Guys I've got a new to me 2003 Ford f150 4x4 5.4 crew cab about a year ago. I took it to the farm today and the top few inches of ground was thawing out making for some very slick mud. I had it in 4x4 high and this thing would hardly move. 4L was no different. I got the front tires crossing a 8 inch deep rut and was stuck. Only the back left spinning and the front right. Is this normal and is there anything I can do to prevent this? I have got to get to the back of my property. If there is traction, like pulling my boat up a ramp it is a beast
I mean I'm truly disappointed in this. My old Honda Passport 4x4 went though this exact same stuff with ease and would have embarrassed this Ford.

Back in the day if a tire was slipping to much you could apply a little brake to get the other tires to lock in but that does not seem to work in this truck.

I do not want to spend a ton on this. Am I missing something?? This is my daily driver, I just expected more from my first full size "4x4".

Thanks,
ctf58

Thanks in advance.

 

What tires?

 

Front is an open diff.

If yer rear is not an LSD (or it's shot), it's also an open diff.

Hence - you've got a 2x4 only with different driven wheels. If the LSD is good, it's still only a 3x4...

To decode yer rear-end see here: http://www.fordf150.net/howto/decode.php

Lastly - if there truly is NO traction, regardless of what drive system you have, yer not going anywhere.

 

Code translates to a 3.55 NON-LS.... Why would this even be an option in a 4x4?
Is there something I can do? Local pull-a-part has 9.75' RING GEAR, 3.55 RATIO LS, for around $500, but I do not know the condition. What would be the cost to have it replaced labor wise. My back is not going to let me do this.

Looking at Auto zone they are about $1,500. Cannot spend that much.

Tires are Courser C/T almost new.

Would there be a reason to go to a 3.73?

Thanks
ctf58

 

Would "Lockers" work in my setup?? I know nothing about them. this is a crash course in differentials for me.

 

Based on your posts, I would talk with a local 4WD shop and see what your options are. Going to 3.73 is not going to improve your traction. It would only give your truck a little more performance starting from a stop.

I had a 2WD 2000 that I dearly loved, but putting a LS in the rear didn't seem to help it much. I ended up with a 4x4 Ranger at the time and it had LS in the rear. It took me everywhere I wanted to go off-road.

My understanding of lockers is that they are most useful if one wheel is completely off of the ground like during rock climbing. Someone else may have some better info on this.

See what your options are from a shop and then decide if you want to invest that in your truck. The other step that helps is to take some air out of the tires to give you a larger footprint of traction.

 

I'd go with an Eaton Detroit Truetrac. Much better than the factory limited slip, it's a helical gear limited slip, not a clutch type and not a positive locker. It's about 500 bucks, plus labor (figure 3 to 4 hours).

 

From what you describe either the previous owner has made changes in the drive line or you have some mechanical issues.
In 4wd the front axles are sleeve splined together and cannot drive one wheel, as your describing unless there is an issue.
The rear can drive one wheel with either an open rear or a limited slip if the clutches are worn out.
Your drive line needs to be checked out for serious issues.
Get some reasonably aggressive tires on if running in your back area,
You cannot fairly compare one truck to another if one has issues and the other does not.
Repair what you have instead of going in some other direction.
You bought some one else's problems.
Good luck.

 

Sleeve splined? I was under the impression that the front was a standard open diff, the wheel with least traction is going to spin.

 

The front driver side CV axle drive is sleeved together with the differential, in 4wd.
That is the purpose of the actuator on the driver side housing.
This amounts to the same thing as a limited slip, locked or solid rear axle condition except the rear usually is a limited slip carrier where the front is locked.
It is very apparent the front is locked if you try to round a turn in 4wd on a dry road. There is no differential action to prevent the vibration that goes on with the inside wheel trying to rotate at the same speed as the outer wheel..
I have pulled cars out of the woods, pulled large logs to the point all 4 wheel began to dig holes from loss of traction vs the load.
If this system is going to lose traction on one wheel that easy, there is no use to having 4wd.
Good luck.

 

I thought the binding was caused by the front wheel turning at a different rate than the rear wheel when you have the wheel turned?

 

That's correct.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/98...-on-a-4wd.html

^^ post #6.

It's a simple, cheap open diff up front - that is why there are literally thousands of posts where folks are looking to install either LSD's (bad idea) or selectable, completely defeatable lockers up front - to resolve the '1-wheel-drive' complaint.

MGD

 

The rear end has little to no bearing on the binding of the front wheels in 4wd.
Here's why; In our F150s.
With the front axle locked, a turn results in each front wheel following a different [circular] path length.
This results in each wheel rolling a different distance hence related to revolutions they turn.
With the lockup, each wheel fights the other for which one will give up it's traction.
That is the shudder/skipping you feel normally on the inside turn's wheel where some weight has been lifted due to the turn.
The rear traction drive is only pushing this situation along 'with' the front being also driven from the transfer case and being in gear it can't be any other way.
Even if the truck were coasting in 4wd and in neutral, and a turn made without the rear pushing, you would still have the same fight going on between just the front wheels for their traction in a turn.
Don't believe it, try it. I haven't driven with 4wd for the last 10 years and 225k miles and not know differently.

Good luck.

 

Bluegrass is dead on with his binding explanation, I see it a lot at the drag strip also when guys run Lincoln Lockers on the rear end. It's not as noticeable when it's just the rear end. A fully locked axle wants to go in a straight line, in a turn the inside tire will be turning faster than it needs to which causes the binding. Look at a high school running track, the lanes cross eachother so that the inside runner and outside runner end up traveling the same distance, same concept.

 

Here's the thing - I don't have an actuator on the driver's side of the diff - or anywhere on the diff.

All I have are vac lines running to each IWE @ the hubs. No other lines/wires/linkages, etc going to the diff that would conceivably be used to operate/engage an actuator. I see no ancillary mechanism that locks the two sides together - on MY truck, at any rate. Y'all think the factory left it out on mine? lol.


"Part-time four-wheel-drive systems don't have a differential between the front and rear wheels; instead, they are locked together so that the front and rear wheels have to turn at the same average speed. This is why these vehicles are hard to turn on concrete when the four-wheel-drive system is engaged."

From: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential1.htm




From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-wheel_drive#Part-time


Now - given my assertion that's it's an open diff up front: in 2wd, the front pinion is not connected to anything - (transfer case uncoupled). So the front behaves as you'd expect an open diff to behave and does not impact steering. But - in 4wd, th xfer case is engaged, that pinion is now effectively LOCKED to the rear - hence for anything other than straight-line motion, the delta in wheel speeds induced by introducing a turn radius change up front will cause binding, as it now conflicts with the wheel speed from the rear - to which it is now mechanically connected.


And - as long as there is available traction @ both wheels an open diff is fine - but when the coefficient of friction becomes zero for one wheel, you begin to have problems:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential3.htm


And that is exactly what I experience driving in slippery conditions.

MGD