Ok, so I went to the woods this weeked and the road going in was really nasty. Lots of Ga. red clay soup! I was sliding really bad so I put my 2001 F250 (V10) into 4wd and managed to get out...eventually. Several other guys in my hunt club also had a hard time but we all managed to get out. I had to use 4wd low, but pulling a very small utility trailer still bogged me down, as it wanted to always go another way. I had to be pulled out of a sloppy mess. I went back to 2wd and no problems. On the way home the trans seemed ok, but something sounded a bit different around 70mph. Today, I get a weid kinda hesitation, but its hard to isolate. I checked underneath and the u-joints are fine. I cleaned off the red clay thinking the noise might be from dried mud. I started to move the front shaft, and it was then that I realized the hubs had never been locked in!. I have an Excursion with the auto locking hubs so it just never clicked in the F250 (doh!).
So, after giving the story behind the question, could any damage have occured having the truck in 4wd and trying to get out of the mud without the hubs being locked in??
Seems like when I go at a traffic light theres a slight hesitation and a light clink. I've tried keeping my foot on the brake and changing from drive to reverse and theres no problems or noise.

 

I am assuming that you do not have an ESOF system.
There will be zero damage to the front end by not engaging thmanual hubs, nothing other than a little hurt pride from getting stuck in 2wd (even though you thought you were in 4wd) could happen.
Sounds to me that the little clunk you have now id a dry slip yoke. Do you have a two piece driveshaft? If so, when was the last time you serviced it? Might be a good place to start.

 

No ESOF, all manual, and yeah thinking I was in 4wd and getting pulled out by a 2wd van with snow chains in the mud was rather embarassing .
I checked and I Do have the two piece drive shaft, so I'll be looking into that right away. On servicing the 2 piece shaft, whats involved? Just greasing it? I havent had a chance to get a service manual yet, but will tomorrow.
Thanks for the help!

 

Yeah, I will have to get around to trying to locate the factory ford spec grease for you. The part number has been listed on this site many many times,and I fail to keep track of it. It is a very bright blue stuff that seems to work very well. I have a big tube of it, but it is at the shop, so I can't put my hands on. I would imagine if you cruised some of the other sections you could run accross it. I am not confident you have a search function yet. If you do find the search function towards the top of your screen (in blue) you should serch for the lube.
Pretty sure you will find the answer to your problem here. Too bad about having to be pulled out by a 2wd van, but it happens,,,,once. Probably will never happen to you again, so that is a good thing.

 

http://www.eurekaboy.com/f250/slipjoint.htm

Here is a step by step.
That blue stuff is some PTFE grease available from Ford, they will know exactly what it is.

 

That link was perfect, thanks alot!!

 

Lots of luck man, hpe it worksout.