Messes up auto locking hubs

About a month ago I was driving through some snow that we had and I put the x in 4wd to get through a bad side street. I didn't know at the time that I had to go in reverse to release the hubs when I was done, so I didn't. I heard this awful noise, went to the dealer, and they said my hubs wern't unlocked. They also said that it wont mess up the hubs at all. Well, I looked at them that night and there was these dents all around the black things in the middle of the hubs. Now, the black covering that was on the black thing in the middle of the front passanger hub is....not so black anymore. It looks like the black coating was ripped off from when I didnt go in reverse. Can I just leave it like this or do I need to bring it in to be fixed? Would this be covered under warranty (my x is still covered)?

Can you post a picture ?
Do you have auto hubs or manual ?

Nothing on the outside of the hub can be damaged by driving in 4WD.

Driving around with the hubs locked shouldn't hurt anything, except maybe fuel efficiency. Some pics would help in this case but if your X is still under warranty it wouldn't hurt to have the hubs checked out.

They are auto hubs. I will post some pics later today or tomorrow if I have a chance. I have classes until 3:30 today, and then a dinner in Toronto tonight, so I may not get to it till tomorrow.

Thanks,
Chase

I have had the black coating come off of the hubs when I went through some mud and rocks. I cleaned the mud off and touched them up with some gloss black spray paint. Haven't had a problem since with the hubs. 3 years and working great with the usual maintenance.

Might also cause some tire wear and unnecessary stress on drive components when on pavement.