I've been searching for manual locking hubs for my '05 SuperCrew 4X4 without luck. Warn doesn't make them. Automatic locking hubs would be a second choice. Any ideas?

 

You already have automatic locking hubs made by Warn. Why would you want to change them out?

 

??? Ummm, F150s have not come from the factory with locking hubs, either manual or automatic, since 1996. Since the '97 models came out, they have used a center axle disconnect system.

Rix150, you are probably out of luck. If anybody makes aftermarket locking hubs for '97-up F150s, I haven't heard of it.

 

And that ended with the new model in 04. Do a search on Integrated Wheel End by Warn.

 

Well, Kingfish, I stand corrected...I think. I did the search, and read all about the IWE on Warn's site. It does in fact appear to be a fancy new type of auto-locking hub for '04-up F150s. However, I could find no reference to it on FoMoCO's website at all, and in fact there was a reference to a center disconnect on new F150's. I concede that FoMoCO's web info may be out-of-date or even incorrect, or maybe I just overlooked references to the IWE. Do you have any references to any official Ford info on the IWE (or any reference other than Warn's)? Not trying to flame here...I would honestly be interested in learning more. I had thought any type of locking hubs were pretty much a thing of the past, Ford Superduties excepted.

Rix150, stand by, I may well have spouted off bad information.

 

Do a search in the 04-06 F150 forum. In it will be talk of the default of locked when engine not running and unlocked with engine running in 2wd. Also somewhere on the Ford web site, I saw a list of vendors that supplied parts for the F150. Warn was listed for the hubs. It has been a long time since I have seen it for a while, so it may no longer be there. It also had things like the overhead track storage by Johnson Controls, etc. I will look around for info and see if I can find anything "official".

Edit - Have you searched with google for "integrated wheel end" or IWE. Lot's of info out there.

Edit2 - I should also say that even though these have hubs, don't expect them to ever have manual replacements. Unlike the old style where the mechanism went thru the wheel center, these are all to the inboard of the wheel. What you see at the wheel looks just like what you would have on a 2wd vehicle.

 

Well, after further searching, I still couldn't find any "official" Ford reference to the IWE system online. However, there were enough references here on F150online to convince me that Kingfish (and others) were right and I was wrong.

'04 and up F150s have a vacuum-operated Integrated Wheel End (IWE) disconnect which functions much like an auto hublock. Warn's website also claims it's been on Expeditions/Navigators since '02.

Looks like I've been schooled.

Rix150, as Kingfish pointed out in his first post here, looks to me like there's no reason to look any further for locking hubs.

 

My understanding is that the new design of the IWEs on the Expedition and Navigator and F-150 is an up-sized version of the ones used on the export-model Rangers. I'm not sure about the SuperDuty setups....

My understanding is that there is conversion kit for the export Rangers that allows them to be made manual, but I can't verify that offhand.

-Joe

 

I am not sure, but I thought I read somewhere the superduty was an upsized Ranger, and the Expedition/F150 were entirely different.

 

That's entirely possible.... I'm not as up-to-speed on the latest incarnation of the F-series trucks as I wish I was. I don't own one, so I haven't seen a need to start learning about it.

-Joe

 

Thanks to all of you who took the time to look into this and ley me know what's going on with this new truck of mine. I guess I'll just have to live with 12-14 MPG. I live where there some long grades getting up to my place and that eats gas. I got 15.9 on the way to 'Vegas when I had only 800 miles on the truck, so I'll just have to be satisfied. I didn't buy it for the economy and thanks to all the discounts in place when I bought it, I can just figure I got "free gas". Headed for another off-road race this weekend to pit and take photos. THATS what I bought the truck for!