When servicing factory hubs, DO NOT USE GREASE. You should use a gear oil, but motor oil will work if you don't have any gear oil on hand.

Tom, I have no issues getting into 2-low with my intact factory 4x4 system going forward or backward without disconnecting anything. What did you mean by saying you had to disconnect your solenoid?

 

My factory auto hubs still work, but that’s the problem……….. years ago I swapped in the 4.88 geared rear axle, someday (some year…….) I’ll get around to swapping in the matching front axle, but for now it’s still the factory 3.73 Dana-50, so I keep the 4x4 vacuum switch unplugged under the hood to keep bad things from happening to my transfer case. I’m the laziest person I know. My EX is a dedicated tow rig that doesn’t see snow or off-road at all, just the occasional grassy campsite so it’s been fine like it is for several years now but now that I’m retired I have less excuses to keep putting the job off. I do use 2WD LOW on every camping trip, backing it up driveway at home and reversing on any incline at a campsite.
Mike how are you managing 2Low with your intact factory 4x4 system? I assumed that there would need to be the above mentioned switch and relay involved.

 

Yeah, I use 4LOW not 2LOW. That was a typo on my part. Now I remember you writing about the gear difference between front and rear. That is what threw me off. Carry on...nothing to see here except a slow guy.

 

Awesome, a slow guy teamed up with a lazy guy could take over the world!

 

took me way too long to get pics.

 

I disassembled my hubs this evening and found out, just like in the YT video, that the plastic handle piece is seized onto the hub bore. That plastic is very brittle now. I tried to push on the rubber seal from the back side but that plastic handle actually has some clips that prevent it from popping off. You can't really get to the clips without removing the rubber seal, which didn't want to come out. Therefore, I just put the hub housing back on without any of the guts to allow me to spin freely. After now seeing first hand the poor design of these 'auto' hubs, it looks like it would be always prone to failure and totally untrustworthy. Once I can save a few bucks I will install Warn manual hubs and NEVER look back. Now I get it!

 

Hmmm.... Sounds like a good opportunity to swap into the 05+ axle altogether

 

Jack, I think you must have skimmed over the part about how lazy I am…………

 

Over the weekend (and today) I got a couple used tires so that at least I have all the same size. My cheapest route was to go with the 265/70R16 which is slightly smaller diameter than stock. Oh, well. I then proceeded to put the shocks and wheels back on to drive it because I've had it parked since starting to work on the headers back in May. I have another week or two for suspension parts to arrive, so I thought I would actually see if the headers make any difference and sample the sound from the Banks muffler. Here are my takeaways...

1. Driving it again quickly reminded me that it is a 22 year old vehicle and it rides like crap...hopefully the new suspensions helps with that.

2. I honestly can't tell if the headers give more 'power' or not. I will just tell myself they do to come to terms with the money I shelled out. They aren't magic, that's for sure. I needed to fix my broken studs anyhow.

3. The 'sound' of the muffler/exhaust is not loud, which I like. Cool kids would be sad with this muffler. I don't think there is any 'drone', but I admit I don't really know what drone sounds like. I assume this would be like a resonance or buffeting sound like when one rear window is cracked open at high speed.

4. There is a super annoying sound at 1850-2000 rpms that kind of sounds like sheet metal rattling. I will need to check that everything is still tight after that crap cools down. I don't hear it when parked and just revving the engine, only when it is underway.

5. I found yet another issue with the rear door locks not working...looks like I am the latest member of this popular club now.

6. I finally hooked up FORScan to it and read all the codes...wow, I LOVE that tool! However, I now have a whole new collection of fun projects to work on because the el cheapo ODB-II reader I used at first only showed one code for the P0705 transmision range sensor. I have at least three others to start running down. Each is likely tied to shorted/cut/grounded wires from the PO and his front left wheel exploding. This is what my wiring harness looks like on that side. Its a train wreck. I wonder what that white wire with a black stripe that is dangling free with exposed copper is for?

 

Mine has a rattle at low RPM. I got under the truck and found it was one of the metal shields on the exhaust.

 

From my experience with them I find the improvement in performance from the Banks headers shows up under high loads, like climbing a highway grade while towing heavy.

The Banks cat back exhaust pretty much replaces the factory system with the same size 3” pipe both with mandrel bends, so no benefits there and their muffler seems to only be slightly freer flowing than the factory muffler.

The metallic rattling that you hear is most likely either a loose heat shield on the cat or the flex plate sheet metal cover on the lower bell housing. A worm drive hose clamp might be able to quiet the cat heat shield if that’s the problem and the flex plate cover can be removed and slightly bent then reinstalled. The slight bend puts some tension on the thin metal which typically takes care of the harmonic rattle they sometimes get.

 

After having the entire interior layered with Kilmat, everything went back together well but there was an annoying rattling back there. It was the hack not tight enough. Also the power port has n the dash broke inward, fixed that.
over the weekend, the a/c was blowing cool air so I took it to a local shop. One of the a/c lines had a leak causing me to lose refrigerant. A new hose assembly $450, and 4 hours of labor totaling $900. I pick it up tomorrow. I hope it’s like an ice box after that kind of repair.

 

My 97 F150 had the same thing happen. Metal fatigue at the weld that held the shield to the pipe.

I took some stainless steel wire and wrapped what was left of the metal (and there was most of it) about 4 times and cinched it up tight. It never rattled again and I never had to buy exhaust parts.

 

Tempting fate I suppose.
Local camping trip this weekend 25 min each way. Left on 1/8", I figured I'll be fine. I was, but I ventured into the shallows red for the first time. For the record I already replaced all the fuel sender and pickup parts in the tank late 2016, or 2017. So until that breaks again, I know my comfort zone....

 

Heck no! Once the "walk" light comes on, I'm in the nearest gas station, haha.