Lockers

[ChrisWSR01]

well..i have been askin some questions about lockers and every said that i have to watch out for deep mud..im not a "truck expert" so i need a little help..why exactly must i watch out for deep mud..also..if i put 32's on my explorer..can i leave the stock gears in there??
thanks
chris w

 

[RU MAN]

What is year is your truck?
What gears do u have in it now?
If you have 3.73 or 4.10 u will be ok, but the 4.10 is better for power. The 3.73 is good if you are going to be driving alot on the road. You will feel a power lose, with the 3.73. Do u have a lift on your truck, if not you won't beable to fit 32's and 31's might fit, but most of the time don't.
If u don't know what gears you have look on the driver side door it will tell u a code. Just tell me the code and i will tell you.
BTW. Welcome to the site.

 

[ChrisWSR01]

its a 91 eddie baurer..the gears that are in there are the ones that came in it when it was built..i will be putting a 3inch body lift like you said in my other messege..with a locker in the rear..will i still be able to go into deep mud??and if not..why??
thanks
chris

 

[RU MAN]

I don't see why notyou can't go in deep mud. My under standing of lockers is that it helps alot in mud, but I don't know to much about lockers, but do a search, just type in locker and u will get alot of info from that. There was a big forum on lockers like two weeks ago. I help this helps you.

 

[leebo]

you can go into just about anything....it's getting out thats the problem. Mud is a pain in the butt to go in with a stocker.....even one with larger tires. You need extra trackion to make it through along with some gears for the low end torque. This is where people say to get a locker. The locker will allow your tires to keep spinning at all times....going for any traction you can get.

As for the gears....there are several different gears offered from ford. On the door there is a code that will give you the gear ratio. Heck..you might already have a form of a locker.....do you have the towing package???

I'd also like to welcome you to the site.....you'll get just about any answer to any question you can ever think of.

 

[HIX]

you just need to make sure and raise the diff breather lines. It will help keep the water and mud out. Make sure you do that foe the tranny and the front diff as well. A locker will help you out in the mud. You will be amazed by the difference.

 

[Kyle K.]

mud lockers

hey the reason some people warn about lockers in mud is because if it is light slippery mud you will get a similar reaction to ice driving which is sliding left or right trying to get traction, this isnt as big a problem as some make out and the locker will help immensly more than it would ever be a problem, driving with a locker is a learned skill a little lock up exiting a turn a little locker noise hear and there (pun get it hear...) disengaging when slowing entering a turn ... little things you will learn to like and anticipate, i suggest either the powertrax no-slip or (if they make it for the 8.8 ) the detroit softlocker. hope this helps.

dodger

 

[ChrisWSR01]

thanks for the help everyone so far..i went to go look for what kind of gears i had and couldnt find anything bout gear size..all i saw was the type of tires and wheels it came with..
thanks
chris w

 

[leebo]

there should be a letter on the bottom under "rear axle" what is that say???

 

[ChrisWSR01]

its says axle 43..

 

[leebo]

you've got an open Diff(no posi) with 3.08 gears

 

[ChrisWSR01]

thanks for the info..what size gears would be best for running 33's or 32's??
thanks
chris

 

[RU MAN]

You really need to change your gears to run 32's or 33's. I would go with 4.10's. But that is just me, i'm sure someone will disagree.

 

[RFR2212]

Go 4.56...I know people with 4.10's on 33's and they wish they went to 4.56's in the beginning..I've got 3.73's with 33's and it's horrible...I'm goin 4.56's and there is talk on the forum of some guys that wanna go with 35's and 5.16 gears I believe.
Pete

 

[Maniak]

If you go with the 32's.. 4.10's would be right.. 4.56 with 32's would keep your RPM's way too high on the freeway and possibly even around town.

With the a4ld tranny and 4.10 gears on BFG AT KO 32's we are at about 2600-2700 rpms for 75mph.. 3000 rpms in Drive (not overdrive) is about 55mph..

If you did 4.56 gears with the 32's it would be even worse. Now if you live where you don't get to drive 75+ you could get away with 4.56 gears. In Arizona the speed limit is 75mph on freeways so 80mph driving is common (escpecially when you live 25 miles from work)..

Our mileage with a 212k mile motor with the a4ld, 32" tires and 4.10 gears is about 15 in city and highway.. When we drove 65 on the freeway we got almost 17mpg.. but that doesn't happen often.

 

[ChrisWSR01]

Thanks for all the help..im gonna put 33x12.50-15 BFG M/T's or Thornbirds..im not sure..so with 33' tires i should go with a 4.56 gear or 4.10??thanks..chris

 

[Kyle K.]

back to lockers being the question

yeah i would agree you should use 4.56 with 33's just cause if your going wheelin your gonna want the extra crawl. and (guys correct me if i'm wrong) but i think there is a cut off between the 3.08 and the 4.56 differentials so in getting a new carrier i would say to pick up a detroit softlocker carrier while you're spending all this money.

dodger