I have a 96' crew 7.3L 4X4. When I put it in to fouor wheel drive, the front in not locking in. I was stuck, locked in the 4X$, and was spinning my back tires, but the front were not moving. Checked, and my front drive shaft is spinning. Any suggestions as where to start with this? How are the hubs ingaged anyway? Is it electrical, air what? Any help whould be greatly appreciated.

 

They engage when the front wheels spin. I am not totaly sure how they work but the are mechanical not electric or vacume. You may need to pull them apart and clean them up. I got tired of not trusting mine so I switched to manual.

 

Same thing happened with mine. Got stuck then engaged into 4x4, and nothing happened. Made the dealership change the auto hubs it came stock with to manual hubs, back when this thing was new (97). I still cant believe this thing is 10 years old now.

 

Gotta put it in 4x4 while moving BEFORE you git yerself stuck. I still like em cause I like push button 4 wheel drive (1995 bronco) but they are weak and not all that reliable. That said, I put mine thru the paces recreationally yesterday, and they still got me to work thru a foot of new snow this morning. When they finally do break I'll replace them with warns, but for now Im keeping them - and pushing the button BEFORE Im stuck.

 

get warn locking hubs about $250.00 easy install. Well worth the money

 

I agree.

When I replaced mine I found an internal part broken on the Drivers side. When one side is busted the whole front diff won't engage.

 

I also had the same issue with my 97. Sometimes they would lock, sometimes they would not un-lock. I believe the wheel needs to turn a full turn to lock. So rocking in four wheel drive isn't really possible with the auto hubs. I switched to Warn manuals, now there is no question if they are or aren't locked.

 

I'm gonna replace mine w/manual locks. Mine autos are locked all the time! Scott, Dave and I discovered this little tidbit when we (they) tore my engine, trany and xfer out. Auto locks are ok on my wife's xterra. A real truck don't need 'em.

jimbo