I forgot to point out in my first post that the manual lever is still "shift on the fly" and has been for many years. My factory ordered 1981 F250 4x4 had manual "shift on the fly" but that model had the shift pattern all in one straight line so a few times I had pulled that old girl into neutral unintensionally. My 05 manual SOF has a shift pattern that has to pulled to the left to get it into neutral so it is very simple to shift between 4x4 and 4x2 and it feels a lot better than turning a little switch that was identical to the fan switch in my 04. Glad some folks like the little plastic switch to shift their transfer case. I am 56 and still like a manual 4x4, always will, just hope Ford keeps offering it. I leave my hubs locked in for weeks at a time in the winter, always have and never wore out any hubs in the last 30 years of owning 4x4s.

 

I too am 56 years old and don't mind at all getting out to engage the hubs, and grabbing a handful of lever to shift into 4WD. It takes me back to the days when I had my first 4 wheeler, a 1963 Dodge Power Wagon. Back then I used the neutral position of the transfer case to operate the Braden 8000 lb. power takeoff winch. I have had many 4 wheelers over the years all with manual shifting transfer cases and manual hubs (including the dreaded Warn lock-o-matics ). To me there is no more reliable system than manually operated hubs and transfer case. Realistically, the only reason the factories went to these automatic and electric systems was to make it "easier" (not better) for the operator.

 

Paul, I like your style and nice to meet another old guy that thinks like I do.

I learned to drive on a 55 Ford pickup........three on the tree. it had a little overhead valve V8 that my Dad rebuilt. The truck was 9 years old and some guy in a brand new 64 Chev Biscayne 6 cylinder tried to out run my Dad on the highway. The old Ford spanked that new Chev.

 

Hey, not only old guys think like you do

Let's not turn this into an ESOF/manual debate. Oh wait, that already happened.

 

One of the benefits of being an old guy is that your opinions are based on experience and knowing the difference between something that works great vs. something that doesn't.
Back in the late 60's and early 70's the Ford F-250 4wd pickups were known as "High boys" because they sat up high and had great clearance for off road adventures. A few years later they started building them lower to the ground and I asked a dealer why this was so. He told me that the factory had received numerous complaints from customers that the high trucks were too hard to get in and out of..... I think it all started going downhill from there as truck manufacturers started paying too much attention to comfort and convenience to market their trucks. I think it carries on today with ESOF, automatic hubs, full time 4wd, etc.etc. Kudos to Ford for still offering the tried and true 4wd systems.

 

I bought my first new Ford in 1975. It was an F250 Camper Special XLT. 390 4 speed that came with a Holley 4 brl carbureter

I really wanted a 4x4 but in Canada in 1975, you could not get the 390 in 4x4, only the 360 which I did not want. Actually my 390 stick was not that impressive as the max I could go in 3rd gear was 45MPH and it would not pull 6 % grades in high with a Camper on so 45 was all I did up hills at a 7000 pound combined weight.

30 years later I can pull 50 MPH up a 6% grade with a combined weight of 20800 and get the same mileage with a V10 Torque-shift that the old 390 stick got.

The reason the Ford people told me that the 4x4 was not available with the 390 was because the 4x4 drive train could not take the 390's torque which I knew was BS
Remember this was Canada, maybe in the USA, the 390 came in 1975 F250 4x4s.
Remember in those days, the 1/2 ton Ford 4x4s only had the single speed transfer case and you only got the low speed transfer case in the F250.

I got my first 4x4 in 81 and have had them ever since and they all were available with every engine option . The 81 was a 400 and it was a great engine, better than my 88 4x4 460 that was a terrible gas hog..............time to go . I can talk trucks forever.

 

390's never came in 4x4's in the 70's.

What the reason was, I have no idea, but have heard the "too much torque" thing. I kinda wonder if it was to keep people from killing themselves...

And 45 with a 435NP and a 390? Hmmph... shoulda replaced those valve springs ...

--

This thread is dead. The subject that the OP brought up is long gone, and no longer being discussed. We've all put in our $.02, and I think the original question was answered.

Thread locked