...or, at least, you'd think it was a dumb question were it not for the fact that the last three Ford salesmen I have asked about them haven't had a good answer!
If your truck has manual locking hubs does that mean that you have to get out of the truck to engage them every time you want to go from 2-wheel to 4-wheel drive? It's such a dumb thing to have to do (I'm imagining horizontal rain...or ankle deep mud...or all the other fun things that make us wish we were in 4-wheel drive). If this is the case, why on earth do so many people seem to select it as an option on their 4 x 4 Ford trucks?!
Posted 2007-10-08 1:07 PM (#2129 - in reply to #2128) Subject: RE: Manual locking hubs - incredibly dumb question!!
Location: Colorado
You do have to manually lock in your hubs to be able to select four wheel drive. When the hubs are locked in, you can typically select 2 wheel drive, 4 wheel drive high range(highway gearing), or 4 wheel drive low range(off road gearing). What I do is try to plan ahead, and go ahead and lock my hubs in ahead of time, and then drive in two wheel drive until the 4 wheel drive is needed. It does not hurt your equipment to do this, although driving with your hubs locked in will decrease your fuel mileage slightly.
The reason I have manual hubs rather than electric, or shift on the fly, is the electric hubs can malfunction. When they do, they usually won't engage. When I need 4 wheel drive, I need 4 wheel drive. To me, the inconvenience of getting out of the truck to lock in the hubs is outweighed by the possibility that I may not be able to lock the hubs in at all!
Posted 2007-10-08 2:19 PM (#2130 - in reply to #2129) Subject: RE: Manual locking hubs - incredibly dumb question!!
Posts: 3
Alright! Thanks Bill. So it's not really such a dumb thing because you do no harm (other than slightly, to your wallet) by having the hubs locked but running along in 2-wheel drive?
Could I, then, lock them at the beginning of our Frozen North winter and not unloack them again until spring? Or would having them locked all that time actually start to do damage?
Posted 2007-10-08 2:59 PM (#2131 - in reply to #2128) Subject: RE: Manual locking hubs - incredibly dumb question!!
Location: Colorado
You could do that, although you might start seeing more wear on your front drive parts and tires if you leave your hubs locked all winter. I'm in Colorado, so I have an idea of what you're talking about. I left mine locked in for about 6 weeks last winter because of all the snow we were getting. I put 50 or 60 miles a day on my truck. That's about the longest at one stretch I've left mine locked in. The other thing I do is I try not to have my 4 wheel drive engaged on dry pavement. Good luck!
Posted 2007-10-17 3:22 AM (#2138 - in reply to #2128) Subject: RE: Manual locking hubs - incredibly dumb question!!
Posts: 197
Location: Vermont
DrivinMeBuggy - 2007-10-08 12:33 PM ...or, at least, you'd think it was a dumb question were it not for the fact that the last three Ford salesmen I have asked about them haven't had a good answer!
If your truck has manual locking hubs does that mean that you have to get out of the truck to engage them every time you want to go from 2-wheel to 4-wheel drive? It's such a dumb thing to have to do (I'm imagining horizontal rain...or ankle deep mud...or all the other fun things that make us wish we were in 4-wheel drive). If this is the case, why on earth do so many people seem to select it as an option on their 4 x 4 Ford trucks?!
Yours, most perplexed....
Manual locking hubs are the only way to go, if you are dealing with SAND...
Manual locking hubs - incredibly dumb question!!
