I tried searching but didn't come up with a whole lot. but anyway I got two quick questions;
1 why does my front end hop when only turning right in 4 wheel drive?

2 only one of my back tires spin, so does that mean that when I put it in 4 wheel drive I only have 3 tires spinning?

oh I got a 2001 xl 5.4 f250 and is this normal

 

i'm going to say both your questions come down to open differentials front and rear. some had limited slip in the rear, some didn't (my last SD did, my current one doesn't )... yours likely doesn't, or the clutch packs are worn.

 

it hops when you take a corner cas your front tires are locked at the same speed and turning a corner means one front tire is traveling less then the other, this is why you shouldnt use 4x4 on dry pavement.
as for the back tires theirs a differential for the same reason, lets one tire spin slower then the other so you can take a corner easier. but some trucks do have a diff lock, i know my new 2014 F250 will if you pull out on the 4x4 switch but its only good under 30km/h

 

i assume question 1 was more directed at why does it NOT hop when turning left?

 

I'm also new to the 4wd world. I understand the hop issue in 4wd on dry pavement ... lesson to me was ... don't use 4wd on drive pavement.

I have the limited slip rear end. How does that work with both 2wd & 4wd?

Also, on my front, I have hubs. There is the auto position and locked position which I assume I do manually. When would they automatically lock up and when would I manually lock them up?

And yes, I've through the manuals but I guess I'm a doughead as I didn't walk away with a good understanding after reading the relevant sections.

 

by design they're supposed to automatically lock when you switch to 4wd on the dash via a vacuum system... but it's a very fault-ridden system and you're doing better than most of us if it actually works.. at which point if they don't automatically lock (you'll know when your 4wd doesn't work haha) you have to lock them manually.

 

Thanks. OK ... the hubs then are directly connected to my 2wd/4wd/4wd low switch. So by what you wrote, if it didn't lock up automatically the way it should when put in 4wd, I could technically be in 4wd low with only the back wheels in low and no drive power to the front wheels?

 

yep exactly.

 

OK thanks. So if the manual "lock" is almost a back-up to the auto feature, are there conditions whereby I wouldn't wait for the automatic feature to kick in when switching to 4wd or 4wd low ... i.e. I would want to manually lock up the front hubs?

 

The only time you would want to manually lock them is if your automatic system failed. And I don't agree with the statement that implies most of the vacuum hubs aren't working. The ones on my Excursion never gave me much trouble, neither did the ones on my F350. I know lots of people with them, and they promptly fix the occasional issue and enjoy the automatic-ness.

 

Mine work swimmingly. So does my abs

 

thx for all the responses. that clears that up for me, but brings me to another question. I have planned on regearing for a while now when I upgrade to 35's. what kinda gears would I ask for if I wanted both rear tires to spin? also what would be a good brand and where would be a good place to buy them?