front differential engagement?

[jfcobra]

hi, I'm new to the site and just had a question. do the explorers have an electronic plunger to activate the front differential (my f-150 has this), and if so- would this be a good solution for people who want to run 2wd and not tear up their t-case? I have seen f-150 guys do this mod to run 4-low in 2 wheel drive (only rear tires driving). just a thought.

 

[BigRondo]

Welcome aboard!!! :

Check out this sticky: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194875

Hope this helps out. :biggthump

 

[jfcobra]

yeah I looked at that, but when I searched it a little more it seemed like this was hurting some of the transfercases. I was assuming that this wire is the control for the transfercase, not the front end- I could be wrong.

 

[waskly]

f150 has vacume lock auto hubs, explorer has no hubs.

the drive train is very different amon the trucks, you can run a f150 in 4x4 and hubs off and still be rwd. on an ex, gen 2 and up they will be in 4x4.

only first gen had locking hubs. or auto.

 

[BigRondo]

I knew someone with more knowledge than me would chime in. Thanks waskly.

 

[jfcobra]

my 2000 f-150 does not have vacuum hubs, it has an electronically activated plunger on the differential portion of the IFS that (I'm not sure exactly how) engages the front axle so that when you are not in 4 wheel drive, you are not spinning all the of the drivetrain going to the front axle. It is similar in theory to what the vacuum hubs did in the older trucks. thanks for the replies guys.

 

[waskly]

you have manual shift on the fly?

automatic has vacume lines, your tcase probably has a 2h and the f150 tcase has a 2h, then locking hubs or no hubs at all.

 

[jfcobra]

so, is the frontend is always spinning the front driveshaft? just seems strange that there is nothing to disengage the front wheels from the rest of the running gear.