I can spin the wheel in when off it just spins the shafts and driveshaft with it. I don’t think I’ve ever tried it running.
Mechanic says not to use 4a all the time
- Thread starter oldpaddy
- Start date
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The front hubs are disengaged with a vacuum line, meaning the engine has to be running and the switch needs to be in 2H or 4A for the front wheels to spin freely. At rest with the engine off, the hubs will actually be engaged, interestingly enough.
Check out this video https://youtu.be/m6b7FQOsbvI
Edit: Sure enough, I just tried it out. Engine off and transfer case in 2H with front end jacked up, the hubs are engaged. Engine on and transfer case in 2H the hubs are disengaged.
Check out this video https://youtu.be/m6b7FQOsbvI
Edit: Sure enough, I just tried it out. Engine off and transfer case in 2H with front end jacked up, the hubs are engaged. Engine on and transfer case in 2H the hubs are disengaged.
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Proud Okie
Active Member
I have another question, or comment, on the same line. When I select sport mode, it automatically goes into 4H. Is this normal?
Edit: I stand corrected, apparently the transfer case is that fancy.
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jeff kushner
Full Access Members
FWIW guys, I posted this a few days ago on another forum......just my take on the effectiveness of 4A
The audience below is also aware of how Kerry "drifted" the real ToG in Deals Gap in this truck, at night, in the fog (in 4A). A separate but a frightfully documented adventure
Tail of the Dragon 2.0
Took a 3-day w/e this past and drove out to Woodstock VA. Kerry and I have fun no matter what we are doing so we went caving, horseback riding then drove up the hill to find the famed Woodstock Tower, which may or may not still be erected.....seemed to have been a "urban rumor" but we saw real pics so we set off. Generally speaking, going up very narrow crumbling roads is not the Expeditions forte, not that it doesn't climb like a Billy goat, just that it's a very large, 6000 lb vehicle which tends to leave very little space on the road for anyone coming the other way.
I know we have a couple of members who live out towards Front Royal/ I81 corridor......Tim lives out there I think so he may be able to shed light on the existence of the tower? It may have been deconstructed.
Anyway, we found the correct road and Kerry was driving....and "leaving the paved road" (except for corners)happened very quickly, at maybe the 1/4 point up the hill. This was switchbacks cut into the hill, tight and blind unless you had another set of eyes with you. The actual surface was craprap with turns tighter than the Dragons'. The crumbing bank-run/bluechip road made for some good times for Kerry, especially when someone passed on their way back down. On the way up, you are on the outside of most turns. The drop on the edge of the road was hundreds of feet with very few trees to slow your descent and don't even wonder about guardrails, there were none to get in the way of you making a "Fail-Army worthy" drop if you ran off the road! Kerry, usually collected, was a nervous mess for 4-5 miles of this.
We made it near the top and stopped when we spied a trail to walk up to the top. I got out, surveyed the grade of the trail, my internal energy meter and made the executive decision to "bag it" and head back down, I'll drive honey.
We switch places.....Holy geez, it may have been calmer inside the truck with Kerry driving.....blah, blah, blah death, blood, fire, helicopters, blah, blah ALL THE WAY DOWN....course it only took me 18 seconds to get back down, but that's besides the point! There are now new "finger dents" in the Oh sh*t handle!! The sheer volume inside when we passed a couple other cars coming the other was was enough to break glass, thank God for the Ford Soundscape glass, now we all know what it's REALLY for!
She actually brought up Eric, our death-driver from Jamaica as a comparison! I didn't think that a fair comparison, I never passed anyone on the blind turns that he did!(yeah, he was THAT scary).
Great weekend,
My truck automatically digs into FWD when needed, that I can assure you. I don't know how it does it mechanically but in 4A, it definitely kicks in and out. It's not like the 4LO where it feels like "Mighty Mike", but it does it's job for nearly everything. That road was junk but it didn't really need 4HI..so 4A works perfectly with no worries of forgetting to change it with better road conditions.
jeff
The audience below is also aware of how Kerry "drifted" the real ToG in Deals Gap in this truck, at night, in the fog (in 4A). A separate but a frightfully documented adventure
Tail of the Dragon 2.0
Took a 3-day w/e this past and drove out to Woodstock VA. Kerry and I have fun no matter what we are doing so we went caving, horseback riding then drove up the hill to find the famed Woodstock Tower, which may or may not still be erected.....seemed to have been a "urban rumor" but we saw real pics so we set off. Generally speaking, going up very narrow crumbling roads is not the Expeditions forte, not that it doesn't climb like a Billy goat, just that it's a very large, 6000 lb vehicle which tends to leave very little space on the road for anyone coming the other way.
I know we have a couple of members who live out towards Front Royal/ I81 corridor......Tim lives out there I think so he may be able to shed light on the existence of the tower? It may have been deconstructed.
Anyway, we found the correct road and Kerry was driving....and "leaving the paved road" (except for corners)happened very quickly, at maybe the 1/4 point up the hill. This was switchbacks cut into the hill, tight and blind unless you had another set of eyes with you. The actual surface was craprap with turns tighter than the Dragons'. The crumbing bank-run/bluechip road made for some good times for Kerry, especially when someone passed on their way back down. On the way up, you are on the outside of most turns. The drop on the edge of the road was hundreds of feet with very few trees to slow your descent and don't even wonder about guardrails, there were none to get in the way of you making a "Fail-Army worthy" drop if you ran off the road! Kerry, usually collected, was a nervous mess for 4-5 miles of this.
We made it near the top and stopped when we spied a trail to walk up to the top. I got out, surveyed the grade of the trail, my internal energy meter and made the executive decision to "bag it" and head back down, I'll drive honey.
We switch places.....Holy geez, it may have been calmer inside the truck with Kerry driving.....blah, blah, blah death, blood, fire, helicopters, blah, blah ALL THE WAY DOWN....course it only took me 18 seconds to get back down, but that's besides the point! There are now new "finger dents" in the Oh sh*t handle!! The sheer volume inside when we passed a couple other cars coming the other was was enough to break glass, thank God for the Ford Soundscape glass, now we all know what it's REALLY for!
She actually brought up Eric, our death-driver from Jamaica as a comparison! I didn't think that a fair comparison, I never passed anyone on the blind turns that he did!(yeah, he was THAT scary).
Great weekend,
My truck automatically digs into FWD when needed, that I can assure you. I don't know how it does it mechanically but in 4A, it definitely kicks in and out. It's not like the 4LO where it feels like "Mighty Mike", but it does it's job for nearly everything. That road was junk but it didn't really need 4HI..so 4A works perfectly with no worries of forgetting to change it with better road conditions.
jeff
Excellent info MrSticker! Between your findings and my findings I believe we can conclude:
- 2H = rear wheels only (obviously) however front hubs will be engaged with engine off, or if there's a vacuum issue
- 4A = entire front drivetrain always engaged (hubs, diff, driveshaft) with the transfer case automatically applying power to the front as needed
- 4H = all 4 wheels driven all the time
- 2H = rear wheels only (obviously) however front hubs will be engaged with engine off, or if there's a vacuum issue
- 4A = entire front drivetrain always engaged (hubs, diff, driveshaft) with the transfer case automatically applying power to the front as needed
- 4H = all 4 wheels driven all the time
