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alright i have a 2000 f-350 v-10 auto tranny reg. cab manaul hubs with lever on the floor and the 4x4 has worked fine all year. today i get on the highway to go do a lot in the next town and i get up to around 30 mph and the front end starts to shake so i drop it into 2wd and the shake goes away. so i get underneath and front drive shaft u joints are tight, ball joints are tight, front axle joints are tight. so i limp to the lot in 2wd and plow it in 4x4 (works fine plowing and in town to 30 mph about) and i take it home to drop the plow off so i can take it to my buddys auto shop and i go up my drive in 4 wheel high and half way up the low range light comes on ??? and the truck is still in 4 high. so i drop the plow off it and do some tinkering back and forth in the drive way and 4 low works and when its in 4 low the "low range" lamp is much brighter than when it appears when im in 4 high.. i called a ford dealer to see if this is some kind of thing that means your supposed to check for codes or something like when the o/d light flashes and they have never heard of this. sooo back to the auto shop to let a mechanic test drive it and he comes back and thinks its either the driver side hub or driver side wheel bearing, so that explains the shaking but what the heck is the deal with the low range light coming on in 4 high?

. i just cant find it conceivable that a bad wheel bearing or hub could cause the low range light to come on... truck drives just fine in 2wd and say im in a lot pushing the 4x4 stays locked in fine. i let it sit in a heated shop for about 3 hours today whille i ran my boss' flatbed dually and it thawed out so im sure nothing is just froze up, its going in the shop in the am when im done with clean ups so they can figure it. its just aggravating the heck out of me trying to search and search for what the heck will cause this

 

There is a sensor on your transfer case that tells the computer what position your transfer case is in. Sounds like yours has either gone bad, or has too much snow, water, gunk in it and it is causing problems.

As far as your front end shake that is harder to say. When you said you dropped it into 2 wheel did you get out and turn the hubs or just shift the transfer case?

 

just shifted the transfer case. my hubs have been locked since october since i just leave them locked in all winter. i did go to one of the accounts i plow put lever in 2wd got out and unlocked hubs, did a lap around the lot locked hubs back in and then put it in 4x4 again and it still did it.

im just hoping they can fix it quick, right now this is my only plow rig and we are looking at lake effect snow all weekend then another big storm for next tuesday...

the sensor makse sense since this truck is out basically every snow storm for hours on end and gets pretty packed in with snow and ice.

 

There's a switch on the manual transfer case to light the dash lights.

Sounds like the connector (or the switch) got water in it. That's the "dim" low light.

The vibration is something else. Jack up the front wheels and check the wheel bearings.

Also, with the transfer case in 4x2, and the hubs unlocked, reach around the back of the front wheels and rotate the u-joint by hand. It should be somewhat hard to get started, but move smoothly, and not gritty or ratchety. That's to test the needle bearings inside the wheel bearing (inner spindle bearing) where the axle stub rides. However, that is not the problem if you have the hubs locked and you get a vibration.