Im not here to make friends, it was a question, not a statement. An upgrade would be like the F-SD hubs, where you have Auto & Lock.

So since you want to jump out of your truck every time you want to go into 4wd, why don't you just jump out and pull the vacuum hose so your hubs lock. There you go now you have manual hubs...

 

MT, you know, I was just used to the auto-hub system being the weak link in a Ford 4x4 system. Now that I know they fail to the good side I really don't plan on upgrading anything else on the thing.

Don't forget a Humvee is four-wheel IFS. They must know how to make a strong CV joint somewhere!

bjp207, you have no idea how happy I am to know that.

BHibbs, I'm glad you got across what I was trying to say the whole time.

As for the three girls in this thread, don't you have to go powder your nose or something?

 

After the huge failure of the vacuum actuated hubs in the 98-00 rangers, the 01-current rangers have live-axles up front (engaged all the time). The CV joints are the same, the transfer cases are the same, the differentials are the same. The 95-01 Explorer are live axles. The 01-05 Sport Tracs are live-axles. They work great because there are no hubs or vacuum to fail. The worst part is the electric shift motor. A lot of ranger drivers converted their auto-hubs to live-axles for reliability. The most I've seen anyone report is 1mpg loss. After YEARS, one company made a manual hub replacement, and I ran them on my 98 ranger. Sometimes I would leave them engaged for months with no loss in gas mileage, no CV joint or U-joint failures with 145k miles when I sold it. And they were RELIABLE.
I can't believe so many people are butthurt about this topic because some of us would like manual hubs. You don't have to get out and lock them every time, you can simply leave them engaged in the winter for example. The driveline is already up to speed so you don't have to worry about the electromagnetic clutch in the tcase bringing the driveline up to speed before the hubs are allowed to engage.
There is a market for them, just like anything else. I see people carrying dogs in purses, you don't think some people would spend a few bucks to have reliable hubs on a newer truck? A ton of the F150's out there are work trucks, used on farms, jobsites, mines, etc.
Fortunately Ford got (somewhat) smarter by designing these hubs to be locked by default, so they are less likely to leave you stranded. But there are a lot of extra parts that all have to work together. Ever heard of "keep it simple stupid"? It works. I would absolutely pay extra even for a manual transfer case and manual hubs. No guessing if my hubs engaged, no waiting for the lights to come on in the dash, I could actually FEEL it engage.

Anyway, I don't know what it is with people mocking those who want manual hubs. I think having a lifted truck with 24's and low profile mud terrains is a huge waste of money and looks stupid but I don't booger up a whole topic to talk about it and try to prove that my way of thinking is THE ONLY WAY.

 

you wheel a ranger with ttb yet those are some offroad monsters especially with the junker 2.9 in it! i see we got another philosopher on the forum, GREAT

 

I know Zuk man, I am giving you sht, like always. You'd think you'd of caught on.

Posts, although sometimes pointless, are amusing to me. plus, i know you KNOW your stuff, and these trucks damn near in and out. No harm meant guy. Just ruffling the feathers a little, so to speak.

Anyways, the "upgrade" he was after, it seems, is to fix the "auto lock" feature, so that he wouldn't be left without engaging hubs. To be out in a slight mud pit, and lose the ability of 4x4 would suck. He was looking to prevent that. Once he learned the default position is engaged, he seemed to no longer be worried. At least, thats what I am getting out of it.

And yes, I am not so out of shape (but am plenty fat ! ) to be worried about jumpin outta my truck to engage hubs. Auto hubs haven't been around forever, yet we have managed. Come do some serious crawling. You either have MANUAL hubs, or you have full time 4x4. There is no vacuum operated crap. Run some 4340 Chromo hubs, or a step better, and go 4340 creeper flanges. They make some bomb proof manual hubs. never seen a chromo auto hub. Also, the part, like I said, isn't the HUB itself he is looking to fix. Its the operation of the hub. One, you rely on your own ***. As long as you have hands, you can engage your hub. Auto hubs, you rely on a vacuum operated device, one prone to failing. Your choice. When out on the trail, hours upon hours away from ANY kind of help, I would rather rely on the tried and true. Thats all it is man.

Hope this helps some people understand the thinking behind it.

p.s. : yes, they do make upgrades for the cv joints ! I haven't needed it, but I know its out there.

 

MT, that is exactly right. I have a fishing hole this thing will frequent that becomes a river of mud after it rains even a little bit. And I have already been stuck thanks to an auto-hub failure. After digging out of a hole for an hour, under pouring rain in 45 degree weather, no one else here would ever have craptastic auto hubs again either. Even the couple geniuses that already admitted to owning mall-only-crawlers.

Atom, I'm positive you can make more of a fool of yourself without even trying. Here is a lame poseur shot for you to work from:

 

i've had 4 rangers, 1984, 1986, 1987,1999 trust me i worked on junk ttb and 2.9 v6's enough, i know what they are capable of. they can't hold an alignment for crap, they go thru a set of bj's every year, and the 5 speeds they put in them weren't for crap. but your the expert here....my first fullsize and all i do is **** and moan about what came on it. wow you can drive on a rock, did you have to lock in the hubs for that? or did you already have the hubs locked in all year on that one too? maybe someone should go powder there nose.......oh yeah and for being the auto guru, your truck doesn't have that rear end in it. the stock dana 28's were junk and could be easily destroyed with 31's. the reverse dana 35 is similar to strength to the dana 44, the 7.5 rear end was marginal, but we put v8's against them and they lasted for a while. the 5 speeds were junk, the aod tranny's weren't much better, but at least you could have take a c5 from the 2.8 v6/auto and put the tailshaft onto a c4 tranny and had the strength of a v8 for mudding. oh that's right i have no idea...the best ranger that you could buy would be from 90 and on with the 4.0, dana 35 in front and a 8.8 out back. but i don't know anyth ng...ideal setup is taking an old bronco 71-77 with the dana 44, later the better had disc brakes and steal the 9 incher out back and turn the ranger into one offroad beast. solid axles, v8 power, and small dimensions. but i'm a poser, ya i don't think so champ.

 

All hail Atom. The man who knows everything about everything.

Dude, in all seriousness, you need to go to anger management. Internet rage isn't pretty.

 

For anyone interested, I got my shop manuals in the mail today and I was shocked to learn that the manual shift and the electronic shift are exactly the same. They both trigger a computer to shift the case and run the vacuum lines and IWEs. So its not really a manual shift at all. What a waste of floor space then. Why even offer it?

 

seriously what a waste of floor space, I have the floor shift, not a huge fan at all, I plan to look into what is needed for a swap, if its cost effective, ill do it

 

I hate you.

 

kinda a noob question to a quite heated post but what does iwe stand for?

 

bjp207, I doubt its cost effective for some reason. Cheap maybe. You'd have to do something to the floor and buy the switch and wiring at the least.

Does you floor shift have a neutral position? Maybe there is one benefit to it. Though they trigger the same computer so technically the electric shift should be able to have a neutral position too then.

IWE = Integrated Wheel End

 

yeah it does have a neutral position, I would just rivet some sheet metal to the floor and seal it with RTV, then swap the floor for carpet, the wiring is there as far as i know, just have to see what the motor cost and the switch, and probly a $40 reflash

 

you keep rocking your super dooper f150 gramps:santa: maybe you'll get your manual hubs