My front hubs have been tough to turn since I bought the truck 1.5 years ago. Recently had both front bearings/brakes replaced. Anyway I basically can't trun the hubs by hand. I have to use a set of channel lock pliars to do it which is wreaking havoc on my plastic covers. Recently I took the truck to the dump on a rainy day and thought I was in 4x4 high (dask light and I heard the faint clunk). Turns out the front hubs didn't lock, or at least the front wheelks weren't spinning in the mud. Of course I got out and tried to rotate the hubs left to right to ensure they were either fully in auto, or fully in lock, but couldn't budge them. What makes it worse is the lettering indicating lock or auto is worn off. All I can see is the "dot".

So my questions are, what is causing the hub dial to be so tough to turn, and looking at either the left OR right front hubs which direction do I turn them to be in auto?

 

Remove hubs one at a time
Clean with WD40 thoroughly
Check for broken O ring seal
Lube liberally with White Lithium
Reinstall when moving free
Repeat above on other side
Hope I have been of help

 

just change them out to the warn lockers, they arent to exepesive and you wil always know when you are in or out, only thing that sux is that u have to spin them in and out when you need 4x4,

 

Yeah I had same problem. DO NOT use channel locks to turn them! You will destroy the plastic, like I did, and also end up tearing a large rubber oring gasket that is in the small slit around the dial. I did this and the oring bulged out. Luckly, the hub still works in auto, as I don't think that oring was for vaccum seal, but for keeping dirt out.

You need to spray penetrating oil, PB Blaster around the small slit of the dial and let it sit. They are froze from grime and little use. Continue to spary liberally untill they will move on their own.

The 4x4 is not working from the dash cause you have a vaccum leak. Check the air hose that comes from the engine comp. throught the wheel well down to the hubs. The hose may be disconnected, dry rotted or even the metal fittings going into the hub could be rusted. Mine were. Go to hardware store and buy new fittings and better grade hose for less than $10. Also clean the rust out from the small hole in the hub. Vaccum it out so it does not reclog!

Hope this helps!

 

Do you like being able to turn the hubs to "auto" and not having to worry about anything as far as getting out of the truck? Or, do you prefer to turn them manually to Lock, so when you hit the switch, you KNOW you will be in 4wd? I preferred the latter, and after having the same problem, trying to break free one of my hubs, i broke the entire center plastic piece out with a pair of pliers. I decided vacuum hubs no more, and i bought a $180 set of Warn Premium hub lockers, and capped off the vacuum lines. Now i have to get out to put it in 4wd, or i lock them in before i get in if i anticipate using them. You have to turn these 9/10 of a revolution to get them to lock in unlike the stock 1/4, they are very heavy duty, and look cool too.

 

Yikes! A few more options than I anticipated. Didn't know they were vacumn driven either.

I would prefer to keep it stock, and maintain the auto mode of not having to get out. Basically set it to auto and leave it alone period. Most of my 4x4 use is only brief periods of sleet/snow in my area, or at a steep boat ramp with too much gravel laying around. Otherwise instances like at the dump the other day (real mucky-muddy) is the only non-paved activity this truck see's.

How hard is it to change out that o'ring and plastic dial?...and where do i start to look for that vacume line in the engine compartment? I have had this on again, off agin vacume issue with my heater ducting defaulting to defrost, but have yet to find the culprit connector/line? I'm going to take a wild stab and ask are these two vacume problems possibly related?

 

Not a wild stab at all. They are related, and if you had a vacuum leak in the hub, all of the vacuum would be escaping at the leak, and the vacuum would not transfer to the HVAC equipment, causing your problem. Try getting vise grips and pinch off one hose at a time that connects to the framerail. See which one is causing the leak. The hose that seems to go into the knuckle of the axle is the vacuum hose.

 

Okay I'll give that a try.

Just to verify the current hub positions, when looking at the hubs, which direction should I rotate to ensure they are in auto clockwise, or counter-clockwise? Again I only have the dot to go by since my lock/auto lettering is rubbed off. Also is the direction the same for both left and right hubs?

 

clockwise is locked, counter-clockwise is auto.

Look here for a little more info on the vacuum, as well as a link to guzzles site for hub rebuilding.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...nt-engage.html

As far as I know the o-ring is non servicable, the only time I've gotten to it the hup had a few locking tabs broken off of it. Lube it liberally with silicone spray, penetrating oil can cause it to swell and worsen the problem.

 

Ok.. i just had my stock hubs from my 2000 f250 removed.. the ford tech tried to put in a pair of warn hubs that i bought. but called my later saying that he could not guarentee the work because the hubs appeared to be loose.. the C clips werent holding the hub on tight.. i read a thread about this earlier this year, but cant find it anymore.. i was wondering if anyone has had this problem and knows how to fix it.. Also, i am told that by leaving the auto lock hubs in when they are broken cause lead to a snapped alex.. apparently it's happend befor.. but then again i dont have much fair in the ford tech that did the work on my truck.. any help would be much appreciated..

 

"...also, i am told that by leaving the auto lock hubs in when they are broken cause lead to a snapped alex.. apparently it's happend befor.. but then again i dont have much fair in the ford tech that did the work on my truck.. any help would be much appreciated..."
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Hey Devo, may want to re-type the last couple of sentences of your post. I'm curius as to what you were referring to.

 

WOW.. thanks for pointing that out.. i must have been on Crack when i wrote that up.. Jk..

here is what i meant to say:

Ok.. i just had my stock hubs from my 2000 f250 removed.. the ford tech tried to put in a pair of warn hubs that i bought. But called later saying that he could not guarentee the work because the hubs appeared to be loose.. the C clips werent holding the hub on tight.. i read a thread about this earlier this year, but cant find it anymore.. i was wondering if anyone has had this problem and knows how to fix it.. Also, i am told that by leaving the auto lock hubs in when they are broken can lead to a snapped axle.. apparently it's happend before.. but then again i dont have much faith in the ford tech that did the work on my truck..
Anyway.. if anyone knows why my hubs arent seating properly, it would be a huge help..

 

IIRC You can call warn and they should send you another c clip to make it tighter.

 

it's not uncommon on the older trucks to have some 'play' on the hub. The splines are all still engaged and I can't remember one failing because of it. Not sure about the Super Duties but the hub portion is pretty much the same.

I can't think o how a broken hub could cause a snapped axle. When they fail they stop engaging and no longer transfer power. Therefore there is less stress on the hub. I have, however, seen a snaped stub shaft blow a hub off the end of the axle.

 

How much does the "hub" cap or cover cost, and how easy/hard is it to replace? Can you get them at a local parts store, or does it have to come form the Ford dealer parts counter? Mine are chewed up a bit from using pliers. I got one side to loosen up bit using lithium grease, but the other is still tight to turn by hand.