OK to always leave in 4A?

[lawdog]

Based on, among other things, threads here re: the grinding issue tied to the IWE, I drove in 4A for a few days. Like the OP, the mechanic at the Ford dealership I go to in Houston and my service adviser gave the same warning--don't drive in 4A all the time. They said something about it potentially causing overheating. With the IWE issue fixed (for now), I don't have a need for 4A unless I go into Rain Mode, so it's a non-issue. But it is just another frustration--on top of others, like hard shifting from 4th to 5th in Sport Mode--that don't breed confidence in Ford.

You may already have, but, if you haven't, the recent TSB/flash for the transmission cured the hard 4-5 sport shift for me (and others). I would recommend it, and I agree about the original lack of confidence in some areas/bugs.

 

[TXRaptor]

As other have stated, I use 4A Weather Mode when it is raining or slick on the road, but I leave it in 2H Normal or Sport the majority of the time. Pretty simple.

If you are interested, here is a video that shows the how the Torsen works with a 3D graphic to make it much clearer than the 2D whiteboard version posted previously.

 

[Todd Sherman]

Do you all get some torque steer feeling when your in 4A ? I noticed it this week when driving in snow on 4A.

 

[Badgertits]

I’m gonna throw this out there as food for thought. It’s 100% true that running in 4A vs. 2wd will cause more wear on the drivetrain- more moving parts just means more wear.

On the other hand, not sure if anyone else experienced this, but I pretty much feel like the rear end is gonna explode any time I give it throttle on choppy pavement or off-road on pockmarked gravel or uneven snowy/dirt terrain. The wheel hop & diff chatter is atrocious. If you don’t take TC off from a stop in conditions like that in 2wd it immediately starts bucking, & even w/ TC off it still isn’t smooth or without axle lash.

So while there may be more wear on the drivetrain running 4A frequently, if you wanna drive the truck hard without feeling like your destroying the rear diff/axles/yolk then I’d suggest running 4A in those situations.

 

[Kashoggio]

It is part of 802A and can also be ordered as a stand-alone option if you do not have 802A

It can be added for I believe $500 to the build

 

[Badgertits]

It can be added for I believe $500 to the build

And yet the bedside stickers are $1075 lol!!

 

[TXRaptor]

I’m gonna throw this out there as food for thought. It’s 100% true that running in 4A vs. 2wd will cause more wear on the drivetrain- more moving parts just means more wear.

On the other hand, not sure if anyone else experienced this, but I pretty much feel like the rear end is gonna explode any time I give it throttle on choppy pavement or off-road on pockmarked gravel or uneven snowy/dirt terrain. The wheel hop & diff chatter is atrocious. If you don’t take TC off from a stop in conditions like that in 2wd it immediately starts bucking, & even w/ TC off it still isn’t smooth or without axle lash.

So while there may be more wear on the drivetrain running 4A frequently, if you wanna drive the truck hard without feeling like your destroying the rear diff/axles/yolk then I’d suggest running 4A in those

Are you running Deavers?

 

[Badgertits]

Are you running Deavers?

No. On my to-do list. But JESUS is the wheel hop bad. I mean I literally can’t give it any kind of throttle from a dead stop say for instance on an uneven dirt lot covered in snow/ice. Give it gas in 2wd it just bucks & sounds horrific. Take TC off lil better but not by much.

TBH after researching quite a bit doesn’t really seem like deavers/icons are as useful as people make em out to be in that regard- better than stock sure, but seems like that’s a side selling point & main interest adding them is to increase ride height/add rake after leveling front & prevent sag.

Seems to me a torque arm is the real solution. I like that KHC offers a bolt-on design that doesn’t impede ground clearance.

Only thing I don’t like about it is while most ford techs/service mgrs are too clueless to notice a set of deavers over stock leafs, they for SURE will notice a TQ arm & if you have any drivetrain component issue my guess is they’ll blame it immediately on that despite the fact it really does the opposite- protects the rear axles/diff/driveshaft

 

[EricM]

And yet the bedside stickers are $1075 lol!!

Labor. It takes lot longer to install two huge vinyl stickers than it takes to install no stickers at all. Not saying it's not overpriced, but there are legitimate reasons it costs so much.

With the diff, it's just a part cost. They are still putting something in there either way, you are simply covering the cost of the nicer part being dropped in, plus some profit for everyone.

 

[TXRaptor]

No. On my to-do list. But JESUS is the wheel hop bad. I mean I literally can’t give it any kind of throttle from a dead stop say for instance on an uneven dirt lot covered in snow/ice. Give it gas in 2wd it just bucks & sounds horrific. Take TC off lil better but not by much.

TBH after researching quite a bit doesn’t really seem like deavers/icons are as useful as people make em out to be in that regard- better than stock sure, but seems like that’s a side selling point & main interest adding them is to increase ride height/add rake after leveling front & prevent sag.

Seems to me a torque arm is the real solution. I like that KHC offers a bolt-on design that doesn’t impede ground clearance.

Only thing I don’t like about it is while most ford techs/service mgrs are too clueless to notice a set of deavers over stock leafs, they for SURE will notice a TQ arm & if you have any drivetrain component issue my guess is they’ll blame it immediately on that despite the fact it really does the opposite- protects the rear axles/diff/driveshaft

My wheel hop on uneven surfaces went away after I installed Deaver +3s, so it is definitely worth the shot. I know they are not cheap, but nothing is on our trucks!