The wheel drive quits working while travling down the road. It also will not lock in when sitting. The light on the dash indicates that the hubs are locked in but its not working. I currently have it a the Ford dealer getting it fixed and it is not under warrenty. The dealership confirmed there is a probklem with this model and has many other complaints but will not cover the cost. They told me that I should lock in the hubs often to keep the seals lubercatd and that its the owners problem fo rnot doing this. It would have been nice of them to tell me when I bought the truck that this was requried to be done on a regular basis. I have not had this problem with my other Ford trucks.

- Imlay City, MI, USA

2003 Ford F-150 4X4. After only a few hours in 4X4 mode, truck no longer engages into 4X4 mode, creating hazardous condition as people expect this to work and truck is very prone to getting stuck in road or leaving the road without this feature (as all such trucks are relatively very light in the rear). Owners of 4X4 vehicles expect this feature to work as advertised and failure can create serious safety issues. From short investigation - speaking to Ford mechanics and visiting Ford-trucks.com, this is a very common problem. This is a serious safety issue for reasons given above - after personally getting stuck in a public road, and very nearly several times, the truck is no longer used whenever there is any chance of snowy conditions (I am in the North-East). I strongly believe this to be a design defect - the fork which engages the front axles has a plastic end which breaks or falls off after a short period of time. I request that this be investigated and if found to be a design related issue, which I believe it clearly is, that Ford be required to fix these vehicles without cost to the owner and provide an extended warranty for this issue. Also note that I have taken the truck to 2 Ford dealers with the same diagnosis, both quoted 6-7 hours of labor when it clearly takes half or less of this time (again, please see the Ford-trucks.com/forum). I believe Ford is using this known issue to purposely over charging customers for a known design defect. Thank you for your consideration of this safety issue.

- Milford, MA, USA