In this article, we will be looking at how to use 4 Wheel Drive on a Ford F150. In normal mode, the majority of vehicles have front or rear-wheel drive where either the 2 front wheels or the 2 rear wheels propel the vehicle.
When 4 wheel drive is available, power will be provided to all wheels of the vehicle. This works great in off-road situations as you get better traction, torque, and power.
The driving options available to you in a Ford F150 are 2H, 4L, and 4H. These modes serve different purposes which we will get into in the rest of this article.
In a Ford F150, 4L is used in extreme off-road conditions and offers the most torque and traction to the wheel at low speeds of up to 15Mph. In 4H, you get improved traction at higher speeds. You can go up to 55 or 60 Mph in this mode but exceeding this “speed limit” may damage your 4 wheel drive system.
How Does Ford 4 Wheel Drive Work?
In normal mode, your Ford F150 is a rear-wheel-drive vehicle meaning that it sends power to the rear wheels instead of the front.
When you engage 4 wheel drive, power is sent to all wheels giving it both a push and pull effect. Naturally, this translates to better traction off-road as well as on snow-covered or icy roads.
For the latter, snow/rain mode works better if you have it as an option. To switch between the different modes, you will either use a lever or a dial depending on the year of your F150.
When Should You Put Your F150 in 4-Wheel Drive?
In truth, you will only really need 4 wheel drive mode if you are an avid off-roader. The ordinary driver will not normally use it or may engage it in snowy conditions or when they occasionally encounter off-road conditions.
The other time where they may use it is for towing or hauling but the F150 has tow/haul mode for that kind of job. This is one reason that you will find that most F150 drivers are content with the 2 wheel drive option of the F150.
How do You Put a Ford F150 in 4 Wheel Drive?
How you switch your Ford F150 to 4 wheel drive will depend on the year of your vehicle. Older F150s use a gear lever to switch between the different modes. In newer models, there is a control dial located on the right side of the steering wheel through which you switch between the different modes.
4H is the mode that is ideal for relatively high-speed situations but only between 55 and 60 miles per hour. It works best when driving in rough terrain off-road.
In this mode, you can move at reasonably fast speeds through trails. 4L is used for crawling in extreme off-road conditions. In this mode, you can only go at 15 miles per hour or less. You cannot go at higher speeds than that. 4L pushes more power and torque to your wheels so that your truck is able to handle those situations.
Can you switch into 4H or 4 L While Driving?
If you own an older F150, you will need to come to a stop in order to shift into 4H. If, on the other hand, you own a newer F150, you can change over to 4H while driving but doing so at high speed is not advisable.
In order to switch over, bring your vehicle to under 25Mph then shift to 4H. or 4L, however, you would ideally want to bring it to a complete stop in older vehicles before changing over.
In newer models, you will first need to put the vehicle in neutral before shifting gears. How fast can you drive a Ford F150 in 4 wheel drive? In order to do so safely, you need to keep below 60Mph. anything above this could lead to your truck flipping over.
The conditions you are driving in also need to be taken into consideration. If you are in snow or roads with ice, you need to be careful about the speeds you travel at. As already mentioned earlier in this post, if you are in 4L, you must not exceed 15Mph.
Conclusion on Ford f150 4-wheel-drive
4wd can be engaged and disengaged in different ways on your F150 depending on the model year. If it’s from older generations, it will have a gear lever that you use to transition from one to the other.
Newer models will have a dial that you can use to move from one mode to another. In either case, the transition between modes is pretty simple and straightforward. It’s best practice to slow down to below 25Mph to shift to and from 4H or come to a complete standstill when shifting to 4L.
