If your 4WD switch looks like this AUTO, 4HI, 4LO then...

[JoshC]

you will like this. Well, as much as I would like to take the credit for this I can't. KMac posted a thread for me last week and told me that he found a way to disable the AUTO setting so that he would have 2wd. Well, emailed me some wiring diagrams and showed me what wire controled the AUTO and told me to cut it, splice a switch in it and that way i could select 2wd, auto, 4hi, or 4lo. Well i took my stereo and the surrounding plate off the took a look at my GEM and this picture shows the wire, yellow, that has been spliced:

Sorry it's blurry but you can see the wire, third one up, follow it till the red connector, that's where the switch is wired up.

Here you can see my temporary switch mount till i decide what i want to do, to the left of the air controls.

Yeah i know it looks dumb but that's why i said it was temporary!

Only down side to it is: If you have the switch off, where it can be in 2wd, and you turn it back on to have auto and 4wd, then it doesn't work. You have to turn off the truck and turn it back on. But you can go from on to off with no problems!! It was nice to be able to play for a few minutes, but i will find out more this weekend when i meet up in Harrisonburg VA with a bunch you guys!! Again, you can think KMac for this, he didn't have time to do write up on it, so i did!!

Happy trails!!
ps if the pics don't work, right click them, go to properties, copy the URL into your browser and look at them like that!

 

[TarHeel085]

OK, so all you gotta do is to splice into the yellow wire and put a switch on it? thats what i got out of it.

 

[X24]

I am very interested in doing this. It seems like all you need to do it put a switch in that yellow wire. Is that really all you have to do?

The auto 4X4 X's are always putting some amount of power to the front wheels, right? Will putting this switch in somehow affect that? I understand the point of doing this (and I want to) but with all the electronic sensors and gizmos, I would think that it would mess something up.

If I have it in 2WD mode (switch off) and turn on 4HI will it go into 4HI or do I need to turn the switch back on? I'm kinda nervous about cutting wires because I like having my warranty and I dont want them to find any excuses to void it.

 

[jt1970m]

From my understanding the front wheels dont pull while you just driving on the street so its already in 2wd? Maybe I am wrong. Let me know

 

[X24]

I remember someone saying that, when driving normally, there is 96% power at the rear and 4% in the front. Where is Robert? He knows all the technical stuff.

 

[JoshC]

Yeah, i'm not sure of all the technical stuff, but yes, all you have to do is put a switch in the yellow wire. I was afraid of doing it too because i thought i would screw it up, but it is really that easy.

98Ford--if the switch off and you want auto 4hi or 4lo, then what i had to do was turn the switch on, turn the truck off and right back on, not sure why it does it, but it does. I'm real fond of turning it on and off all the time, but i've wanted 2wd in my X for a long time and i'll turn it on and off to get it. Not like i'm going to be using it all the time. I am going to leave it in 2wd on my 4 hour trip tonight, hopefully it will give some better MPG, never know!!

Happy trailes!!

 

[rustytr]

Well it's kind of interesting but is it really worth the hassel? Hmm, to each his own I guess.

 

[go off road]

Jot017

So you have done this thats cool so do you hear eneything from the T-case or front end? And when you turn it back on does the light on the dash go out?
Thanks for your help.

Wade

 

[JoshC]

Go off road--i don't hear a thing when i'm in 2wd, i just took my truck to ford because i had a binding in my 4wd and i had a tsb number for them to use to program my GEM module and even when i was in 2wd, i never did hear it binding last night. It works good. When i turn it back on, not sure what you are talking about, but when i turn the switch back on, i have to restrat the truck, then both lights do not flash and then i'm back to factory. I'll be checking back here all day pretty much, so i can help out best i can!

rusty--i know what you are saying about the hassel, but i don't mind the trouble cause i want to beable to play a little bit, but that's up to who ever has the truck, if they want to do it then they can, but i did!!

Happy trails!!

 

[mikeh]

What are your reasons for putting the switch in. The two I can think of are:

1. Better MPG???
2. Extending the life of the 4x4 components???

I guess I would like to know definitively if the 4x4 is partially on all the time or if the truck is really just in 2wd 100% almost all the time?

