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I have a 2016 Forde F350 6.7 Larriet. I have the 4x4 and the truck has hubs and they say Auto and lock on them. Reading other posts it says as long as the hubs are in Auto you can SOTF inside the truck. Why does the hub have the lock option? It seems redundant if you have the auto feature. Please advise!! Thanks!!
Your hubs in the Auto position are vacuum actuated. If you, at some point in time, develop a vacuum leak, they will not lock automatically. So, if that happens, one can go old school, and stop the truck, get out, and manually rotate the hub to the lock position.....gives one a "failsafe" mode!
Hope this helps you.
The SOTF automatic system is driven by vacuum. The vacuum system has been known to fail over time. The manual locks allow you to engage 4 wheel even if the automatic system fails. I leave my hubs in manual all winter because I am shifting back and forth from 2 to 4wd depending on road conditions. I also find that the system shifts in and out of 4wd much more smoothly when in manual because everything is turning. The drawback I suppose is additional wear in the front driveline and perhaps a bit lower fuel mileage.
If extremely cold the Vacuum may not be able to lock the hubs in. That is why folks manually lock them if in a really cold climate and there is snow pending or coming down.
One should manually lock them on occasion and run the front end to keep thing lubed.
You can manually lock the front end without turning the **** and not hurt a thing.
Had the vacuum system fail on my 2011 and manual hubs saved my bacon... Like Shawn said, I now leave it in locked mode because I am mostly in 4WD in the winter.
And I have noticed that locking and unlocking are smoother. I don't feel like I am wearing out the mechanism when I switch in and out several times on a trip. Like every time I know I am taking a right hand turn and I am not on snow packed or ice covered streets. In addition to once you get on the highway, those are typically dry...
I'm having a problem with my 4 wheel drive. I have vacuum, hubs hold vacuum, and no leaky hoses. Even if I lock my hubs in, I have no 4 wheel drive. My truck is a 2012 f-350 6.7. Can't anyone help me trouble shoot?
I'm having a problem with my 4 wheel drive. I have vacuum, hubs hold vacuum, and no leaky hoses. Even if I lock my hubs in, I have no 4 wheel drive. My truck is a 2012 f-350 6.7. Can't anyone help me trouble shoot?
You will want to check the transfer case solenoid.
Also I have it jacked up and with engine running and 4 wheel engaged and Judd locked I am able to spin the tires. One makes other spin in opposite direction. Should that happen?
Yes, because you don't have a front locker. Only way both spin the same direction is if you have a locker. (simplified explanation)
Never had to mess with the solenoid on the transfer case so I can't help there - It's making me think that maybe there is an air leak somewhere. The only time I ever got no errors and wasn't in 4WD correctly was when I had an air leak. A $5 part was preventing me from going into 4WD (at the hubs). Assming you ran codes or at least put the truck in engineering mode to also check codes? You can try putting the truck in and out of 4WD with the constant codes screen on too...
Just had the front driveline on my truck changed under warranty(vibrating) according to the mech, leaving in full auto, it can take up to a minute to fully engage the front driveline, and that is still acceptable to ford. If you don't need 4wd, or not sure if you will, auto. If you know you will, lock it in.
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