suck! haha. get a set of manual locking hubs and you will have no worries.

My 89 did something similar. I was in 4x4 and when I tried to come out of it, the lock light would not go out. I found the left hub had broken the tab that aligns with the key way on the spline. I found a used hub and replaced it. The hubs were easy to pull off and easy to clean and grease. I live in Alaska so I know the cold thing. I found some grease rated for the cold temps and made sure both were well lubed. If you haven't pulled them off and greased them, I would suggest it.
Joe

They dont need a lot of or very thick lube. They only move when locking/unlocking, and that movement is dependent on friction in the driveline to spin the thingies inside.

Superwinch, Mile Marker or Aisin?

AISIN! then Superwinch then Mile Marker in terms of strength and quality.

if the tabs on the manuals get out of alignment with the slots from being worn, youll get that. in my case, it happened after a break job. hubs are super easy to pull and replace if necessary, pull your old one and check for worn tabs. since youve got at least one that want to engage when your not telling it to, the tabs will be much more worn now.