I am having trouble getting 4 wheel drive to engage. I believe it is something that I am doing wrong. I can read the Left side hub to see which direction to turn the hub to lock it. But he Right side, all the letters are worn off and I don't know which way to rotate it to put it into lock or auto for that matter.

Are the Left and Right hubs the same part and as such one will rotate clockwise and the other counterclockwise or are they like the old Warren hubs where the would both rotate forward or back?

Thanks for your help. I know this is a lame question, but planning 1800 mile trip over Christmas and want to ensure that everything is working well.

 

both turn clockwise to lock

 

Thanks very much. I was turning them both the same way. Maybe that is why everything was so squarely this morning in the snow.

 

I noticed you have an '03. I don't know if yours is the same as my '02 F-250SD, but I just discovered that the Ford Owners Guide that came with the truck is wrong. It has a drawing showing that you turn manual hubs to the left to lock them. Bought the truck three years ago and read the manual, and noticed that. Totally opposite all the other Ford 4x4's I've owned over the years. No markings on the hubs, but I just assumed the manual knew what it was talking about. Well, after numerous trips between Texas and Colorado, and out to Montana, at speeds up to 85 mph. I just discovered that I've been driving almost all of it with the hubs locked in. Yesterday I was trying to shorten up a U-turn on a back road when I felt that old hop hop hop familiar from every time I tried to turn too sharp with manual hubs locked in. I verified that they were turned all the way clockwise, as per the manual. Just for grins, I turned them back to the left. Hops went away. Today I crawled underneath and by turning the u-joints on the drive shafts, I quickly determined that the correct way is clockwise to lock, left to loose.

By the way, on the next page (147) there's a drawing of the automatic hubs, and they too have the Lock function on the left (CCW) and the Auto function on the right (CW). I would assume this is also wrong.

Just thought I'd bring it up. What would 20,000 miles of highway driving with the hubs locked in do? Hey, Ford TOLD me to....

 

Driving with the hubs locked will not hurt anything. I lock mine in the fall and leave them locked all winter.

However, the locked hubs will not cause wheel hop when turning. That will only happen if you actually have the 4wd engaged.

 

Not in this case. In fact, the hopping was what called my attention to it. And the first thing I looked at was the transfer case selector. It was definitely on 2H. and 4x4 light on instrument cluster was not illuminated.

I was just back out under the truck wiggling shafts and looking at u-joints, all seems tight and right. Glad to hear I probably didn't hurt anything. Just spinning a few bearings that didn't need to be spinning, and probably didn't help the old MPG much either.

I doubt this truck had seen much 4x4 until I bought it. It started out in Tomball, Texas and was still in that area when I bought it. It has just under 200,000 on it. I use it to tow a travel trailer mostly. (daily ride while in the US is an '08 Mustang GT these days)

 

All I tell you is that having the hubs locked will not cause wheel hop. You may have something wrong going on with the transfer case or driveshaft. Does the hop disappear if you unlock the hubs?

 

I've owned quite a few 4x4's over the years. 6 Ford pickup trucks, Two Explorers, an Expedition, An early Bronco, a Bronco II, and a full size Bronco, a Jeep, two Samurais, and in every single case, if I dialed the hubs in, and turned the steering all the way to the stop, and drove the vehicle forward, I could tell whether or not tthe hubs were dialed in by the motion of the front of the truck. Maybe we're using different definitions of the word "hop", but no, there's nothing funny going on with the truck. I posted here to tell people about what I discovered in the manual. And now I've done that.

Perhaps your truck works differently, but there's no doubt in my mind how mine have all worked.

 

Sometimes when disengaging the four wheel drive it helps to put the truck or vehicle in reverse to un bind the system. I have had to do this before.

 

I am sure this is going to show my novice-ness at owning a 4x4 truck, but we all have to start somewhere, I guess.

My question is in concern to the locking hubs.

What does auto mean?

I noticed when I am in auto, my 4x4 does not engage as well as it does, when I get out and lock the hubs.

I have owned my truck for 5 days now, and was stuck on some ice the other day in a drive way, I was in auto, but was not able to get unstuck, I locked the hubs and got out easily.

am I not understanding what auto means? or is something not working properly?

my only previous experience with locking hubs was with a guy I used to work for, and we would both get out and lock the hubs before the icy hills, and unlock after, is this something I should imitate or should I follow the advice of one of the other commenters who just locks them in the fall, and leaves them locked until spring?

Thank you guys for your help.

 

Auto means that the truck automatically locks the hubs when you put it in 4wd inside the cab (and unlocks the hubs when you switch it back to 2wd). Alternatively, you can get out and msnually turn the dial on the hubs to lock them. That's kind of a back up in case the auto feature stops working.

I manually lock mine each winter just because that way I know they're definitely locked

 

In auto mode, vacuum gets applied to the hubs and the vacuum engages the lock in the hub. When the **** is manually rotated to lock, then vacuum is not needed to lock the hub, because it is already locked.
If auto is not working, it points to a problem in the vacuum supply or lines or seals in the hubs.

 

well turns out I probably have a problem with a speed sensor as well, as I was driving to dealership my fuel mileage went through the roof! And a service light came on, as I pulled off the highway I could smell burning brakes, all four tires were smoking, I can only imagine the damage I did, glad I got it through a dealership with a 30 day warranty, I just hope all these issues are not a sign of what is to come

 

I don't think he means rear wheel hop. Pretty sure he is referring to the steering wheel bouncing at full lock in 4 wheel drive.