Manual 4x4 FTW.
2018 4 wheel drive stuck
Hotshot
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 10,119
Likes: 652
From: NH
My buddy has a '97 F250 old body style. Classy truck in many ways. His truck is obviously manual hubs / manual shifter. Two winters ago the linkage between the manual lever and the transfer case rusted out and broke when he tried to engage 4x4. That's a problem ESOF will never encounter, so let's not pretend it's impossible to have a problem with the manual setup. Not to mention on the newer trucks there is an electric solenoid that prevents you from shifting into 4-low when the truck is not in neutral...something else than can fail which never will on the ESOF.
Hotshot
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 10,119
Likes: 652
From: NH
Yep, those linkages seize up pretty good. Pliers won't help at that point. I agree you need to be in neutral to shift to low in either system...but the electronic system does not use an inhibit solenoid, because it doesn't need to. If you aren't in neutral, it simply won't allow the transfer case to shift until that condition is met.
Logistics Pro
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 3,523
Likes: 483
From: Southern OH
You can use pliers to turn the ear on the transfer itself not the linkage, you can actually do that on an electric shift too if the motor fails, but you have to unplug and unbolt the motor to get to it.
Hotshot
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 10,119
Likes: 652
From: NH
Yes, I am aware of that. But sometimes the little ear won't budge itself without a lot of force...the factory shift lever gives more leverage than pliers...and this is what can cause the rusted up connection to break. It is harder to try to manually shift the ESOF systems. Possible, but you need to know where the indexing locations are.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 939
Likes: 8
From: DFW
When you say no go do you mean it wouldn't go into 4 lo? I've had mine in both 4 hi and 4 lo and I've never touched the hubs. It isn't necessary. Something else is amiss here. 4hi can be switched on the fly. 4lo requires stopping and shifting to neutral. Could be your rear tire was still spinning if it was freely turning. That would prevent the engagement of 4lo. Regardless the locking of the hubs was unnecessary as the hubs are more like curb feelers and fake cell phone antennas for the nostalgic guys who think they are still necessary. I've had 4wd trucks like this for 20 plus years and never had a single issue.
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Logistics Pro
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 3,523
Likes: 483
From: Southern OH
When you say no go do you mean it wouldn't go into 4 lo? I've had mine in both 4 hi and 4 lo and I've never touched the hubs. It isn't necessary. Something else is amiss here. 4hi can be switched on the fly. 4lo requires stopping and shifting to neutral. Could be your rear tire was still spinning if it was freely turning. That would prevent the engagement of 4lo. Regardless the locking of the hubs was unnecessary as the hubs are more like curb feelers and fake cell phone antennas for the nostalgic guys who think they are still necessary. I've had 4wd trucks like this for 20 plus years and never had a single issue.
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