Saturday, me and the family took a road trip to Starkville to watch Mississippi State vs Kentucky. Once we arrived I noticed that when making a hard left or right turn there was a clunking sound and feeling coming from the front end. Once we parked I noticed that some idiot turned the hubs in the LOCKED position, and I drove all the way there on the interstate with the hubs locked. Obviously, it was in 2WD.

I started to think how that could have happened as I have only owned it for a few days prior and I never even touched the hubs. The day before the trip I dropped off the truck to the dealer to get the tires re-balanced. Those guys are the only ones fooling with the tires. Why in the hell did they put the hubs in LOCKED position is beyond me.

Any chance there could be any damage driving with the hubs locked for the trip?

 

Mine were in the locked position when I bought it. It won't hurt anything in 2wd except your fuel mileage.

 

If you have ESOF, get a pair of rear-wheel hub caps and stick 'em on the front.

 

Hubs locked in is fine, I lock mine for the entire winter, freeway, city, etc.,

 

Thanks for the replies. I didn't think it had hurt anything, but being a new truck I was not sure if things had changed.

 

One time when I rotated the tires on my 2002, I put the front hubs in the lock position as it makes it easier to get the tire on as the wheel won't spin. Forgot about it for 6 months or so and it didn't hurt a thing. So the dealer probably did it when you had the wheels balanced and someone forgot to unlock them. Al

 

From what I've read it's pretty common for the hubs to be locked when the dealer gets the truck off the transport, I suppose some dealers forget to unlock them during the dealer prep.

You didn't hurt anything except your mileage. In fact it probably did the front end some good to get things broke in. I like to lock my hubs in once a month and drive around for a day to get the lube warmed up and spread around.

 

How can you tell if the hubs are locked on my 2017 lariat 6.2

 

Look at the front hubs and turn in the direction the arrows show.

 

Auto vs Locked....

 

I freaking love this forum.

I've had my new (2017) truck for three weeks and run about 1000 miles. The last few days, I've noticed a binding up feeling/sound as if I'm in four wheel drive. I kept thinking this thing is electronic four wheel drive. So, how can I be in four wheel drive. I was worried about the lugs, alignment, balance, the unknown. I came on here to ask the same questions and it's being answered already.

Thanks for for the help. My hubs came from the dealership in the lock position and I didn't realize that was even an option with electronic four wheel drive.

 

..

 

If you could feel binding then your dash switch must also have been set to 4 wheel drive. There should be no binding if only the hubs are locked.
Gary

 

The dash switch is pushed in (locker) and in 2H. I moved the hubs to Auto. I'll see what happens.

 

I am amazed at the number of Super Duty trucks that are pdi'd and still have the hubs locked. Mine were too. I knew to check from reading the forum so I unlocked them right away. How hard is it to put this on a check list and follow it?

It is not the end of the world, but it speaks to a lazy attitude by the prep person.