I have seen where people run on dry roads w/front hubs locked and x-fer case in 2-Hi. I have the manual hubs and while I prefer the manual hubs for reliability reasons I would like to be able to lock them during the winter when I might need them. I drive 20 miles one-way to work and reach speeds up to 65 mph. I also have the limited slip front axle if this makes a difference. Would I be in danger of tearing up my equipment running with the hubs locked? Or worse, wrecking due to locked gears.

 

Off the subject...

Do you have any pictures of you truck?

 

Here's the pic from the internet sales. I've owned it about 4 weeks now and I love it. I have the bouncing dashboard to fix along with the annoying low-speed popping, transmission cross member from what I've read, but I love it. It makes great power so I can't wait to 'chip' it.

Dang! They disabled the 'add a picture' function so I had to create a gallery. I guess I'm going to have to get some more pics for it. Here it is if this works:
https://www.f150online.com/galleries...y.cfm?gnum=954

 

I'll reply based on what i've been told by long time ford guy, Dad, and based on what I've learned from tech school. The hard part now determining who told me what.

Anyways,
It's OK to do short trips with hubs locked.
Refer to owners manual about 4wd top speed, I always believed it was 40ish.
The front wears prematurely when in 4wd for extented periods of time. I think the Lsd wont do anything unless power/torque is applied(actually in 4-hi or 4-lo).
Never use 4wd unless front wheels are in a situation where they can slip alittle, especially while turning.
This is whats going on in my head, please tell me otherwise if I'm wrong.
When I know a storm is coming I'll lock the hubs. When its gone, unlock them. I use 4wd when its slippery out, not when I'm bombing down the highway

 

That's a beautiful truck, i LOVE shortbed two tones, and 351's!

 

its all right to have the hubs locked in and not in 4x4 even while on the highway. If you leave them in ALL the time they could cause a little added wear and lower gas mileage and power because of the added drag of the extra diff turning. Don't worry about how fast you can go with the hubs locked in. I have even engaged 4x4 on snowy highways at speeds up to 65mph and it goes in nice and smooth. No jerks or hesitations. Your limited slip might cause harder steering depending on how strong it is. Just try it out and see what happens. Just engage the hubs and drive around the block. If it turns good then you are probably ok. Chances are that since you do have the limited slip you will have more bind issues than with open diffs.