Howdy, Looking for your experiance please. And I'll start off first by saying - "I never owned or drove a 4x4".

Anyway, I was in a grass field over the weekend on a slight slope and thought I'd switch it into 4H (from a complete stop). I started driving 3 to 5 mph (being cautious as there were other cars nearby) and then I heard a clunk sound, which seemed to me the 4x4 was engaging, maybe...

I got to the road and left it in 4H, the Ford sales rep said every now and then to switch it into 4H to keep it operating properly (thought that was odd). So when I proceed to drive to the store, it happened again, three or so more times, mainly when I resumed from a stop. Now I am not switching it from 4H to anything else, so my though was its slipping or not staying enguaged in 4x4 mode.

On Sunday, I thought I'd check out if I could repeat the noise again while I was in a Menard's parking lot. So I drove in a few circles as the parking lot was empty that early morning, I could feel all four wheels grabing, felt really cool too, but that clunking sound occured again.

I called the Ford dealer where I purchased and the tech said that they would do a ride along, which I thought was a good thing.

Now, because I had never owned a 4x4 or a truck, my experiance is limited, but my B.S. senses tell me I need to be on alert from reading some of these trany posts on Ford. For this Clunking to be a regular occurnce would quite honestly suck. Could this be a TCM or PCM related problem like I have read on earlier posts on 3rd gen?

I'm going to the dealer in three hours, but thought I'd post this as my truck is new and again, I'm a noob too so let me know your thoughts around this, I'll post the feedback from the dealer.

Later,

 

NEVER use 4H on dry roads. You are causing your inside front wheel to skip and that is the popping you are feeling.

You can use 4A if you have it, but 4h is for offroad or slippers places, not dry pavement.

 

It was all dry street/concrete when I was noticing this. I do have 4A, I used 4H because I thought that's what I needed to do. Bonehead move, glad I'm reading through these posts!

Thanks much, fstaslp! Appreciate the quick response.

 

If you do 4x4hi or 4x4lo on pavement you are likely to break a hub or u-joint. Only do them in the dirt and mud. I wouldn't even suggest in the snow/ice. Especially if you have the auto 4x4 setup

 

OK, I'm offically squared away. I made my bonehead mistake and I'm moving on!

I do appreciate the confirmation Tylus! Thanks! Joe

 

Dont beat yourself up man, a few circles or a few miles on dry pavement wont hurt anything. You'd really have to get on the gas to break some 4x4 components.
It happens because when you turn, outside wheels turn faster/further than inside wheels. When all are locked together, something has to give and the truck 'hops' so the wheels can catch up.
The fact you felt the truck hop tells you the front wheels are engaged.

As for the clunk I cannot say what that is. Hopefully the Ford Tech can pin point it for ya