Alright guys let me pick your brains a bit... I actually took the truck off road to mess around in the snow we just got and ended up getting bogged down in a 5' drift

I went to engage 4wd and all I could get was 4wd HI? I'm not completely convinced that it was working properly either, I never heard the clunk of it dropping into 4wd and the truck wanted to spin around as if only one front wheel was grabbing (not sure if this is possible or not?). I wanted 4wd LO but it refused to go in or engage, even after I got unstuck and went through the processes outlined in the manual to engage it, and what to do when it wont engage... no luck what so ever.

I don't think its the IWE solenoids, but I'm not sure. I never experienced any of the symptoms/noises associated with IWE failure. Not to say I just was not paying attention.. I can honestly say I'm not that familiar with troubleshooting the 4wd system since I hardly ever use it all I ever do is read about other peoples issues. The few times I have ventured off road I have usually never needed 4wd, and when I did 4wd LO worked like a charm. Now that I needed to use it in a "stuck" situation it failed me :o

What do you guys think?


Edit: I have not been able to get under it and check everything out (too damn cold and snow everywhere on the truck), but from the looks of it just peeking around the tire 4wd high DID work on both sides...

 

i know in my truck it is a major pain to get it into 4Lo. it seems like i have to get rolling and then roll some in reverse then shift through the gears and sometimes it will go in lol. in 4Hi there is a faint clunk when it engages but in Lo you will definitely notice. also you could get up under it and tap on the 4wd motor.

congrats on taking your awesome truck out too

 

Oh, it has been out plenty in its lifetime, just not so much after I poured a ton of money into it :o I figured what the hell since I'll be doing my annual week long detail towards the end of February to get ready for show season; Plus I didn't have another vehicle to drive at the moment so I had to take it out in the road salt

I tried the rolling back and forth with no luck, and I'll be damned if I'm going to crawl in the snow to tap the 4wd motor For as little as I use the 4wd system each year I have never had problems; this is the first ever issue with the system, trying to get 4LO to engage.

 

i know you said you read the manual but are you sure you were in neutral with your foot on the brake pedal and stopped?

 

Do you ever put your truck in 4wd? You really should do it at least once a month to loosen up any grease or crap that solidifies in the moving parts. If you let it sit for a year or two it may lock up, and them when you need it you dont have it.

Also, you put it in neutral with foot on the brake to engage 4x4Lo right? If you dont do that it won't engage.

As far as only 1 front wheel grabbing...a nice introduction to your open differential up front. It will switch from one side to another depending on traction, but only 1 front tire will be receiving power at a time. So yes, your truck is essentially a 3wd not a 4wd.

Snow drifts suck, I've been stuck in them before sitting on frame. Momentum is the key, if you know the drift is a little deep them put it in 4hi and keep your momentum up.

 

x2 I was gonna say. My '04s 4wd works flawlessly. As long as 4wdhi is engaged while moving at a speed of 5 - 10mph, and 4lo is complete stop in neutral, everything works fine.

 

The truck goes in 4wd maybe 2 or 3 times a year, sometimes more just depends. It has been in at least 5 or 8 times this year with some snow in early spring, trails/climbing during the summer, and now this snow storm. But you are right I really don't use it all that much, and definitely not each month. I guess I'll start to give it more exercise :o

What was weird to me about the "3 wheel" drive was the tire on solid frozen ground that i thought should be getting traction would not budge, I even dug out around the whole truck. the wheel that was packed with snow was just spinning away not giving me a thing, maybe it was being in 4HI i dont know...

I went in with good momentum, and had not had trouble all day in similar drifts using 2wd. I kinda slid into this drift though since everything was freezing over again with a temp of 18* I ended up digging out the frame, and rear axle but could not even get near the front drop basket; which I figure did not help my stuck issue..

and yes I did have it in N and brake disengaged all the times I was trying it. Once I got out I tried rolling back and forth, driving slow back and forth forth slowly a ways then trying again.. Still got nothing.

 

idk if it was a typo or not but you just said you had it in N and the brake disengaged. the brake is supposed to be engaged or pressed haha

 

You can't beat a good ole manual transfer case.That's one reason I bought an XLT.

 

I think it just froze up. My old Fx4 did so and all you need to do is repeatedly turn it off and on. hopefully it's something like that. Good luck though!!

 

Thats exactly how an open diff works. If one tire has no traction and slips, it will just spin all day long. If you had a limited slip up front, the diff would recognize the slippage and shift power to the tire on solid ground.

 

I guess if I actually used the 4wd system a bit more like you guys I would know all this already.. Look like a damn noob learn something new everyday I guess.

I took apart the wheel ends and it seemed to check out. I greased it all up and got her back together and the SOB worked first time..

And to the earlier post, yea I meant brake pressed. Either way it was not working yesterday and was not working intially today but after a check today the damn thing works I should have just replaced the IWEs while I was in there.. Oh well

Thanks a ton guys!

 

didnt read the posts.

but, 4 hi on your truck really is only 3 wheel drive, unless you have an open rear then you are only 2 wheel drive. The front diff is OPEN so only one tire will recieve power once slipage occurs.

4 lo can only be engaged with the truck in N and foot on brake.

hope i didnt repeat too much

 

Can you get a limited slip in the front? I know it is better to get lockers, but is it possible to get limited slip in the front?

 

yeah you can but, with what you NORMALLY do with an IFS f150 its not needed, and will cause more broken CV shafts than worth it.

not sure who offers a limited slip for the front diff of these trucks.