I don't know of anyone taking delivery who would complain if their truck hubs were NOT left in LOCKED position. IMO....dealer should leave the truck in a position to be driven off the lot in normal driving conditions.

 

Can someone give me the run down on locked vs auto on these? I guess I’m just used to seeing one or the other.

 

My experience is that if you have to manually shift (move a shift lever) to engage 4WD with your transfer case, then you will have fully-manual hubs ... and must manually turn them to both lock and unlock them. If you have ESOF (Electronic Shift On the Fly) to engage 4WD with your transfer case, the controls will also lock your hubs if they are set in the "Auto" position ... but you can also override that and lock them manually. There is no "unlock" position on the hubs with ESOF, but they remain unlocked until 4WD is engaged. You can also manually lock the hubs (with or without ESOF) and leave the transfer case in 2WD ... the front axle shafts, differential gears and front driveshaft will rotate because they're being driven by the front wheels rolling and not being driven by your transfer case.

 

Following up on myself and installed a pair of KR rear hubcaps on my front wheels today.

 

Roger that. Fits with what I thought, just wondering...... why? Thanks for the info

 

I don't understand to which aspect you ask, "Why?" One is a manual system and the other is automated. FWIW, I thought I read somewhere that Ford is changing the 2018 MY 4WD non-commercial trucks so all trim levels come with ESOF ... no more transfer case levers on the floor.

 

Come on. Nobody is whining here. This can easily be a lack of customer awareness of a different system for 4WD. It would be nice if a dealer went over some of the technical aspects of the vehicle on delivery.

 

Took mine for a test drive just before doing the purchase paperwork, and the salesman asked me to stop at a particular fuel station to fill up with gas. I said it takes diesel and his response was, "Really?" I wound up showing the salesman all the features. He later questioned why I was pounding on the hubcaps (I found one not completely seated).

 

Lol I had a guy in a 2017 Platinum just like mine pull up to me and say "Nice truck"! And then informed me my front cap was wobbling. Pulled up to the next light and there were 3 2017 white Platinum's sitting at the light! lol I guess they're getting popular!

 

Ha! Sadly, this is often true. I typically know more about what I am buying than the sales person.

 

When the hubs are unlocked, the axle joints don't turn. You can turn full lock and there is no click or bind. With the hubs locked, the axle joints have a slight hitch in them at full lock. Ford made the wheels turn slightly sharper than the axle joints can handle. It's minor but noticeable. In 4x4, most people don't make full lock turns even in snow because of binding.

And yes, the fuel economy drop is noticeable with hubs locked. About 1mpg. I've had both. If the fuel economy was negligible, Ford wouldn't have bothered with locking hubs.

 

I tend to think the "hitch" you feel is caused by the fact that (when hubs locked and 4WD engaged) U-joints do not allow the wheel to turn at the same speed as the axle shaft when the steering wheel is at full lock. In such a scenario, if the wheel rotation remains constant as the vehicle moves, the axle shaft will have to accelerate and decelerate twice for each revolution. This situation created the birth of CV "Constant Velocity" (hence, the name) joints used on other vehicles.
A better explantion (better than the one I wrote above) can be found HERE.

Found a video showing the difference in rotation"

 

When 4x4 is not engaged, the front differential eliminates any binding caused by wheelspeed differences. When 4x4 is engaged...yes, absolutely you will feel binding on tight turns due to the front and rear axles being forced to turn at the same speed...yet needing to turn at different speeds.

But in 2wd, you are feeling the u-joint hitching. CV joints might eliminate the hitch but are not as strong (generally) as u joints.

 

True, CV joints are weaker, hence U-joints on the Super Duty. I can't say I've ever driven mine in 2WD with front hubs locked ... and since I just installed rear-style hubcaps to cover the hubs, I doubt I'll give it a whirl anytime soon (I always just use ESOF).