Upgraded: 3.55 to 4.56

[ExplorerDMB]

Well - today after work (5) me and another mechanic went to work on the 8.8" in my '00 XLT stock with a 3.55:1. I recently purchased a Ford Racing Limited Slip and installed Richmond Gears 4.56:1 ring and pinion onto that carrier. It was a labor intensive job. We didn't really get into the differential til about 5:30 and then we ripped out the old carrier and gears and took a look at all the shims. I purchased a pinion spacer that takes place of the crush sleeve (so if you set the preload too tight, it wont crush the sleeve more and will be ruined). Anyway, everything went fine until we got to the axles...when we put the axles in - the S-spring made it hard to tell if the c-clips would fit or not. But we pulled the spring out a little and the clips went on fine. Then a big problem hit. The new ring gear is wider than the stock gear, and so the pin on the carrier wouldn't slide in because it was hitting the gear teeth by a little. So - instead of breaking it down and re-doing everything with the open rear - we grinded down on the inside of the tooth and it finally slide in. It looks like it'll be fine and work out okay. That was about all for the install. Just the shims were the hard part of coarse. But we finished around 9:30 and then we took a test drive. There is a little bit of a whine on decel. and coasting - so we are going to let it break in and see where we are in the future. I remember reading somewhere about the ABS ring not fitting or something - but it fit fine on my carrier. We added Motorcrafts Additive Friction Modifier into the gear lube.

On the test drive, You can't tell a whole lot on just acceleration, but I have yet to take it up a hill (where I had trouble) since I didn't get home til arond 10. So I am excited to see how it performs and I want to see how the limited slip works offroad.


-Drew

ps - by the way, my front driveshaft is out - so I have to do some 2wheeling first ha. I didn't take pictures of the install, but if someone needs help with anything - I can try my best!

 

[TheRookie]

I hope you somehow throughly cleaned the whole pumpkin after you ground metal in it.

 

[CDW6212R]

What gear clearance did you set it up with?

 

[glfredrick]

For others that read - having to grind a tooth for the pin to clear is common in the larger ratios.

Sounds like you did OK on the install - but there shouldn't be much noise. You might have to re-check your pattern.

I'm gonna set my own up yet this week (I hope).

I also scored an ARB for the front from a Jeeper for $100... Yeah Baby

 

[410Fortune]

You are telling e you went from 3.55 to 4.56 and you didnt notice much difference in accelleration?

Are you sure you made a jump that big because you should feel the difference immediatley....

 

[ExplorerDMB]

You are telling e you went from 3.55 to 4.56 and you didnt notice much difference in accelleration?

Are you sure you made a jump that big because you should feel the difference immediatley....

On the tag it is stamped with a 3.55 and on the ring I believe it was on there. So I am for sure it was a 3.55! But I even checked the new gears and they are for sure a 4.56. I mean I feel a little more power, but I'm not sure yet. I still need to do a "real" test drive.

-Drew

 

[410Fortune]

Just because the ring gear says 4.56 on it does not mean it matched with the pinion gear has a final 4.56 ratio.
Meaning did you order a 4.56 gearset?

As soon as you idle in D or let the clutch out you should be able to tell the 3.55's are gone, thats a big jump in gears. An excellent upgrade, probably the best $ for $ performance upgrade you can make is gears....

 

[ExplorerDMB]

it was a 4.56 gear set from Richmond Gear. I dont have a standard trans - mine is AOD. Tonight I had more time to get use to it - it defilently pulls a little more, but the hills is where I noticed the biggest difference. Mine use to lug up those hills - now it feels that stock again and the engine runs nicer while going up a hill at a constant speed. Short straight up inclines are what I've done so far. The limited slip is real nice - cause it plants the power to the ground. I've defilently noticed that. I was able to peel off the line (but not long) about a rotation and a half. I did do a gear pattern when we put it in of coarse to see what it was doing - and it was wiping a little low (inside), but it finished before the tooth ended. So I mean the pattern is good, I do not know what else do with the whining if it doesn't go away in a few weeks.

-Drew

 

[glfredrick]

You might want to check out this online guide for installing gears.

It has a number of pictures of patterns and what to expect when they look like that...

http://www.ring-pinion.com/downloads/yukoninstman.pdf

You will need Adobe PDF reader - you can get that free on the web if you don't already have it. Just do a search for Adobe Acrobat Reader and you'll find multiple download sites. It is a web standard.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

I went to that website and I looked at the patterns and the first one they show is what I have on the acceptable patterns. What could be causing the whining on decelleration and coasting? The LSD?

-Drew