Hey Jim, just to let you know...
Took the truck in today... here's what they found/did...
The burning smell from the front hubs was, nothing. They took them apart and all looked good. They suspect it was oil dripping on the front axle that burned off when they hubs were engaged. I dunno, but that is what they said... all good. (Drove it all the way home in 4High and worked like a charm, no smell.)
The constant downshifting was a little more tricky. They replaced the power valve and went up one size in jets (said the plugs were reading lean), and re-adjusted the throttle linkage. Also, new wires and a cap and rotor. Apparently, the #1 wire was dead. Like, dead. And the rest, well, they put them on a reader for me and they read bad. Lots of resistance. And they were nice enough to save and show me all the parts afterwards. THAT, is service.
Well, it cost me $400 but that's not bad. The Ford boys did a good job - it's 26 years old and runs like new today - and got it back to me the same day. But most of all, that $400 looked pretty good when - while I was waiting to pick it up - was comparing it to the payments on a new F250. NICE trucks, but $850/month for a new one, not even a full load. And that was for 60 months at zero percent.
Thanks for the info and assistance again Jim.
Brad
We'll find out tomorrow. I dropped it off tonite to get the front end and hubs checked. Stay tuned. :)
Brad
Adding torque by shifting into 4WD could make a difference. I can only suggest starting with a close visual inspection. If there's nothing obvious, jack up the front and give everything a spin and wiggle (both with hubs locked and unlocked and the shifter in both 2 and 4WD). If you still have no luck, a short drive may be in order to repeat the conditions and see if anything feels warm to the touch.
We only have about an inch or so of snow (but we've had a pretty steady wind all day). There remains the chance that driving the front wheels may have kicked some snow up on to the exhaust and this may be your odour.
Let us know what you find...
Sorry to bother you so much recently, but I'm having the worst run of luck.
In a nutshell...
Tonite, just for the heck of it, I locked the front hubs on my 1980 Bronco for the drive home, and just a few blocks from my house shifted it into 4 HIGH. The roads are covered in snow and I could feel the front wheels turning.
When I got home, maybe 3 or 4 blocks max, I could smell something, almost a burning smell, coming from the front of the truck. It didn't smell like antifreeze or oil.
I'm gonna guess it has something to do with the front hubs.
Is this somehting you've heard of before?
Thanks Jim
Brad