Front differential and T-case questions.

[Shurup]

Before I switched to Warn manual hubs, I read lots or treads on this forum. Manu people said that it is safe to drive the truck in 2WD with both hubs locked. So I did. I lock them when I expect that I would need 4x4 and I just hit the 4x4 button if I need to. When I don't need 4x4 I hit the button again and drive in 2WD with hubs locked. I thought I would unlock them sometime later in the spring when all the snow go away. Couple of days ago while looking through FORD's owner manual I found out that FORD doesn't recommend doing that (driving in 2WD with hubs locked) for it can kill a limited slip diff. Is it true? While driving like that I did notice that there are some kind of noise comming from the front of the truck and there are some slightly noticeble vibrations on the steering wheel. Is that normal, will I kill my front diff? There are no noise or vibrations when I unlock the hubs.

The other question (about t-case) is that when I go from 4WD to 2WD (with the hubs locked and truck moving) 4x4 wouldn't disengage. It may disengage later after I drive 1 mile to 10 miles, or it wouldn't disengage at all untill I stop and drive back about 10 feet. I thought we had to drive back only with auto locks (to disengage them), but what was really going on was we had to diseng, the t-case. I don't see different explanation for this.
SO, why do we need to drive back with auto locks? Why do I have to do that with manual locks? Is it my t-case problem?

 

[RiverRat]

This is all a guess so don't me if I'm wrong.

1. I doubt you have a LS unit in your front differential.

2. A LS unit would wear out faster with the hubs locked than unlocked.

3. The vibrations are normal as the front axles are turning. Front U joints, bearings, and seals are all wearing in 2WD with the hubs locked.

4. With warn hubs my truck goes into 2WD/4WD with a turn of the switch. I don't have to back up. Your truck staying in 4x4 sounds strange.

5. You have to back up with auto hubs to disengage the hubs not the transer case.

 

[Shurup]

That's not fear!!
It looks for me now as a t-case problem, but my t-c works just fine except for that problem with disengeging. Soon I am going to change the fluid in it and will see what's up with it. Maybe it was just dirty (hope so).

By the way, has any of you guys experienced similar problem?

 

[Shurup]

Some more info.
With hubs locked and in 4x4 when I push the button the 4x4 light goes out but the truck stays in 4x4. That happens almost everytime when the truck is moving (while I drive it) and that happens not that often when I am not moving.

I thought that may be a shift motor gets dirty and doesn't work properly, but I don't have and problems when I go 4WD from 2WD. Can that still be a shift motor?

 

[Mbrooks420]

You definately don't have a l/s up front. Like Riverrat said more vibrations are normal. I'd do a search on here for cleaning the shift motor. I don't believe you should have to back up to disengage anything in your t case but I'm not sure.

 

[tenikiwon]

Are you sure 4WD is still engauged? Have you tried it while the tires were off the ground? What about 4LO?

 

[MrShorty]

I studied this a little with both my explorer and my BII. I was having some trouble with the t-case on the BII disengaging. I think my problem was caused by mismatched tires front to back. The slightly different tire size (not all 29's are created equal) caused just enough bind in the drivetrain to require backing up a little just releive the binding so the t-case could release. Manual hubs do the same thing. You don't have mismatched tires or one low tire, do you? I also like the idea of testing it with all the tires off the ground

 

[Shurup]

Sure I tested it off the ground and I am 100% positive that they still engaged, but they disengage much sooner then when I am on the road.
Some more info about my problem. If I run over the hole or a bump on the road it will disengege.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I really was thinking about the tire size could be the problem. Last time I was changing the oil, a shop checked my tires and the front tires were 14/15 while the rear tires were 12/15. One day (very soon) I was going to put front tires to rear and rear to front.

P.S. Almost never used 4Lo.

 

[MrShorty]

Sounds a lot like what my BII did. Post as you learn more about it, maybe we both have the same thing worn or broken. I've heard, not sure how likely the problem really is, of a bushing or something like it on the shift fork that wears. Someone comment on this?

 

[Shurup]

The problem was a very slight difference in tire size. All my tires are the same brand, bought at the same time, but because I use rear wheels more often than 4x4, my rear wheels were just a bit more worn out. As I said in my previous post, on rear wheels was 12/15 tread left and 14/15 on the front. That small difference caused the binding in drivetrain and that's why I couldn't get out of 4x4. I put my back tires in a front and front tires in a back. Now everything is working fine.

 

[TPLYNCH]

You've just told everyone the reason you should rotate your tires every 5K miles to keep the differences to a minimum. Glad you were able to find a simple reason/solution to the problem.

 

[biggs92EB]

HA! good thread my x has been doing that ever sense i had to put two new tires on it thought my shift motor was crapping good info im buying two more damn tires