V6 Differential, stay with 3.55 or go for 3.73?

[Explorer Junky]

Paying out of pocket. Waranty just expired 5 miles after I bought the car. I bought it just under the warranty's expiration, and when I got it home the warranty was dead. lol

I will tell you the same thing I told my Mommy when she insisted on taking her 10 year old car that had an expired warranty to the dealership!! Stop wiping your a** with your money!! Find a trusty local mom and pop shop. They will do what ever you want with YOUR car and YOUR money! My guy does not charge BOOK. I hate BOOK! if the BOOk says 2.5 hours,and it only takes 1.5 hours... they still charge you for the other hour!! Its like legal robbery! My guy strictly charges for his direct time. If it only takes 30 minutes he charge a minimum of 35 bucks. If he takes 2 hours, thats what he charges. Dealerships are a rip off unless you have a WARRANTY. But, hey, thats only my opinion. Unless of course you have $$$$ to throw around!!LMAO

 

[GreenEyez]

Would 3.73's struggle with 265/75/16's? I see a bunch of 3rd gens with 285's I think and from what I heard no one runs 4.10's in a 3rd gen front axle correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[NHarris]

Explorer Junky...
I don't have money to throw around, but I haven't had too good a result with a local shop. Most of the mom and pop auto servicing places have been torn down due to high economic development in the Ogden Area. I am stuck with 2 shops...SPS Tire and Service or Westland Ford. Both do an alright job, but Westland Ford has done some ****ty jobs on my explorers.

Greeneyez...
Thats about the tire size I also want to go on my X (lifted). I would think 3.73's wouldn't do too bad. Yes, a 4.10 or larger would do better, but I would think a 3.73 would do good.

 

[GreenEyez]

Yea I plan on going 265's with stock height with a planned lift in the future, If I have 3.55 gears though I might hold off till I regear, I'd love some 4.10's but I always thought the front was hard to regear if not impossible I forgot the explanation. On another note would 3.73 handle some 285's on 16's or is that above them and way into 4.10 league?

 

[NHarris]

--On 285's I would definately go for 4.10's or larger.
--When MillerTimeX17 gets back from his weekend in texas...send him a PM, and ask him what gearing his differentials have, (he's running 265's for tires) and how the drivetrain is handling those larger tires.

 

[Explorer Junky]

I have 3.73's on my AWD with the 5.0 and 31" tires. I need 4.10's. It shifts funky, and dogs because of the larger tires. That 5% in the RPM range can effect a lot of things with your truck. Shift points to name one. Mine shifts WAY too soon into second gear and when it does.. dog city! when I had the stock 28" tires, it didn't do that. Gas mileage can be effected also. Check Yukon's website. They usually carry gears for everything.

 

[NHarris]

Well I guess my best solution is just to send miller a pm, see what he's running.

 

[Explorer Junky]

Do you know what front dif you have??? Dana??? 35?? 44?? That could help also.

 

[NHarris]

I'll get back on that tomorrow. I'm going to be finishing up posting for tonight and will get back to you with that information tomorrow.

 

[NHarris]

Ok...so I'm not sure on what diff I have, did not look at that today. Too busy doing other things. So I probably will go with a 3.73, but I will see what others say with lifts on their X's.

 

[GreenEyez]

How do you find out what type of diff and what gears you have?

 

[NHarris]

Lol....good question. Should be on the tag, but I don't know. Go to your local ford store give em your vin and ask.

Or better yet...Do you have a ford class II or III hitch. The Class II's usually mean 3.55, Class III's usually mean 3.73.

 

[Explorer Junky]

Should be able to just CALL a dealership and ask for service and they can answer that over the phone. I am pretty sure that with a vehicle 5 years old, someone out there has an aftermarket set of gears in 4.10 for it. Just my opinion.

 

[NHarris]

Don't want to. I get put on hold for like eternal hold and have to hang up. I can almost guarantee my X has the 3.55

 

[GreenEyez]

Damn looks like I have 3.55's I 've got that tiny little hitch. Would it be a bad idea to have 265's on 3.55's?

 

[bstarz65]

I have a 97 xlt and its a dog with the 3.73s I have 31s on it wish I had the money for bigger gears

 

[Ronin8002]

Would 3.73's struggle with 265/75/16's? I see a bunch of 3rd gens with 285's I think and from what I heard no one runs 4.10's in a 3rd gen front axle correct me if I'm wrong.

According to what I have calculated 265/75/16's with 3.73's is very very close to having 255/45/16's (stock tire size on my truck) on 3.55's. So basically it would feel like stock driving.

For the rear axle only it's not going to be hard to regear to 4.10...any 8.8 gearset should work.

For the front, though...it's a dana super 30/185....from what I understand Dana 30 gears will work but you have to go from a crush collar setup to a preload shim setup. don't know of anyone that's actually done it yet.

Here's a link to a thread with a bit of info: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=282464

 

[JDraper]

Ummm..to the OP, is your vehicle 2WD or 4WD? I don't see any reference above to changing the gearing in both differentials if it's 4WD. If it's 4WD, you can't change one gearset without changing the other, you'll destroy the drivetrain.

If you already knew this, just ignore my post...:

 

[NHarris]

true on that. Thanks for pointing that out, I also completely forgot about that.