I am looking for some real "super duty" data regarding ESOF.

Don't take it personally, but if you are a city boy (or girl) who is tough and cool becuase you drive a big bad Super Duty truck with 4x4. Save your keystrokes. Your data are NOT needed. Thank you for your understanding. Sorry for being kinda mean spoken. Just that these kinds of data are just not what I am looking for.

I am looking for REAL relibliltiy data from folks who DEPENDS on 4x4 on a dailly basis or at minimum a weekly basis.

How does the ESOF stand up? How well does it work when demanded? Would you rather have manual shift with manual hubs instead?

 

My ESOF wasn't working when I bought the truck. The t-case worked fine, but the hubs wouldn't lock. I had several vacuum leaks and a bad solenoid, so almost $1K later (new locking hubs, knuckle lines, engine compartment hose and solenoid) things were up and running. Almost 2 1/2 years later and it's still working fine ($0 spent since I fixed it). Sure the Warn Premiums are a better hub, but I like just clicking a switch from the cab. I don't regret fixing the system and I think that since I exercise the system at least once a week it doesn't freeze up on me. Since I'm back and forth between pavement and dirt, I don't always need 4x4 so I am not interested in locking the hubs for the day and spinning the axles.

Just my .02

 

I use 4x4 every day to get to the barn where my horse is. In the 5 years I have had the truck it has never let me down. During the storms I manually lock the hubs so when I switch to 4x4 it is there instantly. When the hubs are in auto mode it takes about 30 seconds or so to engage. I also have a 99 expedition with esof and it still works perfectly. I haven't had any problems with either of them.

 

99' Expedition does not have Hubs,,,they have a vacum operated center axel disconnect,,(crawl under the front and have a look,,just off center on pass side),1/2 tons have IFS front suspension,,they are not the same system as ESOF on a SuperDuty!!

If you really need 4x4 when you want it,,Get the Manual shift transfer-case with manual Hubs,(only type I will buy),my hubs have been locked for about 2 months now,,pull the lever when I need it,,and instantly it engaged,,,,Just read about ESOF problems !! Have fun and Good Luck !!

 

Had an electrical problem (terminal backed out of the fuse block) got that fixed, then the motor itself went bad, retail on it was around $500 bones, so I swapped it all over to manual.

 

I get you on the expedition. But it has never let me down and works well.

On my f350 it has worked flawlessly. I was just giving the poster my experience.
I had a 97 f250 with auto hubs and the shifter on the floor. I had more problems with that since there was no way to lock the hubs manually.

With the esof you need to depend on the motor to shift the transfer case. You still have the option to manually lock the hubs. With the manual shift you only need to depend on the right arm to shift it and the need to get out and lock the hubs.

 

I have had shift on the fly in 2 trucks, 2004 f350, 2009 f250.
Both have worked fine.
I ordered it on the 04, and it was fine, but, I heard so many complaints of failure, I ordered manual shift on my 08 f250.
Then I bought my 09 off the lot and it had shift on the fly, but it has been fine also.

 

Are you sure about that? I know my truck engages with ESOF in WAY less than 30 seconds. More like 1 or 2 seconds..?

Just last weekend I was turning around in someone's driveway and I didn't know it was really soft (mud) and I started spinning. Flipped the switch, and pulled out almost immediately.

Same thing if I flip the switch while driving, I can feel it engage pretty much immediately.

First time I've heard about a delay on engaging so I thought I'd inquire more about it.

I haven't had any problems with mine yet. I think engaging 4x4 every few weeks year round, and servicing the hubs a time or two a year goes a long ways toward keeping them functional.

Oh, while I do use 4x4 fairly regularly through the winter, I don't DEPEND on it on a daily basis, or even weekly. I'm not a city boy though, so hopefully that qualified me enough to post in this thread

 

My '02 never had a problem with the system (kept the locking hubs cleaned and greased), until a rock destroyed one of my hubs while in the woods. My replacement Warn Premium's were sturdier ..... the Ford hubs almost looked like pot metal.

However, this has not happened to any of my freinds Fords.

 

Same here. If I don't see it coming and shift to 4wd, I hear the t-case shift withing 1-2 seconds. I know when you're stopped sometimes the splines don't line up to lock, but my front wheels lock up within moments of spinning the rears.

 

I guess I fall somewhere between super ultra mega hardcore user and city boy. I used mine probably about 20-40 times a year, depending on season, winter gets more use. When I lived in AZ, I went to the Cali dunes ALOT and was flipping that thing on an off probably a 20x a weekend. I'd drive around in 2wd until I felt the truck digging then flip the switch. My ESOF worked great the first 8 years I owned the truck (I'm the original owner), now it doesn't work anymore. I've tried replacing vacuum lines, etc but no luck. I ended up just capping the lines in the engine bay and turn the hubs manually. Works fine. Was well worth the investment.

 

Use it regularly on a 2006 F350 for smowplowing. Have the auto/manual hubs, which died (the auto mode) the first year, so all that I do is manually lock the hubs each winter and then use the ESOF when I want 4 wheel.

 

When I shift into 4x4 in auto hub mode the transfer case shifts into 4x4 immediately. The hubs are what takes 30 seconds or so to engage. Sometimes it will be 10 seconds. It depends on how fast I am going and how far I travel. I usually shift into 4x4 going 5mph since I cannot go any faster on the dirt road. It is the same when I switch back to 4x2. The transfer case shifts immediately but the hubs take 30 seconds or so to unlock. This is the way the truck has behaved since new. If I have the hubs locked and switch into 4x4 it is locked in immediately.

 

I depend on ESOF 4x4 (and I live in the city) on a weekly basis. I regularly take my truck off-road for our trips to camp. When I tell you Mud Terrain tires or chains are required, they are, no AT's will cut through the soup. We take the gamelands seasonal roads to old jeep trails that take us up a cascading creek bed. These trips are made weekly all year round and at times in unreasonable conditions (heavy snow, flash flood rains) where you do not want a 4x4 failure. I grew up out in the boonies and worked on a farm... so i understand your need for reliability from 4x4. I have tested the ESOF on both the IFS on the '05 F150 and the SFA on my '08 F350, neither has left me wondering if it may not engage when I need it most. Each time, whether rolling or stuck, when I engage it seamlessly syncs up. I regularly use the Low gear to climb and crawl the creek bed to navigate the boulders and small (12-20") stair step like ledges on the way up the trail. So I am constantly changing 4x4H to 4x4L to 2x4H and never a problem. In addition to weekly usage, in the summer we take the toyhauler up north back to where I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of MI. I have to pull the 10K lb.(loaded) trailer down fire access trails and very sandy seasonal roads. Again, ESOF has not let me down, when I feel slipping and slowing in the beach like terrain I flip the switch and instantly I am gaining momentum again. Under that kind of load I always expect to hear something, but only once did I hear a clunk and that was my fault for waiting to get the rear stuck before throwing the switch while on the gas. ( I was frustrated) However, I do still have the option on the F350 to get out and manually lock the hubs and I like that. Given the length of time that Ford has been using the ESOF system, the vacuum worries of the earlier model years seem to be few and far between now.

 

Hmmm... yeah, my truck doesn't work like that. Its never taken that long to go into 4x4. Could be you have an issue with your hubs or maybe the vacuum pulse..? I think that delay is not normal behaviour though.