Hi All,

First post here, we have an 01 Sport Trac as a backup vehicle and it has the 3 position rotary switch on the dash for 4wd.

The transfer case engages and disengages but the front wheels seem to stay engaged with the front differential.

There are no manual hubs and I really don't think it should ALWAYS be engaged like that.

Can someone shed some light on what is the probable issue and ALSO can manual hubs be installed on this truck?

Someone mentioned vacuum engagement? but I didn't see any vacuum hoses near the spindles. Didn't see any wires either other than ABS

Sorry just no knowledgeable on these little trucks with all the bells and whistles, all my other trucks are 350's, 250's and a couple 700's

On these trucks we have tried auto hubs but with snow plowing manuals are the only ones that work for us.

THANKS!!! in advance,,

 

On your Sport Trac, the front axles are driven when the transfer case engages the front shaft. There's no vacuum actuation or other servo on the front axle. It's all done with automatic mechanical hubs and the transfer case.

It sounds like you are experiencing an issue with the electric transfer case shift motor or (less likely) the control box in the cabin. There have been several threads related to the transfer case shift motor.

I also seem to recall reading of someone who installed manual hubs, but I think that was on an early '90s model.

-Rod

 

No the TRANSFER CASE engages and disengages but the front wheel are not disconnecting from the front differential they are ALWAYS dragging along.

In other words it DOES go into 2 wheel drive but the hubs or whatever disengagement on the front driveline is NOT disengaging.

 

Correct, my mistake. Yes, the prop shaft on the 2001 between the transfer case and front differential will always turn with the front wheels, but should only be driven by the transfer case when 4WD is selected. The half shafts have a spline in to the front hubs just like a FWD vehicle. I need to stop typing on forums when I'm tired.

-Rod

 

I snowplow with my 97 Explorer with Control Trac and the three position switch. (AWD, 4WD, 4LO).

I can confirm that there are no auto hubs, front wheels are engaged all the time like a front wheel drive car. The prop shaft will always turn as well, but its engaged totally inside the xfer case.

I do 99% of my plowing in 4LO, and it performs very well. Best plow I've ever used and I started in the 90's using a 3/4 ton. The Explorer can push lots of snow, and has good traction. To boot, I have power windows and a cup holder. ;-)

 

Are there any manual hub kits for this truck?

I would expect some expense if there were,,,,,,,

On the plowing,,,, We only run Diesel 4x4 with auto trans,,, got 4 old 6.9L F-250 trucks and a 97 Power Stroke 350 we plow with. I get a kick out of these guys taking there new $45,000 truck with a $6000 plow out on a nasty night to literally DESTROY it and make the same money I make (Generally they make less) with my old beaters and them old 6.9L's may lack some power but if they have fuel they run and run and run,,, very simple and not much to go wrong, trucks are quite heavy and generate great traction with some 10:20 tire/wheel sets tossed in the bed. I always bought these 6.9 250's for $1000 or less and bought 3 year old plows from the idiots mentioned above for no more than $1500. We bid by square footage and average NO LESS than $200 hr on each truck and I have hit $450 hr on the right lot on the right night.

BUT quite sick of plowing these days,,,,,

 

Manual hubs MAY be installed on any vehicle having front driving axle shafts, but unless specifically made for a given vehicle, some custom work and/or fitting would be required. The increased fuel economy in 2WD would not be very much, because the front driveshaft operates in the same PLANE at all times, which means the angle present in each U-joint is small, nearly a straight line, which imposes little torque friction on the shaft. If you really want to get deeper in this concept, the energy used to spin the driveshaft is greater when accelerating than when at constant speed, due to inertial effects.

Earlier Explorers had a vacuum-operated disconnect located close to the CENTER of the front axle, adjacent to the differential enclosure. In those, the hubs ALWAYS turned with the axle shafts as long as the vehicle moved, no matter whether 2WD or 4WD. Therefore, the front driveshaft was spared the everyday wear-and-tear of spinning U-joints in 2WD, as well as saving a bit of fuel by reducing overall driveline friction.

In yours, the driveshaft turns with the axle shafts all the time. In 2WD the axles drive the driveshaft, which is mechanically disconnected within the transfer case. In 4WD the thransfer case drives the driveshaft, which then turns the axle shafts.

