online170

Hi folks;

I recently bought a 2006 F150 King Ranch SC, 4x4, long bed. Seems to have all the options except for heated mirrors and power sliding rear.

The axle code is a B6 for 3.73 gears. Everything seems to work great. Now, if i didnt have a freind who owns a 2006 F150 Ext Cab 4x4 (non-FX4) i wouldnt even be posting this. I believe his Axle Code is H7.

My truck seems to have an "open" front diff. Meaning, in 4x4 only one wheel seems to spin at a time. I was trying to pull a stuck car out of the snow with my stock Pirelli Scorpion tires, and it felt like I was going to get stuck too. Looking at the skid marks, all 4 wheels had dug into the snow a bit, but i could watch the driver's wheel not spin at times. At the same time, my LSD REAR would spin both tires and kick out the rear end.


Similarly, my buddy lives up a steep graded hill, and this hill is a challenge in the winter for even 4wd vehicles if not cleared correctly.

1) My King Ranch you have to get the revs up, the rear kicks out a bit from the LSD, and you can feel the front end spinning only on one side at a time. If you go too slow you wont have momentum and get stuck.

2) My freind 2006 Ext Cab, seems to have LOCKING FRONT HUBS or Diff or whatever you want to call it. Same hill, same conditions, you can casually drive up in 1st or 2nd gear.

3) As another comparison, my freinds 2000 F350 Super Duty with WARN manual locking front hubs, drives up that hill EXACTLY the same way as the F150 Ext Cab.

4) As a comparison, my old 2002 F150 drove up the hill exactly the same as my King Ranch.




What gives? Was electronic locking hubs an option? Or is there something wrong with my King Ranch? I know we cant get manual locking hubs for this era, but I want atleast what my buddy's truck has. Failing that, maybe its time for something like a G80 Locker.

At the moment, the 4x4 is kind of pathetic. It works to some extent obviously, because when my 2wd gives up, I can engage it and get myself out.

Any help appreciated. Please educate me on the subject, endless searches are not answering my question.

Dirttracker18

Locking hubs is not what you think it is. Locking hubs engage or disengage the front axles for better mpg. Not available with our trucks in a manual configuration.

There was also no option for a locking or LSD front diff.

I would think your issue is those tires.

online170

The tires arent that bad.

The issue is, his truck feels like the front axles are lockers. Meaning, in 4x4 both wheel spin together. If the truck is stuck in deep snow, they both spin. Going up a hill, it requires minimal effort and the truck tracks perfectly straight. You can feel the front wheel pulling the truck.

In my truck, the front feels like an open diff. If the front wheel spins you can feel the back wheels doing all the work. Occasionally the spinning front wheel will do some work and kind of steer it straight, but by no means is it pulling the truck. In the stuck scenario, all the power went to the spinning front wheel, and zero power to the wheel that had traction.




The issue isnt the tires. His truck has some driveline option that mine doesnt. Or mine isnt working like it supposed to. I cant find any info on how they are supposed to work though.

VTX1800N1

Ford doesn't sell a F-150 with a locking or limited slip front diff. Really, you don't want one unless your truck is mostly limited to off road. In 4WD, the truck will drive ok on hard surfaces while running in a straight line. As soon as you turn, the driveline will start to bind because the front axle average speed and rear axle average speed are not the same. AWD systems use a limited slip center differential to allow for this. 4WD systems lock the front and rear driveshafts together. Each of the 4 wheels travels at a different speed when going around a curve. It's the mismatch in speeds that causes the binding you feel. When you are on a slippery surface, like snow or ice, one or more of the wheels skids and that is why you don't feel it bind up.

A rear locking or limited slip diff helps tremendously. Sometimes you don't even need 4WD. The factory limited slip isn't very durable, and is expensive to rebuild. If I were buying a new truck, I would opt for the factory electronic locking rear diff. If I were buying used and the truck had an open rear diff, I would see about getting a Detroit Locker. My '05 has an open rear diff. It still does just fine in heavy snow in 4WD. For now, I don't plan to replace the rear diff because I will be buying a new truck when this one is paid off in 3 - 4 years.

online170

Thanks for that, very informative.




My truck does fine in heavy snow as well. The hill I described is a very challenging obstacle. The steepest grade occurs right after a hair pin turn, so short of a 4 wheeler with chains, every vehicle will be tested and get stuck at some point.






Full time locker, are a bad idea I agree. But I was hoping there was an Electronic Locking option like the 2013 trucks have, or the ECTED by Auburn, or the GovLock style from Eaton the G80.

dcarguy

Is there a difference between Non-Locking Hubs, and Manual Hubs? Or are they the same thing?? (Sorry for the dumb question... I'm about to purchase my first Truck

Dirttracker18

You cannot get manual locking hubs on an F150.

The truck locks and unlocks the hubs automatically when you select 2wd or 4wd.