manual locking hubs vs. ft4wd

i heard better fuel economy when hubs not locked. Is there any other reason why it's fun to get out of the SC in a blizzard and with your bear(bare) hand, reach down and turn as hard as you can on a cold surface to lock the front diff? what's so fun about just sitting in your warm SC and have the diff automatically engage?

With the hubs locked the front diff is engaged and will turn. With the hubs not engaged it does not, but as you say you can't select 4WD without getting out and engaging them.
Not sure how much of a fuel drain it causes.

correct. What about after 1992 (or later?). the hubs are locked from the inside, by just pressing the button or is it Full time 4WD? Full time meaniing always in 4wd or is there a part time mode where the front diff only locks when there is slippage on the front. Which is better?

Early SC's with part time 4x4 have manual locking hubs that gives you better traction than the later model full time 4wd. The down side with the part timers are you can't drive in 4wd mode with the hubs engaged on sealed roads cause you get transmission wind up. Full timers have a viscous coupling allowing the front and rear wheels to work independently but this gives you very limited traction when serious off roading. There are only two types of 4wd SC's - part time and full time, i think Toyota dropped the part time models from 93-94 and introduced the full timers along with the 3ltr 1KZ-TE engine. So i guess if its serious off road performance your after then try to find a part timer but honestly if you ask me the full timer does a very good job and will get you almost as far and you never have to get cold hands jumping out to engage those hubs, or having said that with the part time 4wd you can always keep the front hubs engaged and only operate the 4wd button when you get on the slippery stuff thus saving you again from getting out in the cold.

thanks there mate for the good explanation. I have no plans to off road because of bottoming out. After 18 months of ownership I've used the 4WD about 5 times. Backing up a gravel driveway and in the snow. When I hit the back roads (occasionally) i go very slow and won't be driving in any mud. I'm even hesitant to cruise on the beach. That said, there is an 1KZ up for sale here and i was thinking of upgrading.