Looking for best place to buy 4.88 gears and other parts for my SAS. Need help...

[MidnightRebel07]

Like it say's, I'm shopping around for gears, rebuild kits, possibly axles shafts, lockers, etc... for my SAS build.

I'm building up a front Dana 44 from 1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (stock 3.92's I believe I haven't pulled the cover and counted the teeth yet)and the Ford 8.8 from my 2003 Explorer Sport Trac (stock 4.10's with LSD).

I'm looking to get 4.88 gears to match my 35's I'll be running (possibly going upto 36's later). Where is a good place to get the gear set from and do I need to get a different carrier to run 4.88 for either the 44 or 8.8?

I'd like to add an ARB air locker to the front at a later time, not sure if I need to take that into consideration for parts I get now so that I can reuse them later.

I've looked at a bunch of threads but couldn't find any clear answers. Any help, info, links would be awesome. I'm making a run to Summit Racing on saturday with my buddy to get parts for his 1970 Pontiac Lemans so if they have the parts I could use for the right price that would be a bonus.

I know it's my turn to sound like a newb but gears, diffs, etc... are kinda new to me, I know how they work just not the ins and outs on them when it comes to swapping to bigger gears, etc... .

 

[Stic-o]

I went over to Pirate and asked 3 different vendors for a quote, then let them bid against each other

 

[turboexplorer]

Got all my stuff through Dirt Fab on Pirate.

 

[rookieshooter]

Need not to go any further then our own Vendor http://eastcoastgearsupply.com/
You could just drive there lol.
Used them on my D44 front and D70 rear. Will also use them for my upcoming D60 build. They will gladly help you with all your questions.
If in fact you have the 3.92 then the carrier you have will work with numerically lower gears.
The deck height from end of carrier (where carrier bearings go) to the deck surface which the ring gear bolts to has to be a certain distance. The carrier break is 3.73 down-3.92 and up. The 3.73 deck height is 2.090" from end of carrier to ring gear mounting plate vs. 2.410" for the 3.92. This has all to do with the width of the gears.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Where do you guys post on pirate? I've looked in the fab and ford section and haven't seen anyone from here? I'm not signed up over there yet but will when I get home.

 

[rookieshooter]

Your welcome

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Thank you. I looked at the site vendor and I guess I'm gonna need to tear the diff cover off to count teeth and splines before I order parts. Lol. Thanks again for the help. More questions to come. Rookie, was there a reason why you went square tubing over round for the exxo on your rig?

 

[rookieshooter]

Thank you. I looked at the site vendor and I guess I'm gonna need to tear the diff cover off to count teeth and splines before I order parts. Lol. Thanks again for the help. More questions to come. Rookie, was there a reason why you went square tubing over round for the exxo on your rig?

One reason I'd have to drive 40 miles on way to use my friends bender. The other is that I thought the square features of the tubing follows the more or less square features of the built fenders. Plus I could hold the exo tight to the corners where the round would take up a larger radius to make the turns. Now if the body was more rounded then yes the exo would have been round. But It's strange, some people say round would have looked better but most agree after I tell them my reasoning that the square does look good. Plus to get the same strength out of round tubing I would have to go to a larger diameter tube.

Here's what I'm talking about that the sq. tubing flowing with the sq. fenders. Note how tight I held the tubing to the fender. I could not have done that with round.

Also when I'm doing trails with the fenders off the exo matches my inner sq. tubing.
With all this said I have done a lot of fabbing with the round. It just comes down to preference. Plus sq, is just so cheap lol.
Good luck with what ever you use, it's your build. One other thing, of all the shows that this has been in which some have been judged by expert rock crawlers, not one ever mentioned why the sq.
Just added: A lot of bad press I've seen about sq. tubing is because of their workmanship. Instead of all mitered corners they just butt welded on sq to the other.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Is there a way to count the splines on the axles without completely removing them? I'm pretty sure I can count the teeth on the ring ang pinion just by removing the diff cover. Any helpful hints, tips?

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Went and popped off the diff cover today and was amazed at the condition of the everything inside, it was mint. It has the 3.92 and up carrier, I couldn't count the splines on the inner axle haft or the teeth on the pinion because I left the fluid in it and didn't do a full teardown yet. Hopefully if the weather ever decides it's actually spring I can teardown the axle and start building it.