Super Duty 4x4 question

I'm doing some front end maintenance on my boss's 2003 Super Duty 4x4. While it's apart he wants to replace the vacuum actuated lock outs with manual Warns. My question is do I need to keep the vacuum lines that run to the knuckle or can I eliminate them and plug the lines.

my 05 has lockouts and vacuum and it'll work either way.if the vac deal dont work anyway i'd plug it.

Eliminate the hoses, plug the lines, and make sure you cap the holes from the lines at the hubs, otherwise water can get in the hubs. My '04 has factory manual hubs and it still has the nipples on the hubs for the vacuum lines, they are just capped at the factory.

^^^^^^^what be said.

Thanks guys, that's what I'll do. Man what a mess this thing is, only got 40,000 miles on it and I have to replace all the tie rod/ drag link parts, both hub and bearings, all the ball joints, both axle u-joints and rebuild the front drive shaft. He's a maintenance freak, regular oil changes, filters and such but plowing snow really takes a toll.

Does he ever grease the front end? My 04 has grease fittings on all of those components ('cept the front driveshaft), and I grease them every oil change, never had to replace anything yet. 83K on it now, but I don't plow snow...

When I got this thing I was amazed at the size of everything in the frontend compared to my old F150. These things are built HEAVY, but plowing does put a lot of wear on the frontend.