Axle rebuild suggestions...

[Freshmeat]

I'm about to rebuild a high pinion D44 and Ford 9". What gear/locker manufacturers do you guys prefer? Likely going with lunchbox lockers unless I get good deals on full carriers. I'm planning to go with 4.88s and stock shafts, then upgrade if they break.

Would I be better to go with a kit of some sort? Randy's pricing seems sky high to me- where can I get good prices on this stuff? I'm doing as much as I can myself but will have a shop set the gears for me.

 

[KPSquared]

Check out www.justdifferentials.com or www.eastcoastgearsupply.com

They may have better prices than Randy's. I have read and heard good things about the Nitro gears. I run a set in the front of my truck.

Just shop around. Ton's of online places have gears.

If you are planning to run 35's or 37's eventually, I would step up to 5.13 gears. I have 4.88's and they work well, but I would take a little more crawl any day...

 

[Freshmeat]

After the axles are in I'll start gathering parts for a 302/ZF swap. Planning 37" radials. My bias ply tires are killing me DDing this thing. Can't wait for the Mustang to come in.

 

[ericautopart]

Send me a PM w/ what you decide on and I'll get you the best price.

 

[Pollarican]

Great plan on motor/ trans combo. I agree I'd go with at least 5.13's for 37's - especially if you aren't DDing the thing. I'm running 4.56 on 35's and, although they work great, if I wasn't DDing the thing at the time I would have gone 4.88.

 

[SuddenDeath]

Aussie lockers are the best lunchbox locker, imho. I've never seen one break, and my buddy beats the hell out of his at Rausch Creek all day.

 

[Slowlyvverot]

I second East Coast Gear, cool dudes and great prices and the Nitro 4.88s in my rear axle have done nothing but please me.

 

[Freshmeat]

I PMed a couple of the dealers on Pirate and their prices are significantly cheaper than all the others listed in this thread; trying to figure out why that is.

 

[IZwack]

I PMed a couple of the dealers on Pirate and their prices are significantly cheaper than all the others listed in this thread; trying to figure out why that is.

Some of them are "drop ship" resellers - meaning that they dont actually stock the item you paid for. When you submit an order, that order is relayed to the gear manufacturer who then ships you the gears. Or sometimes there's another middle man before the gear manufacturer - the one who buys the gears wholesale, stocks them, and awaits orders to ship. Doing so cuts cost because the person you are directly paying often times does not need a warehouse (and the employees necessary to support a warehouse) to store the items he/she sells. As a consequence, these "middle men" or layers of abstraction increases the chances of an order going wrong.

 

[Freshmeat]

I see. Well, I've decided to play it safe and go with 4.88s. I'd still like to be able to drive this on the streets and may need to be driving it to the trails longer than I'd hoped.

 

[KPSquared]

4.88's and 37's isn't playing it safe, it's being un-informed about what ratios work and how it will effect your RPM.
I HAVE 4.88's and 35's. At 65MPH I'm at about 2400 RPM. You'll be even lower than that with 37's. 5.13's and 37's will be perfect for a driver and still leave you wanting more low gear on the trail.
Besides, doing an SAS isn't going to make this the most fun DD any way... It's a focused effort just with my 6" lift, 35's and no sway bars. That's with superstiff springs... You get a flexy front end and you won't want to drive 70...

 

[Freshmeat]

4.88's and 37's isn't playing it safe, it's being un-informed about what ratios work and how it will effect your RPM.
I HAVE 4.88's and 35's. At 65MPH I'm at about 2400 RPM. You'll be even lower than that with 37's. 5.13's and 37's will be perfect for a driver and still leave you wanting more low gear on the trail.
Besides, doing an SAS isn't going to make this the most fun DD any way... It's a focused effort just with my 6" lift, 35's and no sway bars. That's with superstiff springs... You get a flexy front end and you won't want to drive 70...

How is it uninformed? I should be around 2200 with 37s @65. My concern is that I've read of people having pinion strength issues running 5.13s.

I HAVE 3.73s and 34s so I say 4.88s and pretty much anything south of 40" sounds good.

 

[Pollarican]

Just drive someones truck lifted with the correct gears and you will see what is possible when you get gears deep enough to correctly match your tire size. 4.88s are a weak highwayish gear for 37's. I'm 99% sure 5.13s have a pinon strength issue in the stock explorer axle(s) (Dana 35 ttb), not the Dana 44.

If you look at http://media.photobucket.com/image/gear tire chart/heslekrants/GearTireChart.jpg


You will see that 4.88s and 37's put you dead in the middle for economy vs performance. At this point, is your car made for economy, or would you want to get that little extra performance? If you are paying 1k plus for gears, don't you want all the bang for your buck you can get? How often do you drive 65-70 mph when you are jacked up on 37's AND when you are weeks away from having a substitute DD mustang to drive?

Gears are the single best investment for an offroad vehicle, and almost everyone who has gone by the chart on this forum will write back on this website saying something along the lines of "Gears are awesome! My truck drives like new again - IF I COULD DO IT AGAIN I WOULD HAVE WENT WITH EVEN DEEPER ONES." Seriously though, search around and you will see that I'm not full of ****.

 

[Pollarican]

Another thought: Some guys on here have their Ex's running 5.13s on 35's with no problems

 

[Freshmeat]

So 5.13s it is. Thanks for the suggestions on that; no one else mentioned it, but it seems most logical. This will be a slower build than initially planned, as I decided to also do some investing in better tools and shop equipment.

 

[Pollarican]

That's my man! So glad to hear you decided on those gears - you'll be happy when you get to drive that bad boy all finished.

Can't go wrong spending a little more on good tools - keep us posted as to what you're up to.

I myself have been looking into the zf/302 for a good amount of time now and might have to start collecting parts sometime soon.

 

[Freshmeat]

Well, my computer crashed Saturday so I had to dip into the axle funds (read:deplete) and bought a new MacBook Pro (base model, don't get too excited) so there's yet another kink in this. My wagon should be selling soon, though, and I should be able to move forward slowly until it actually sells.

I'll likely order the gears and kits this week and try to find a used Lockrite to throw in the front until I go ARB.

I just need to be careful with money- I have a steering box disassembled in my parts washer for a drill/tap and rebuild because the original unit blew a massive leak. While I have everything down I'm installing a Saginaw pump (assuming I can find one) and running the steering fluid through the old transmission cooler.

 

[Pollarican]

Good plan on the steering - Saginaw is def the way to go. Plus, once you go 302, if should bolt right to that accessory bracket.

If you find you want lockers but don't want to shell out outrageous money, look into the Aussies. Lots of guys running BIG tires on pirate run them, and from what Ive read, they are nearly indestructible - basically the strongest of the lunchbox lockers. AND, if you happen to actually break them, their customer service/ warranty setup is supposed to be very liberal.

 

[Freshmeat]

Awesome, thanks again for the input.