I'm enjoying being able to lock my hubs from the warmth of the cab This ESOF thing is nifty and a large upgrade from the manual stick of years past... Does ford still offer the manual shift for 4wd?

 

My truck does not have this auto hub option. My hubs have lock/unlock so did they stop with the auto option during a model year? Mine is a KR,with all options. If the option was available in 05 then I guess the original owner did not get the auto hub option.

 

Do you have the switch on the dash or a lever on the floor? If you have the dash switch they're auto-locking unless someone replaced them w/ factory manual lockers. In a King Ranch I would say the manual shift would have been a special order.

 

I have the switch on the dash. I have had the hubs apart to clean,and re-grease because of the selector being a bear to move. Mostly plastic from what I remember. My friends 02 is a stripped down F350 and has autos. It made me wonder why mine had manuals. I figured someone might have changed them. I just figured the autos were like the hubs we had on our 94 explorer. The auto hubs on it were junk,and I replaced them with manuals.
If the superduty auto hubs are worth it I would be interested in changing mine back. If they fail,I have the manuals to slap in.

Here is where I become a PITA. Can I change them to autos?
Anything special needed to change them?

 

Ok, first off are you sure they're manual? Look close, do they say "Lock" and "Free"? If so then yes, those are true manual hubs and someone replaced them...odd for a newer truck. That was common on older trucks but there's not an aftermarket hub for 2005 and up so someone replaced them w/ OEM manual hubs. In answer to your question, sure you can replace them w/ the auto hubs, probably not going to be cheap though as Ford is the only option. Now the question of why did they replace them? It's possible they had a vacuum leak they didn't want to mess w/ so they slapped manual hubs on - meaning you might have to fix whatever underlying problem there was. Ideally the original owner might have destroyed one of the hubs for whatever reason and just replaced them w/ manuals since they were cheaper so the vacuum system is still functional. Just something to be aware of - it might not be as easy as simply installing the correct hubs.

 

With hubs in lock position the front pig is continuisly spinning causing wear & at high speeds can cause the pig to blow, like mine did @ 75mph, could be costly to leave in lock position if not in use

 

9 out of 10 transfer case engineers prefer manual shift and manual hubs

You just lock the hubs before you leave if it's snowing or you lock them when you leave the pavement. Mine stay locked for weeks in winter. Costs a little MPG but worth it for reliability IMO. Dodge heavy dutys don't have lockout hubs, they are live all the time. Same for a lot of jeep vehicles.

 

BS. You had another problem that made it blow. It sure as heck wasn't from wear. There's minimal load on it. If there is oil in it there will be minimal wear. Chrysler used lockouts (or front axle disconnect) sparsely for most of the last decade. Dodge 2500-5500, Jeep Liberty, Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Grand Cherokee WK, Commander, and Dodge Nitro are a few that come to mind where the front is always in.

 

I think Henry has been perpetually pissed off! Let's see.... Edsel, Pinto, Mustang II, Fiesta, Taurus, etc. Yikes!!

 

I have side question. On my new purchase 4WD I had no time to fully test the vacuum, what might have small leak since switching the dash flow takes long time.
So I locked front hubs manually to get out of mud pit, than switched them back to Auto on dry pavement. Yet when making the turn I had the steering shaking indicating the hubs are still connected.
Do the hubs need to go in reverse to make them unlock? Seem it worked when I did it, or did I just got lucky?

 

The front drive line should not shake or bind with just the hubs locked and the transfer case in 2wd.

 

We have a work truck that intermittently switches into 2wd with the switch still in 4wd with it in auto on the hubs. My question is, if I want to switch from the auto hub to lock, does the switch on the dash need to be in 4wd, for it to run 4 wd. My mind is that maybe the switch on dash is bad So when we get stuck in the sand, if I just put it into lock on the hubs will that pull us out of the sand if the switch is faulty on the dash or should I leave the switch in 4wd? Thanks for any help. Its a 2007 F250 with auto lock front hubs with the ESOF switch on dash

 

If the switch on the dash is not in 4hi or 4lo, then you will not have 4 wheel drive, no matter what you have done to the hubs. The switch on the dash controls the shift motor on the transfer case to engage the front drive shaft and the further gear reduction for low range as applicable as well as the vacuum pulse to engage the auto hubs. You can try manually locking the hubs, but if the switch is faulty it may be shifting the transfer case back to 2hi. It is definitely worth trying to manually lock the hubs to at least narrow down your issue, but you will need the switch to be in 4hi or 4lo in order to have 4WD.

 

what for? The more complicated things are the more things to break and the more expensive it is to purchase and repair down the road.


I've always had manual hubs and a gear shift, and I have never ever had an issue . Lock the hubs when the roads are bad, or when they might get bad.

When things get hairy, put it in 4H. It's really that easy.

 

super duty DJ, thanks for the reply. Appreciate it