Exactly how should I engage the 4wd on my truck? It has the turn **** on the dash. A friend said that you can turn it on as long as you aren't driving to fast and it should kick in. That seems kind of scary to me. He also said that to take it out of 4wd I should turn the **** to 2H and back up a few feet just to be sure. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Your friend is right, as long as you aren't going too fast I usually recommend not above 45mph to my customers.

 

correct, it's just the same as having a manual transfer case and the hubs locked in. As long as you're not on the highway it will automatically engage when you turn that ****. (Don't worry about it breaking. It isn't going to jam the gears because it has a clutch)
You don't always have to back up to diesngage it once you've taken the **** out. Sometimes it takes a couple seconds. You should be able to feel the difference if you're in a situation where you actually need it.

However, 4x4 doesn't help all that much once at crusing speed unless you are driving through an inch of fresh slush (in which case you slide off the road without it) I usually turn it off once I'm moving to save on gas.

Using the electronic 4x4 can be confusing when you want to put it into 4 lo--
-Stop the truck and hold the brake
-place the transmission in neutral (N)
-turn the **** to 4 lo
-put tranny in desired gear

In 4 lo, the gearing is much lower (therefore giving more torque). Max speed is greatly reduced (but you wouldn't use 4 lo if you were going to cruise)

Also be sure to remember that since these trucks are 4wd instead of awd, that you shouldn't travel much more than an hour in 4 hi at 60 MPH and you aren't supposed to use 4x4 at all if you're traveling much faster than that. If you need 4x4 at that speed, you're driving too fast! Better to save a life and truck and slow down

Hope that answers it all for you. Anything else, just ask.
~Matt

 

Don't use it on dry pavement either. When switching to 4wd LO, after you have followed the steps above, you will feel the transfer case clunk into low range, then put it in gear.
I also recommend turning it on about once a month to keep everything moving, so it will work when you really need it.

 

My manual states I can engage 4x4 HI at any speed below 45mph. The only other thing I've been told by a Ford mechanic is to also try not to engage it while accellerating "hard". Just easy off on the gas, then engage. And certainly no spinning of tires while engaging! :-)