Not to complicated, once it's viewed for what it is. imp

 

Yes after 30+ years of 4-wheeling and 20+ plus years of running an excavation comapny I fully understand the concept of lockout hubs, final drives on bulldozers and hydrostatic transmissions o skid steers, backhoes, excavators and small dozers since I've rebuilt each and every type we own,,,,,

Sorry smart *** taking over,,,,, I keep asking but nobody has answered,,,

Is there a lockout kit for these trucks?

All I know on this little tick turd is that when I pull the hub cap I see an axle shaft and a nut.

Since then I have searched and found that this is set up much like a front wheel drive car (yes have 2 VW TDI Diesels as well) and from what I've seen it would have to be a very inclusive kit to make it a true lockout hub and was wondering if it was available.

I know these small vehicles have various methods of locking front ends in and was just surprisid that in a 2001 vehicle it would be a full time front end,,,,,,, for God's sake they did away with that concept back in the 80's what the hell brought that dip-***** idea back?

I have even seen vacuum actuated differentials that engaged to the axle shafts and wondered if this little toy may have that type of system.

Basically it's pretty tight under this thing and I looked at what I could see and decided to ask here but not really getting very far, didn't even get a positive answer from the local Ford dealer but was told they THOUGHT is was a full time front driveline. I have never torn into this trucks front end and really don't want to unless it needs it,,,,,,,,, I would just prefer the front driveline be dead like it should be when not needed.

I don't care how straight the driveshaft is there is still a LOT of drag keeping that couple hundred pounds of steel in a spinning motion and My guess it should be worth at least 2mpg with that tiny V-6

So as far as mechanics go I'm quite clear on the concept just not experienced on this particular vehicle,,,,, We only have trucks in our fleet and as mentioned to TDI VW,,,,,, actually this little Sport Trac is the ONLY licensed vehicle we have that burns GAS and even though I fully understand the 4 stoke Gas and Diesel and even 2 stroke diesel and gas,,, I would probably ask someone for input if I had to mess with this one since I just don't mess with Gas much anymore.

So,,,, My reason for being here was to find out if there was any device in this front end that was originally designed to disengage the wheels from the differential or the differential from the axle shafts

Through process of elimination I'm coming to the conclusion it's a idiot designed full time front end made to cater to people that are too ignorant, lazy or just too prissy to lock a hub in when needed,,,,, the cute little **** on the dash makes it sssooooo simple and the full time front end keeps them from blowing the transfer case when they turn the little **** doing 60mph on the paved highway because they saw a snow flake.

Which brings me back to,,,,

Is there a lockout kit available for this truck?

I think it's ridiculous that my 8000 pound F-350 PowerStroke Crew Cab 4X4 makes the same MPG as this little toy,,, I would like to improve the MPG if possible

My 11,000 pound F-350 with a 8 foot wide 8 foot long walk in utility bed still makes 10 MPG and the bed sticks up 3 feet above the cab of the truck,,,,

Hell I pull a 3000 pound trailer with the VW TDI's and STILL make 35 MPG compared to 16 MPG bare naked with the Sport Trac

Sorry about the rant just one of those moods I guess,,,,,,,,

 

No, there is not a manual lockout kit available. It uses unit bearing hubs, with the axle shaft acting as the spindle just like a modern FWD car. In order to change to manual hubs, you would need a new spindle setup, different style shafts, and some sort of wheel mounting flange. Even the earlier models with TTB and "hubs" were not comparable to what was used on the fullsize trucks.
FWIW, that front driveshaft weighs maybe 20lbs, the ring and pinion another 15 or so, and the front CV shafts are around 10-15 each. Not much weight swinging around under there.

 

I have a 2001 sport trac that i cant get fire to the transfer case. It worked a few months back but it was very slow at kicking in. The 4wd lights come on when i turn the key on and the module in the kick panel clicks. I have even purchased a new module thinking that would fix the problem but no luck. Is there something else in-between the module and transfer case i should check before takeing the seats and floor mat out to check wires. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Check the shift motor on the T/C... Philip

 

I have put a new shift moter on but i have no fire going to it