adeath

Hey guys, I recently purchased a 2005 F150 Lariat 4x4. Shortly after I got it, I noticed the 4hi light wouldn't come on when switching to 4hi. 4low worked just fine. After reading some very good stuff on this forum, I found that the IWE Solenoid was indeed bad. I replaced it, and all was well...for a few days. Today, I'm driving it, and out of nowhere, I hear a loud grinding coming from the front left hub. I came to a stoplight, and it locked up completely. I was able to back up, then go forward again and limp it home (about a mile). Once I got home, I tried a few different things, and nothing seemed to work. In forward, the left tire will actually skid across the pavement, but it will roll normally in reverse.

I jacked up that side, and spun the wheel and it moved freely both directions. I noticed that the axle was turning also, which should be normal with the truck off and no vacuum applied to the hub actuator. I started the truck, and the wheel still spun freely, this time without the axle turning, as expected. Put it in 4hi, no spin, again, as expected.

I lowered the truck and tried to move it and the same thing happened, front hub locked up tight.

Could this be due to a vacuum leak to that side, causing the actuator not to work correctly, or worse, a worn/damaged hub?

Any help would be much appreciated.

adeath

Ok, after checking every inch of vacuum lines, check valves, etc., I figured it out. It had nothing to do with the 4x4 system at all. I think the reason I suspected that it did, was because I recently replaced the IWE solenoid.

Turned out to be a missing brake caliper bolt. The bottom bolt is completely gone, which allows the caliper to pivot on the top bolt. When going forward, it pivots up, and rubs against the back side of the rim, hence the grinding noise. I now have a nice gouge dug into the rim from where the caliper was rubbing on it. Explains why going in reverse was no problem. In reverse, the caliper pivots down, where it's supposed to normally be.

I should have looked there first. Had the same issue on my wife's 03 Expedition recently, except I found that the bottom bolt was loose before it actually fell out and caused the problem it caused with my truck.

Nate4x4

I had the same thing happen to me out on a dirt road about 50 miles from home. I ended up using a bolt that was the same size from the trailer hitch to get me home. I got the replacement bolt from the dealership.

Tradesman

It's a good thing you got it all sorted out, but you should still check your 4HI if you didn't have it working previously.

I tried to do the front brakes last weekend but I wasn't able to do them just because of those bolts. The ones I had a problem with were the 18mm bolts that hold the caliper bracket in place. The 13mm caliper bolts were not a problem. I've been spraying PB Blaster on them every day since and letting them soak, and hopefully I'll be able to tackle the brake job this weekend.

kanga2311

I'd recommend getting a new wheel. These are aluminum wheels and if you have a gouge, it greatly compromises the integrity of the wheel. I had this happen once when the wife was driving. She had a friend put the caliper back on. Then drove 60 miles home on the freeway. Everything looked fine, but tire was flat by the morning. If you hit a pothole hard, who knows what could happen.

adeath

I'm not too worried about the wheel since I'm planning to replace them soon anyway. And the 4wd works as it should now. That was just a bad IWE solenoid.