I have an 08 F250 supercab 5.4L that I bought this past July. The truck has 153000 miles on it now it had 150000 when I bought it. I don't drive it every day just usually on weekends and when I need the truck. The truck was really well maintained and had all the work done at a local ford garage. I live in western pa and lately it has been pretty cold and snowy so I have been using the 4x4 more than I normally would the past few days. My wife was driving the truck the day before yesterday and had it in 4x4. The past 2 nights it has been really cold right around 0 degrees. I drove the truck yesterday and it just didn't seem right when I first drove it almost like there was a tire going flat or a flat spot with one of the tires. I got out and checked and everything seemed ok but it was still doing that. I saw that the passenger side hub was still locked while the drivers side was on auto and I was in 2 wheel drive. When I got home I sprayed the hubs down with PB Blaster and tapped on them with a rubber mallet. I put the truck back in 4x4 and drove it down my road to the end then put it back in 2 wheel drive and reversed down the road. When I got back into my driveway and checked the hubs were both in auto so all was good. The only thing now is when I am driving everything is normal but when I start to brake or decelerate I get a humming noise like you would get with off road tires on the highway. I wouldn't say that it is that loud but definitely noticeable and there is a vibration in the floor in the front along with the humming. When I am going really slow decelerating you can also hear a noise similar to if you would spin one of those wheels with the metal pegs at a carnival or something to win a prize. I am just wondering if anyone has any ideas. I don't really know where to even begin so any help is appreciated.

 

I do not get any noise at all while in 4x4 just 2wd

 

I would start with checking the hubs to make sure they are actually unlocking.

 

Sounds like mine did earlier this winter. One of my stock hubs grenades. All the cheap plastic had broke and the hub was making the noise. Good Luck

 

The easiest way to tell if it is unlocked is to spin the axle end u-joints with your fingers, they should turn easy. My friend had his hubs on his 2000 go bad and what happens is that one hub will stick in and tear up the spider gears. I live in PGH so I know about the cold and the salt .

 

"When I got back into my driveway and checked the hubs were both in auto so all was good."

Forgive me, but what did you mean by this? The hubs should not turn on their own between auto and lock. If they do, it could indicate as mentioned earlier that some part of the hub has broken free.

-W

 

Thanks for all the replies I am going to tear them apart and check them out. Is it worth replacing them with the auto hubs again or just going to manual hubs? I know this has probably been explained a million times on here but I know my brother has an 06 6.0L and he has the manual ones on his he said he likes them better because they are more reliable. I am going to take both hubs off and see what they look like. If nothing looks out of place should I grease them up and put them back in and see what happens or should I just replaced them? To me they look original they don't look like they have been replaced and I don't have any records that they have been replaced so I wouldn't be surprised if they are shot. If I need to replace one should I just do both at the same time?