Hey smokestone I was born and raised in Las Vegas. I hear ya about the rain after not having any for awhile all the oil and grease on the roads comes to the top and it is Like Ice or worse. Hey stay ahay from the charelston under pass and you'll be fine.

 

So does this mean that the previous "run in 4x4 for a mile every month or so to keep greased, just stay going straight" is actually going to destroy it?

 

Run it on a lawn, dirt road....anything but an unforgiving surface like tar.

 

The problem with running any 4wd system in which the wheels lock on dry pavement is only a problem when you turn the truck. The harder the turn the more likely you are to damage the system. This is due to the fact that when you put the f150 into 4wd system, each wheel is getting ~25% of the power. This means as you turn the truck all the wheels are trying to turn at the same speed. However, the inside wheels must turn fewer rotations than the outside wheels. Since, the outside wheels take a longer route than the inside wheels. This means you can drive your truck in 4wd high on dry pavement in a straight line without damaging anything. Also, 4wd does not change the traction of the tires as some of the posts have indicated. The traction of the tires are due to the coefficient of friction of the tire and the surface it is on. As far as driving in the rain in Las Vegas, if it is slick enough to run safely, then you should not notice any oddities when turning. If it isn't you will feel your back in want to "hop"and actually can literally bounce of the ground, the steering will feel difficult and most likely hear sunds that are not ever pleasant when coming from your drive train. That is my two cents on the matter.

Ted

 

I am glad I taught the GF the dos and and donts of 4wd vehicles and off roading. I can rest easy when she drives any of my vehicles (all are 4x4s) knowing she knows how to properly use 4wd if necessary. The sad part is she wheels her Grand Cherokee better than some of my buddies wheel their trucks!

 

The shifting is only electronic inside the truck. You still have mechanical locking front hubs that sometimes don't release themselves whe the switch is turned back to 2wd. Try this:

Shift transmission to Neutral
Switch transfer case to 4low
Shift to Drive, pull forward a bit.
Shift to Neutral again
Switch transfer case back to 2wd
Shift to Reverse
Back up at least 20 feet

See if that does anything.

 

4 low is alway noisy and has a whining sound in every 4 wheel drive I have ever owned, which is about 7 of them

 

That noise in 4-lo should be normal, due the the very big gear reduction. If you think that sounds bad, my buddys 79F250 had a gear drive t-case, not a chain drive like ours, and when it wasin 4 low, you can surely hear it. Now all the new t-cases use auto trans fluid in them as well, instead of gear oil like the older units did.