Ford does offer the SOTF hubs. I have them on My 150. They're not tough enough for heavy duty mudding. But work fine for what I use them for.

When I need 4X4, I push a button and drive 2-3' and I'm locked in.

 

A 4x2 truck does not have have a front drive line. It just just wheels spinning on a solid piece of steel. A Dodge Diesel 2 wheel drive will get 18MPG maximum. No more. They do not get any better mileage then your ford. The front driveline is not always spinning on those trucks. They have automatic locking hubs. You can get those on your Ford as well. But manual hubs where you have to get out are much more reliable, and almost never fail.

 

Mine has the ESOF hubs and I'll admit that I had a problem with them, but nothing I couldn't fix myself. The hubs have two settings - "auto" & "lock". Since I repaired them, no problems, but if auto doesn't work I can always go to lock, which manually locks them. As for the mileage; lots of things affect that. In the summer I routinely get 18-19mpg on the highway while not towing. I keep the speed down to under 70mph and avoid putting my foot right down when passing some pokey. In winter those numbers go out the window due to warm up time and idling. Also the Canadian gallon is bigger than a US gallon, (4.4ltrs vs 3.7ltrs) That will also account for the numbers being a little different. Also you can't trust the mileage meter in the roof console, it's not accurate.

 

Ok,when I look under my truck,front axle,I see front cardan,when hubs is locking I can't turn it by my hand,when I unlock hubs I can ease turn cardan by my hand,ease,because front drive line is now unlocked,and because hubs is unlocked.And when you drive with ulocked hubs,front cardan not spinning,and drive-line not spinning.BUT!!!When you try turn by your hand Dodge front cardan you can't do this,because its always locked,front drive-line is spinning and front cardan always spinning,BUT that not mean driver drive 4X4,until he shift it.

 

Not all Dodges are setup this way. The transfer case puts the front drive line in neutral when not in four-wheel-drive. If you wanted to, you could leave your front hubs locked all the time without any problems at all.

 

Thats what I mean,when you leave front hubs locked all the time its will be bad for fuel mileage (you can read this in your manual).So,if you whant a better fuel mileage you need to unlock front hubs,because in this case front drive-line and cardan not spinning. // When you shift two-wheel-drive and not unlock (manual) front hubs your front drive-line and cardan is spinning and it is bad for fuel mileage.//

 

It should only drop your mileage by 1MPG or less. It should not make a huge difference.

 

anyone ever think that with all this talk of gas milage between ford and manual hubs vs others and auto hubs, that the weight of the ford might be playing a role in the milage. not just whether the front axle is spinning or not.

 

Who buys a SD because they're looking for good mileage anyway. Anyone who has to whine about one mpg one way or another should be driving a Honda anyway not a truck.

My two cents