When my husband drove this piece of sh*t around the dealership they told him that you have to stop to put if 4wheel drive. I didn't learn this until we realized that there was a problem with the 4wheel drive. I was pissed at him and the dealership out of Mansfield, Ohio. Why the hell do they have a switch inside the cab if you have to stop to activate 4wheel drive.
All 98 to 2001 Ranger and Mazda 4x4's use a system of actuation via vacuum pressure. Hence they are referred to as Pulse Vacuum Hubs. (PVH) These systems have had many problems as reported by many Ford owners. I discovered that my vacuum lines to the hubs had rotted off and therefore I lost 4x4. I learned that I could have Ford rebuild the syst. for mega bucks or convert my hubs to manual selection. Unfortunately only one company (AVM) builds these hubs in Brazil. And the only two suppliers are in the USA. So here in Canada, we would have to pay freight and importation taxes to get them. So I will have to 'bite the bullet' as other owners have and order them and install them. Will update!
Update from Aug 14, 2011: Well, I finally bit the bullet and ordered and received my manual hubs from a USA supplier last year (2010) Just now got around to installing them (2011) They were a breeze to install and are working great. I highly recommend AVM hubs from the American supplier: baseline4x4outfitters.com. based in Indiana.
Have been told by 4 mechanics 4 different solutions to this problem. Have talked to others with same problem and they spent several hundred dollars and still not fixed.
- L D.,
Hillsboro, WV, US
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When my husband drove this piece of sh*t around the dealership they told him that you have to stop to put if 4wheel drive. I didn't learn this until we realized that there was a problem with the 4wheel drive. I was pissed at him and the dealership out of Mansfield, Ohio. Why the hell do they have a switch inside the cab if you have to stop to activate 4wheel drive.
- Maria R., Howard, OH, US