Please test your MPG both ways and post here to let us know if there is a difference.

Thanks,
Mike H

 

[JoshC]

I will let you know the MPG as soon as i can, which maynot be until sunday evening, but that's okay. You had 2 good guesses there, i never thought of extending the life. I really won't have it in 2wd much, just when i'm off road and want to play around with my locker a little bit!!! I'll let you know!!

Happy trails!!

 

[Robert]

According to my '97 brochure, the Control Trac system is capable of diverting up to 96% of the engine torque to either axle. This means to me that the other 4% would go to the front. Now this is obviously assuming that the system is working the way Ford designed it to work and hasn't been modified in any way. An easy way to see if it is still diverting 4% torque to the front wheels would be to lift all four tires off the ground and put it in drive. If your front tires don't spin, then any torque that might be getting to them is negligible. I know when I tried that in Auto, my rear tires didn't spin more than 1/6 of a revolution before my front wheels clunked and started turning.

I wonder what would happen if I substituted the 4x4 switch from a '97 4x4 Expedition. They had a 2WD, Auto, High & Low mode. I wonder if the switch would effectively do the same thing as breaking the proper connection to enable 2WD. If anyone comes across a switch from a '97 Expedition while they are out scavaging the car graveyards, they may want to pick one up if they can get it reasonably priced. I will have to keep that in mind the next time I make a trip to the local salvage yard.

I am interested in what the effects in MPG are also. If it makes any difference (for the better) I will be probably making this mod myself. I would like to use the switch from an Expedition though to keep it factory looking.

 

[TPLYNCH]

In auto, approximately 5% of power is applied to front wheels on startup until you reach ~35MPH when the system sends all power to the rear. If you are going faster than 35MPH, you are in 2wd...... I think it was Tom Wilk who did a long writeup on the functionality of the ControlTrac system ~ 2 years ago...

 

[KMac]

The yellow wire I told him to cut is the wire that controls the relay to the Torque On Demand Clutch. So, if it's cut the clutch can't engage and you should have 0% torque on the front drive. The GEM may be COMMANDING more than that to the front, but if the clutch can't operate NONE of it gets there.

I was surprised to see you have to power off then on again to get 4 x 4 back. If your 4hi and 4lo lights are flashing on the dash, then I would assume the GEM thinks there is a fault of some kind and disables the output to the Torque On Demand clutch. Just a guess though. Just to check, try this:

Start the truck
switch to 2wd only
switch back within a few seconds (or anytime before the dash lights flash for the first time)
engage 4hi and see if it engages.

If it does, then the GEM is smarter than I thought.

 

[X24]

Could doing this result in any kind of damage to any part of the 4X4 system? You have to take the radio out to get to the switch, right? I'm not looking foward to that.

 

[JoshC]

Well, i just got back for the ECX run. It looks like the switch didn't have much of an effect on the MPG. I got about 15 on the interstate carring an extra set up tires, trail gear and my personal stuff going across the Applachain Mts, so it wasn't to bad. I also got 12 MPG on the trailes and on the black top before i filled up the last time, not to bad either! I did find on thing that will prove to be handy. If I'm in 4lo, turn my swith off and i have 2wd lo. AWESOME, man it came in handy. I had to move a small laying tree that was in the way so i just kicked the switch off cause i was already in 4lo, and used the front tires and the steering to move the tree. It makes it easier for me so that i don't ride the clutch! Just thought you'd want to know that!

KMac, i'll have to check that out later, but i just restarted the truck when i need 4wd, wasn't a big deal at all for me, i can live with that, thanks again man!!!

Happy trails!!

 

[go off road]

Wow 2 wheel drive LOW

Wow thats so cool good going guys.


Wade

 

[black02]

do you guys think this could be done on a 2002 explorer, it would be nice to be able to have a 2wd V8 once in a while.

 

[Doug]

I dont suppose any one knows how to make the transfer cases with 2wd auto 4wd and 4low into a transfer case with 4wheel high. Thats assuming its even possible.

 

[JoshC]

I know there where a couple of people working on it, but i'm not sure if anyone ever figured it out. Might want to try to get ahold of Jason 25, he might know, hopefully one of them will see this thread.

Happy trails!!