Hi all.

1993 F150 Supercab 4WD with 5.0L and AOD trans. I have to haul an RV trailer up a steep 2 mile grade later today (same or a bit more weight), and when I towed about 4,000lbs of trailer and horses yesterday, it was really straining things.

I recently installed manual hubs on the front, and was wondering if going into 4WD low with the hubs unlocked would allow me to crawl up with less strain on the engine and trans...and without damaging any 4WD component?

 

Yes it will.. have done that myself.

 

I do that all the time when backing a trailer up or putting a boat in.Drop it in to "4"low and unlock hubs. Makes it much better than riding a clutch and won't have drive train binding on road.


ONE WORD of WARNING! DO NOT GO FASTER THAN 15 or 20 MPH. You could burn up the xfercase as it was not designed for high speed in the low range.

 

Not to mention it gives you more control if you have a manual. No riding the clutch. I do it all the time. Good for tight spots and more torque. Also good in the off-winter days to keep the x-fer case happy.

 

Thanks to everyone! Worked like a charm, although the couple of folks stuck behind me between turnouts were wondering...

Extra thanks for the tip on keeping the speed down.

Erik

 

I've got a transmission (another c6) and transfer case I want to put in my dump truck just for that reason. I could then convert it to 4x4 if I found the right ft end parts, but just having low range would be great in that thing.