REAR LOCKER ONLY

[BlueDogBandit]

Ok, hear is the deal. I am having 4.10 put in my ride. I drive this truck on the street a most of the time, but still want it to perform off. I also drive many highway miles in rain, snow, and ice. (San Diego to Montana trips). I AM NOT goining to spend the money on an ARB and have the problems that everyone else is. This is what I am going to do. I am going with a limited slip locker in the rear only, nothing up front. Now, which one to go with. The Loc-Rite is the cheapest, but I've heard bad things about durability. I only want to do this once. I have a buddy at a race car fab shop doing a trade for the install, and he is going to order the parts at his price. He know's everything about race cars, but not 4x4's. Which limited slip locker is the best, for street and dirt?

 

[F'in Bob]

Auburns are good...

BlueDogBandit, I've had an Auburn limited slip installed in my 89 5.0 stang and it was awesome. I've read about some guys using them on the explorere with good sucess. I would suggest doing a search on "Auburn".

 

[RangerX]

Hey Blaine, I have an Auburn too, and love it. Do a search, there was a thread a while back about them.
BTW, there are lockers, and there are limited slips, but there are no limiterd slip lockers. Auburn is a limited slip. LockRight is a locker. If you want balanced all around performance, get an Auburn. Not quite as good offroad as a locker, but better for winter driving. Also, I suggest a TracLoc for the front, since you're in there anyway for the gear change. They are real inexpensive, and give you balanced traction offroad.

 

[BlueDogBandit]

Thanx Ranger Man!

Well, good thing my mom dropped me off at the bus stop....because YOU TOOK ME TOO SCHOOL. Any way, thanx for the help. Yea, my race car fab guy got real excited when I mentioned the Auburn. That is the install he does most of the time, and loves it. Hey, how does Trac-Loc work. What is it. Is it a locker, a fancy diff, or what. BE MY TEAÇHER! Also, do you know what a Eliminator C-clip kit is? I'm not sure, but my guy said to suggested to stay away from them. Another question? What else should I do to build up these axels when I'm in there? I'm having a problem right now, I think its in one of the front axel shafts. I have a terrible sqeak when I accelerate at low speeds. Sounds like a bike wheel that has been rusting for years then road. It may be in the drive shaft though, because it only does it like every half revolution. Squeak, squeak, squeak. And gets fast as I accerate. Help. I guess you'll be able to see it for your self in about a month.

 

[Tom Wilk]

I, too have an Auburn in the rear axle. It's great. I second everything RangerX said; great in the winter, pretty good off road. The thing has worked flawlessly for me.

At one time I thought I had a problem with my Auburn. After returning from Moab, I noticed some "clunking" noises in the rear which I had attributed to axle shaft end play. I actually thought that the Auburn had worn down to the point that I would have play back there. It turned out that the source of my noise was the wrong bolts that I had used in some aftermarket shackles. Metal has a strange way of transmitting noise. In this case, the noise sounded like it was coming from the axle itself, while it had actually come from the shackles.

I have 20000 miles on mine now, and it works as well as it did new. RangerX has several times that mileage on his and it works great as well.

The trac-loc is a limited slip differential similar to the type that Ford puts in back. It uses clutches to limit the amount of slip between the two wheels. For one wheel to turn faster than the other, it has to work against the clutch. This allows both wheels to offer some help in getting you moving. The Auburn works in a similar manner, but it has a much stronger and tighter clutch so that the wheel that has traction will help even more. Trac-loc clutch packs tend to wear out rather quickly, but they can be easily and cheaply rebuilt.

C-clips are what holds your axle shafts in. The rotating axle shafts insert into splined holes in the differential case so that they will turn with the case. In order to keep them from sliding back out, a C-shaped clip is slipped onto the end of each shaft (there's a groove on each shaft that the clip slides into). The clips are bigger around than the hole that the shaft goes through so that you can't pull them out. Try to find a Chilton's type of manual at the store or library. They should have a picture that shows how the pieces fit together. As far as the eliminator kits, I have no experience with them so I don't know how well they work.

The noise in your front end may be a bad hub. I'd have that checked out as well. Are they auto hubs? Those are known to be less durable than the manual ones.

 

[BlueDogBandit]

Thanks again

The help is appreciated. I think I'm just going to go with the Aurburn in the back for now. It's going to be expensive enough. Then, after Ranger X takes me out to the sand and rocks and schools me, maybe I'll have reason to go with the front set up. As for the noise, you are right, it could be a hub. They are the warn hubs, but I think they need replacing. They are about 3 years old, and have seen some heavy miles at high 4x4 speeds. The front left has a problem catching, and sometimes makes a binding noise once engaged. The sound actually sounds like its from the passenger side, but you know how hard it is to pin point a noise that only occurs under accelleration and weight. It won't do it sitting on jack stands. Does Warn have a warrantee on there hubs? Also, do you guys suggest me replacing my axle shafts when I do this job? If I do the gears and the rear diff, I want to build everyting else up while I'm in there.

 

[Kampy]

You shouldn't need new axles but make sure you put in new u-joints and as long as its that far apart I'd take the knuckles off it and replace all four ball joints. Unless of course they're fairly new.

 

[tdavis]

Manual hubs have a lifetime warranty from Warn.

Call them and get them replaced.

As for an Auburn, I'm considering taking mine out, and replacing it with a detroit in the next month. I'll put it up for sale here when that's done..