Dang. I guess I can expect an slight increase in economy.
I bought the truck new and the hubs are sitting where they where at the dealer. I never gave it a second thought until I was walking by the truck today and thought it looked unusual. Sure enough, locked in.
I have to say that even with the front drive line spinning I never noticed any vibration or anything. Very smooth.
I have the ESOF BTW.

 

Should be well lubed!!!

Just bought my son an '03 F250 and they were locked as well...

 

Don't feel bad drove the whole summer 25000 miles on old truck 2009 with manual hubs locked forgot to unlock them oops, just used a lot of gas lol no damage done

 

I had the same issue on my 2015 I don't know how many miles I drove like that but it was a few months. You'd think the dealer would check that before they put it on the lot.

 

They all come from the factory with the hubs locked in.

 

hmmm...now you guys are going to make me go out to my truck and take a look see...

 

We need a contest to see who has driven the longest without noticing...

Current time to beat.... 4800 miles...

 

Just walked outside. Mine were in auto, as I expected them to be. This winter, when I used 4x4 I heard them engage, so was pretty sure they were in AUTO, but you made me think twice.

 

When I bought my 2013 gasser, I had the dealer explain them to me as at first glance I thought the truck didn't have ESOF. My trade in (2003 F150), had ESOF but not manual hubs. Not familiar with the other brands setups, but I think it's nice to have the ability if needed. Also, I have got into the habit of checking them every time I wash the truck, just to be sure.

 

I'm the king!
And to think whenever I saw a Super Duty running down the road with the front axle ujoints spinning I would always say to myself "look at that guy, wasting his fuel".
The joke is on me.

 

Mine have been locked for at least 4 years .... it's just easier

 

Got my '15 F350 SRW last August. Didn't register with me at first but the dealer had reversed the hub covers so you couldn't see the hub position. A few days later I pulled the covers and corrected them. Really can't recall for sure but I think they were locked then.

 

I don't notice a big change in economy between locked in or not. I've done tests to see if there was a noticeable change or not. I lock them in when winter hits and for the duration, just in case they won't auto lock for some reason. I've heard reports that sub zero temps may prevent them from locking. It could be the difference between getting stuck or not - plus it goes into 4WD faster. Once the snow melted I put them back into auto and tested them to make sure they still auto engaged.

Might be different on a gas truck.

 

I actually unlocked the passenger side hub at the dealership when picking my truck up new with 5 miles on it, but was distracted by the salesman before I could check the driver's side and forgot. It was a couple of days later that I remembered to check and unlock it as well. Since then, when I remember to do so, I recommend the guys with new trucks check their hub position as soon as it is convenient.

 

Back in prehistoric times we used to have full time 4wd. (I got 17 mpg consistently with my 76 Jeep 1/2 ton, 360 v8, Warn Quadtratrac) Then the 2nd "gas shortage" came along and it became popular to convert full time 4wd's to part time. Everyone that I knew of who did the conversion had to calculate mileage to 2 decimal places to see an improvement. I think the savings paid for the conversion, oh, about last year...