Off Road Performance of the Trac

[gguerra]

I just bought an 03' Trac 4x4. manual tranny.. I bought it for it's look and functionality but how is it off road?? I am not interested in rock climbing or anything extreme, just occasionally use it on the beach or in the mud.. I know you are all going to say.. just try it and see, but I would like to get other people's opinions.. It's still stock and I'm not sure I would even consider lifting it or installing bigger tires.. Suspension Lift kits still run close to ($2000). It's going to be 95% on road and 5% off road.. but I would like good traction in the soft stuff..

 

[John_Rock]

#1 rule to offroading - Don't go alone! Always offroad with another 4x4 vehicle. So that you can help each other out when you get stuck.

If you offroad in stock form you will probably get stuck.

Stock 4x4 is really 2wd. One wheel in the front gets power and one wheel in the rear gets power. A limited slip rear doesn't always work and will eventually wear out.

It would be good to invest in the Power Trax No-Slip locker for your rear differential.

You can still lift your truck and put bigger tires and not spend too much. Get a 3" body lift and some bigger tires.

You need clearance. You will get high centered in the stock Sport Trac.

Good luck in your decisions and happy wheeling occasionally.

 

[gguerra]

Thanks for the reply.. I am well familiar with limited slip differentials and their downfalls. I've owned several 4x4 vehicles dating back to the late 70's including a K5 blazer (terrible slip), a 1980 Scout (pretty damn good) and a 1984 straight axle toyota pickup (the best I've had yet). I bought the trac as a daily driver and as I mentioned I will not be doing any rock climbing.. The terrain where I live doesnt anywhere resemble the pics of big bend national park I saw in your post. Oh and by the way I went to Big Bend in my scout in 1980 when I first bought it brand new. It did great. The off roading in my area will all be on flat land... beach and some mud in the ranch country.. I live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, (no mountains or hills).. I frequent South Padre Island which is about an 60 miles from my home. They dont ley you go on the dunes any more as it is all protected by the environmentalists. I am interested in the Power Trax you mentioned.. Where can I get a good price and which should I get.. I dont even know what type of differential I have?? How's the installation, i'm not a mechanic so I will have to hire someone to install it.. As for the lift does the body lift adversely affect handling at high speeds (70 mph) since it changes the center of gravity of the vehicle.. I've always done suspension lifts on my vehicles and have never done a body lift.

 

[JohnnyO]

A limited-slip is okay for mild off-roading. More than that and a locker is much better. A Powertrax No-Slip is great and smooth on the street for a locker (so I'm told). A Detroit True Trac is also good, it's a limited-slip but uses gears instead of clutches. Not quite a locker but probably the best L/S out there. Essentially it's the same thing as the Torsen diff that comes in FX4 Level II Rangers. Sport Tracs have a 8.8" 31 spline rear.
I don't like bodylifts personally, although on a Trac it's cheaper than the only decent and reasonable suspension lift, the Superlift 4" kit for about $1800.
Only thing, with the long wheelbase you've got to watch the breakovers. I don't off-road a lot these days, work got busy and the Wellsville, OH off-road park is mostly closed now, but I did buy the fuel tank skidplate from Ford Accessories and I highly recommend it.

 

[chad551]

I just went off roading for the 1st time this weekend, and I can officially say I am HOOKED!!!!! I had a blast and the ST did more than I gave it credit for. Mine is not stock, I have the Superlift 4" lift and with shackles and a torsion twist. I also removed my front sway bar. My ST has the 4:10 gears is that still a L/S? And would I be better off putting the Power-Trax unit in? I am very new to this, so any recommendations would be appreciatted.

I am also thinking about a skid plate for the gas tank, and possibly a winch.

 

[JohnnyO]

My ST has the 4:10 gears is that still a L/S?

It depends. You have to check the axle tag unless you have the original window sticker. Limited-slip was an option...some are, some aren't.
If you're going to off-road a lot, then I'd get the Powertrax. Not a lot, then I'd get a Detroit True Trac.

 

[chad551]

It has the 4.10 option. So what is the difference between the Powertrax and the Detroit? I dont want my wheels screeching when making a turn.

 

[John_Rock]

There's an axle code on your driver's door sticker. You can get the code and do a search here to find out if you have the 4.10's with L/S or just 4.10's Open.

Power Trax has two models of their lunchbox locker. No-Slip and LockRight. I have the LockRights because its cheaper and I had open differentials. I don't care about chirping tires. The No-Slip model is what you want if you want better street manners and it's the only one that works with an L/S differential.

The Detroit Ez-Locker and the Aussie Locker are clones of the Powertrax LockRight. These are all called lunchbox lockers as they replace the spider gears inside of the carrier.

The Tractech Detroit Truetrac is a gear driven limited slip and replaces the carrier. It would have good street manners for a daily driver.

The Tractech Detroit Locker is an automatic locker that replaces the carrier. It would have rude manners on the street with a daily driver.

 

[chad551]

Thanks for the input. Now I need to get some of these parts as I am now addicted to the offroad action now!!

 

[gguerra]

hey chad551,

maybe slightly off topic but how is the clearance on the 33's with the 4" lift??

 

[chad551]

Great! I also have an extra 1.5" with my torsion bars cranked up a little.

 

[gguerra]

Did the bigger tires affect your gearing and I assume it did affect your speedo.. Are the 4.10's the right gears for the bigger tires.. It's been my experience that with 33's and 35's lower gears (4.56 or 4.88's) provide the extra torque and correct the speedometer issues. .. I'm new to ford so correct me if I'm wrong..

 

[John_Rock]

The Sport Trac can do ok with the 4.10 gears and bigger tires. But I'm sure you would be happier with the higher ratio gears.