Hey everyone, I usually hang out in the '09-14 F-150 page but I thought I'd come over here and get some advice on my 4wd. I have a 2012 F-150 4x4 (see signature) that is the first 4x4 I've ever had. I bought last year and I like it. Probably like a lot of people I don't ever think about the 4wd until I need it. Last night on the way home from work I put it in 4H for the snow and it went in just fine. However when I took it back out of 4wd, the front hubs would not disengage right away. It took a few miles for the hubs to unlock. I was in heavy traffic too so I really couldn't do much except simply follow the leader. My vehicular OCD made me call my mechanic and ask him about it. He said that one of the reasons was that I don't use it enough so the hubs are too dry. He said it could also be because of the bitter cold.
My question is how often should I use the 4wd to keep everything lubed up and happy?

 

If I'm traveling in a perfectly straight line at very low speed, I'll exercise the 4wd just about every other time I drive the truck. That might be once a week.

4 low maybe once a month because it's such a pain. Roll 3mph, N, shift, back to D, rinse repeat.

Use it or lose it. Go camping more often. LOLz.

 

if i am not mistaken your 150 has ESOF (electric shift on the fly),correct?
hubs not disengaging on an ESOF vehicle when taken out of 4X4 is a common occurrence, that is why the owners manual tells you to stop, and reverse to 5 to 10 feet after taking it out of 4X4, to allow the automatic locking hubs to disengage.
what you did will not effect or harm the locking hubs or four wheel drive.

 

I owned my '02 F-350 for about 5 years. The auto hubs on that truck were stuck engaged the entire time I owned it. Your truck probably has a different hub design than my '02 had, so I'm not saying it's the same thing. But as Tom said, it's not that big of a deal to drive in 2WD with the hubs locked.

 

Yes I do have the ESOF, but do not have the 4wd Auto setting. I've heard mixed reviews on that anyway but that's a different argument. Nor do I have the E-locker, just a 3.73 open diff. I would have preferred Limited Slip like I had in my previous 2006 2wd truck, but when buying used one can't be too picky. Thanks for the help guys.
As for going camping more often that'll have to wait till at least spring. I ain't no polar bear!
Here's some pictures of the truck for y'all's entertainment!

 

Here's the basic rundown on the truck for those interested. It's basically a retired work truck that I bought last spring with only 28k miles. I now have 44k miles. F-150 XL with the XL Plus package, giving it chrome bumpers and Power Equipment Group, Cruise Control, CD player. Does not have SYNC or fog lamps. Originally ordered with the 3.7 V6, Auto, 4x4, 3.73:1 open/8.8" rear, and plain steel wheels. I 've added the step bars, chrome wheels from a 2007 XLT model, and the Leer truck cap. It was pretty clean already when I bought it, but I cleaned it up a lot more and I really don't work it as much as I thought I would so it's pretty much babied. My previous trucks have all gotten worked pretty hard but my lifestyle has changed over the years so this one's mostly just a commuter. The 3.7 does okay but I do wish it had the 5.0. On even some moderate hills I can tell the 3.7 is working just to maintain speed, which means the trans does a lot of shifting. That kills my fuel economy too. I've heard the 5.0 gets better mileage, and I can see why. Maybe in a region with flatter terrain the V6 would be happier but in Western PA with the hills and mountains we have here, the V6 is merely adequate. The 6R80 trans seems pretty stout for an automatic. I've always preferred manuals though. But I have to say this thing rides smoother than any truck I've ever driven before! I'm not used to a truck being this smooth and quiet! Even my wife like the way it rides, and she's a tough customer!!

 

The f150 doesn't have auto hubs like the Super Duty trucks do. They have full time hubs that are always engaged, and I think they have a vacuum CAD actuator on the passenger side that can get stuck I am not sure if the newest ones are like this but the older ones are. Also what made you think the hubs aren't disengaging? If you are in 2wd it would be hard to tell the difference.

 

My bad I was thinking of the Dodge 1500. The newer f150 do have vacuum hubs but still you shouldn't be able to tell much difference if they stay engaged in 2wd.

 

I could tell by the way it was driving. The steering was very stiff, like it usually is when it's in 4wd.

 

Maybe your 4x4 wasn't disengaging at all then, if you not in 4x4 but the hubs are locked it shouldn't feel much different. Dodge and Jeeps use hubs that are always locked.

 

Yeah, that sounds more like a transfer case issue than front hubs. I know my '95 F-150 wouldn't necessarily shift out of 4WD immediately when I hit the button. It seemed to need to get everything unloaded first.

The auto hubs my '95 originally had wouldn't unlock until the front driveshaft wasn't being driven (and I backed up), so everything would stay engaged until the transfer case unloaded and went into 2WD.

I guess some newer trucks use vacuum-operated hubs (I know my '02 F-350 did) so if your's has that, then they aren't disengaging either. But as 00t444e said, even if the hubs don't unlock you really shouldn't feel anything significant if the transfer case is actually in 2WD.

 

but ESOF will stay engaged until the truck is stopped, and sometimes backed up.

 

Here is my experience for what it’s worth to you. When I bought my used 2010, it had the same issue. It would only disengage completely if it turned a corner or stopped and backed up. I went round and round with the dealer, because at the time it was still under factory warranty. I just learned to deal with it. So, last year, at around 60,000 miles, I purchased new tires and solved my problem. I knew when I purchased to truck, one of the tires had been damaged and replaced with a matching tire. They were pretty close in tread wear, but not exactly. Turns out that the difference in tread wear was causing them to turn at slightly different speeds, just enough to keep tension on the gears in the transfer case. The axles had been disengaging, but the transfer case was not (which I already knew). Now with the new tires that are all perfectly matched, it works as designed. It does help to let off the gas momentarily, in order to release the tension. Now, yours may be a different issue, ie the axles, vacuum problem or somethingelse, but just thought I’d throw it out there.

 

Good point, tires that are slightly different size (or at slightly different inflation pressure) can cause things to bind up. But if anything disengages that will unload the entire system. So there's no way your axles were disengaging either (probably due to the same bind, not necessarily due to anything wrong with them).

 

i think he reversed the steps. the t-case was disengaging but the differential was not due to binding.