Should I add 4A to my BD order?

[cbrenthus]

Didn't read the whole thread, but I love the 4A coming from a Rubicon where I couldn't use 4WD in rain, and had to pay attention and shift in an out of 4WD when driving on a snowy day. I also love 4A in case my wife drives it on a snowy day.

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[Lakelife36]

What is the cost of adding it? Do you ever plan to resell and/or do you live in an area that sees mixed highway conditions? If the answer to the second question outweighs the answer to the first then I'd say it's worth it. Personally I wish I had it in mine, but that would've been a $5k (CAD) upcharge from BB to BD and I don't intend to sell it, although I most definitely see a ton of mixed highway conditions.

 

[mike8675309]

While I don’t drive with 4A on all the time, I don’t know why people keep saying it’s bad to do so. Or that 4A is bad in general. The front wheels are only engaged when lack of traction dictates. If you are driving on clear roads and don’t encounter any situations that would break traction it’s no different than driving in 2H. Too many people offer their “expert” opinions not knowing exactly how 4A operates.

Thanks to those calling out the towing causing the failure in the video I shared.
As far as why people say so, it is generally because the owner manual also says so.
Now to clarify what you stated. you said the clutches are engaged only when " when lack of traction dictates". That lacks some precision because in actuality the clutches are engaged when there is a specific amount of difference in rotation between the front of the vehicle and the back. One case where that can happen is in low traction situations. Other cases where that can happen are if tire diameters are different between the front and the rear, or if you are going around a corner. Different tires can cause that, and differences in air pressure can cause that. Long sweeping corners, and many small turns. All of those can result in differences in speed between the front axle and the rear axle.

That being said, my approach is 2wd on paved roads that have no snow cover. 4A when there is patchy snow on paved roads or anytime on dirt roads. 4H on snow-covered roads or low-friction dirt roads. (fun mode)

 

[orion]

You are entitled to your opinion of that he's a jackass. But his advice is read directly from the owner's manual. At 5 minutes and 11 minutes he clearly reads from the owner's manual.

People can provide anecdotal evidence on their old Expedition or offer up personal experience that is counter to what the owner's manual suggests. That doesn't mean they aren't wrong.

Yes, in this particular case, they were able to have the tow company pay for the replacement. But absent the botched tow job, the owner likely would have had problems just later down the road. In that case, they wouldn't have had anyone to blame and would try to have it warrantied. When the technician reads the owner manual and points to a smoked transfer case due to the owner "setting it and forgetting it" contrary to the manual's advice, then the work will be on the owner.

As he mentioned, the clutch pack can be replaced, but they are advised to replace the entire transfer case. It won't be a cheap repair for those that want to "set it and forget it".

You and he are wrong again. What he read is for 4H and 4L. It never states anything about 4A in his video. Go read your manual! Actually here you go... when your done reading that part, let me know what it says about "all on-road conditions ".

 

[mpeugeot]

I think the key is you need to know your use cases. Being in Minnesota I would always say the Advanced Transfer case is preferred. It will help during the winter, and it helps with resale.
The problem with the Advanced Transfer Case is that people who come from AWD vehicles will treat 4A like AWD. And that isn't how it should be used. 4A is a full-time system, but due to its design, it shouldn't be used on dry well packed surfaces. When using 4A it is also important that all 4 wheels have the same air pressure levels. The advanced transfer case uses clutch plates that will wear faster if there are different speeds between the front and rear wheels.

Here is a teardown of a 2021 First Edition that was left in 4A all the time for 10k miles, and burned up the clutch pack.

I wonder about how it was used, because I haven't needed a rebuild and I have 50k miles on it running nearly exclusively in 4A except when off-road conditions dictate differently.

 

[mike8675309]

I wonder about how it was used, because I haven't needed a rebuild and I have 50k miles on it running nearly exclusively in 4A except when off-road conditions dictate differently.

My apologies for what I said. The one in the video was damaged due to towing. The vehicle needs to be put into towing mode so that it puts the transfer case in neutral before towing.

 

[mpeugeot]

While I don’t drive with 4A on all the time, I don’t know why people keep saying it’s bad to do so. Or that 4A is bad in general. The front wheels are only engaged when lack of traction dictates. If you are driving on clear roads and don’t encounter any situations that would break traction it’s no different than driving in 2H. Too many people offer their “expert” opinions not knowing exactly how 4A operates.

True, the 4A system is well documented on line and adjusts rather frequently when necessary (as often as 60 Hz). The 4A system rides right on the edge of engagement, until you need it.

 

[NVCowboy]

Did I read somewhere that adding auto transfer case affects price protection?

 

[Roger123]

For those of you concerned about you transfer case clutches are you also worried about your automatic transmission clutch packs?

4A has been around for a very long time and Ford isn't the first manufacturer to use it. My Grand Cherokee has a similar system but there's no provision for 2H, just Auto (basically 4A) and 4L. There's millions of them on the road with no issues.

If you want to leave it in 4A go ahead and sleep well at night.

 

[Beach_Bum]

Did I read somewhere that adding auto transfer case affects price protection?

Nothing affects price protection for MY'23. Your private offer is based on the prior locked build spec. You can change your build spec without the private offer being affected. That private offer can be used on any MY'23 Bronco (not just your ordered Bronco). The only exclusions are the Limited Heritage Edition and Raptor.

 

[djnemo]

As others have mentioned, what you need depends on where you live. I am in California where it rains maybe 15 days a year. When I go to the mountains, I just switch to 4H. Resale value not important to me, especially considering the sales tax of over 10% nullifies much of the gain on any trade in.

 

[Mudd]

Got a bit of snow a couple of days ago so I thought I'd test out the Auto 4WD. All of this was on a snowy, icy side road, but not a lot of snow. It's quite intelligent and pretty much shifted to 4WD when I would, which is mostly leaving a stop sign, and moved back into 2WD after it got up to speed. I pressed it bit going up hills, and it hung on to 2WD for quite a while before shifting. Also worth noting that it shifted before I felt the rear losing any traction. Like I sad earlier, If it didn't come standard, I wouldn't spend money on it, but I'll use it now that I have it.

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