Rear differential swap. What will work for 04 sport trac 4.10 gears? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Rear differential swap. What will work for 04 sport trac 4.10 gears?

Dezmond

New Member
Joined
January 20, 2020
Messages
7
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Location
Canada
City, State
BC
Year, Model & Trim Level
2004 Sport Trac XLT
Well, I heard a loud clunking noise/binding feeling coming from the differential while turning at slow speed. This happens after a short cruise up the mountain one night. After some research I was hoping it was just the clutch packs and changing the fluid might help. Well after popping the cover to take a look I see the spider & side gears are seriously eaten up, large metal pieces everywhere... So I'm thinking it would be alot more cost efficient to find a used unit than rebuild. what will work?

Thanks!
 



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Does your 04 trac have drums or discs? BY 05 they were all discs but in 04 some were still drums

A regular explorer axle will bolt in, any 95-01 Explorer will have a 31 spline disc brake rear axle, the trick for you will be to find one with 4.10 gears....they are out there, just not as common as the 3.73 axles
 






Does your 04 trac have drums or discs? BY 05 they were all discs but in 04 some were still drums

A regular explorer axle will bolt in, any 95-01 Explorer will have a 31 spline disc brake rear axle, the trick for you will be to find one with 4.10 gears....they are out there, just not as common as the 3.73 axles
Thanks 410, i have the disc thank goodness. I'm on the hunt now. Gonna try and find an open diff and throw in a lunchbox locka. seems the posi clutches is what failed me in this instance.. or maybe the 35" tires paired with a little to much skinny peddle im not sure LOL!
 






You might look into just having your axle freshly geared? By the time you find a 4.10 donor (usually $450-600 on Craigslist or $150+ in the junk yard) and add locker, new brakes, fluids you are going to be up there in $$$$ invested. Worth asking some local shops what a simple new R&P, bearings and locker install would cost.
 






Try to find a 99-01 Explorer with 4WD and the V6, most of the 4WD SOHC's had 4.10 gears. Changing the whole rear given the metal debris is smart. The pinion gear and all bearings are likely in need of replacement. Usually the gears are okay, and it's not hard to change just the axle bearings and clutches etc. I do all of that for any new used Ford I buy, the axles and their bearings are the weakest link if the fluid is maintained well(full and high quality).

My newest 98 needs that servicing, I've been too busy to get to it. I am worried about the bearings and gears, this truck hasn't had the greatest care before me.
 






You might look into just having your axle freshly geared? By the time you find a 4.10 donor (usually $450-600 on Craigslist or $150+ in the junk yard) and add locker, new brakes, fluids you are going to be up there in $$$$ invested. Worth asking some local shops what a simple new R&P, bearings and locker install would cost.
Ill call a shop and see what they think. I'm hoping to find a cheep unit, throw in as it is my daily and im stuck driving my wifes crown vic PI until its fixed.
 






Try to find a 99-01 Explorer with 4WD and the V6, most of the 4WD SOHC's had 4.10 gears. Changing the whole rear given the metal debris is smart. The pinion gear and all bearings are likely in need of replacement. Usually the gears are okay, and it's not hard to change just the axle bearings and clutches etc. I do all of that for any new used Ford I buy, the axles and their bearings are the weakest link if the fluid is maintained well(full and high quality).

My newest 98 needs that servicing, I've been too busy to get to it. I am worried about the bearings and gears, this truck hasn't had the greatest care before me.
Thank you for the reply CDW, appreciate the information!
 






That will be the key, finding a good cheap 4.10 axle
Explorer sports and sport tracs often had 4.10, some 98-01 4.0 SOHC trucks also had 4.10 ratio axles
Just have to shop around!
If I get a good low mile 4.10 axle I usually sell them for $400-600 on CL, Jeep dudes are all over these things like white on rice
 






Ditto, the rear discs and decent gears are popular and fit a lot of modified 4WD's. When I reconstructed my 99 that had been rolled, it had two bent axles. I bought a used rear for $150 to get the axles. I could have done more labor and only left with just axles, but I figured the rear and disc brakes were worth some storage space. Think that through carefully, most of us don't have enough space. We scrap plenty of good parts.
 






I swapped a complete rear diff from an 1999 Explorer 4 door V6 that had 4:10 gears into my 2001 Sport Trac. I had rear drum brakes and the 4 door Expl had rear disc brakes. I kept the drums (I have no issue with having rear drums). It was a direct swap. Easy.
 






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