Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and malachipclover
Active Member
Proud owner of a 99 XLT supercab, V6 3.0L.
Ever since I got this truck the 4WD has not worked, and I really haven't had a chance to look into it until a few days ago. I saw a video where a guy took apart his hubs and removed the metal mesh so that he could push the locking mechanism manually with his finger. I am not sure how I fell about chopping up my hubs given this is my only vehicle and I need it every single day of the week. So I figured I would just pull the hubs apart, put them into the locked position, then reassemble. Took it for a test drive and for the first time ever it did work. I left them locked as it's very snowy here and living on a remote dirt road doesn't help things. Today on my way to work I shifted in to 4WD and found that the hubs had manage to unlock themselves on their own somewhere over the course of the last few days shifting in and out of 4WD. I have visually checked over the vacuum lines and (surprisingly, given the horrible amount of rust and corrosion that Michigan has dealt on my truck) they look great. Also did the defroster vent test, that checks out as well. I don't have any kind of vacuum gauge or pump to truly test the lines as suggested in the tech article. Any idea what would cause the system to have enough pressure to unlock but not to lock the hubs? I know the simple solution is to just switch to manual hubs but I don't have the money.
Ever since I got this truck the 4WD has not worked, and I really haven't had a chance to look into it until a few days ago. I saw a video where a guy took apart his hubs and removed the metal mesh so that he could push the locking mechanism manually with his finger. I am not sure how I fell about chopping up my hubs given this is my only vehicle and I need it every single day of the week. So I figured I would just pull the hubs apart, put them into the locked position, then reassemble. Took it for a test drive and for the first time ever it did work. I left them locked as it's very snowy here and living on a remote dirt road doesn't help things. Today on my way to work I shifted in to 4WD and found that the hubs had manage to unlock themselves on their own somewhere over the course of the last few days shifting in and out of 4WD. I have visually checked over the vacuum lines and (surprisingly, given the horrible amount of rust and corrosion that Michigan has dealt on my truck) they look great. Also did the defroster vent test, that checks out as well. I don't have any kind of vacuum gauge or pump to truly test the lines as suggested in the tech article. Any idea what would cause the system to have enough pressure to unlock but not to lock the hubs? I know the simple solution is to just switch to manual hubs but I don't have the money.
