Has anyone had this happen?

[1987cp]

It has been proposed (I think by some comparative ignoramus like me), but not verified by anyone that I know of, that a 31-spline carrier could potentially work fine if 28-spline side gears could be obtained separately. However, obtaining said 28-spline side gears could prove hasslesome.

[gadget73]

yeah, usually if you've got 28 spline side gears out of a traction lock, you've got a traction lock so theres no point. Unless you happen to have a trashed traction lock thats unrepairable by normal methods, and you can pull the parts from it.

[wazzup242]

Does anyone know about a ranger rear end? There has been one sitting behind the dumpster for a while and i am pretty sure it is a tracloc. Or is that a 31 spline also? Just trying to find a cheap\free way to make it work lol. I could just put the 4.10 gears straight onto my carrier but then i am worried about traction problems seeing as the 2.73 gears can burn up the right rear tire from a stand still just putting the pedal down.

I am not sure if it is just the way these 5.0 are designed in the power band or if there may be something wrong with my car lol, but it has tons of power off the line and then not so much after that. But i am also used to higher revving engines like in my focus, has no power till about 3k and then pulls hard all the way to 7k. Although it seems like it handles a little better in the snow, i feel a lot safer driving around this boat in the winter lol. At least this thing can take a hit if i slide or something. Last winter i hit a decent sized pothole and blew out a tire and bent my rim beyond use. Sadly that rim and tire costed more than i payed for the merc BTW sorry to get off topic a little there

[1987cp]

Sounds like time to obtain a set of steelies for your Focus.

[andymac0035]

Does anyone know about a ranger rear end? There has been one sitting behind the dumpster for a while and i am pretty sure it is a tracloc. Or is that a 31 spline also?

If it's a tracloc and NOT a torsen (gear-driven) diff it is 28-spline.
I spent much time on the ranger forums back when I had a 2002 ranger FX4.
The 02' FX4 and 03+ FX4 level II's had a different rear end. It was claimed that it was actually a narrowed F-150 rear-end and heavier duty than a normal ranger 8.8. They were 31-spline and had a torsen diff in them. All other ranger 8.8's were said to be 28-spline.

I never really inspected mine closely, but I do know that the torsen-diffed rear-ends were highly sought after by ranger owners.

Hope this helps you.

[P72Ford]

Does anyone know of any vehicles this actually applies to? I want to know how this misconception started.

Its required on a 2 or more piece shaft (if you take it apart), I know.

My Dad's International 4700 has a 3 piece driveshaft (2 carrier bearings), and it is balanced with the shafts indexed to one another. On the truck, you have to remove the shaft in pieces; if you don't mark their alignment beforehand, theres a chance it will vibrate afterwards.

[wazzup242]

Sounds like time to obtain a set of steelies for your Focus.

But the merc is much more fun to drive... Focus cant do donuts in snow except in reverse. And parts are too expensive and somewhat cheaply made for that. A lower control arm for that is half as thick and double the price for one on the merc.

[wazzup242]

Its required on a 2 or more piece shaft (if you take it apart), I know.

My Dad's International 4700 has a 3 piece driveshaft (2 carrier bearings), and it is balanced with the shafts indexed to one another. On the truck, you have to remove the shaft in pieces; if you don't mark their alignment beforehand, theres a chance it will vibrate afterwards.

Also if the alignment of the u joints are off by anything it will not act right. Its hard to explain but i had to watch a video all about that when i was in school a while ago. They took the shaft apart and changed the position by one or two teeth then had a speedometer at each end, the side being driven by a motor was at a steady speed and the other would bounce up and down in speed.

[Lincolnmania]

i'm pretty sure rangers are 28 spline

[gadget73]

I am not sure if it is just the way these 5.0 are designed in the power band or if there may be something wrong with my car lol, but it has tons of power off the line and then not so much after that.

Sounds like its running fine. When it has no power anywhere, then theres a problem. Just keep in mind, 150 hp and 280 ft/lb of torque. The torque peak is something like 1800 rpm, so its all low rpm grunt, and just nothing beyond that.

[wazzup242]

Sounds like its running fine. When it has no power anywhere, then theres a problem. Just keep in mind, 150 hp and 280 ft/lb of torque. The torque peak is something like 1800 rpm, so its all low rpm grunt, and just nothing beyond that.

Wow, i knew about the 150hp part but i never realized it has that much torque. I was guessing somewhere around 180-200ft/lb

Hopefully this is settled, in the beginning of next year i am going to get a free set of 4.10s and if i do not find one somewhere i will probably just buy a t-lock from summit or something. What do you all suggest for bearings? I am sure ford still has bearings since they still use the 8.8 and i am sure it hasn't changed too much

[1987cp]

280 lb-ft is a lot? Not really. The weakness of the lowpo as a performance engine is that it makes very little torque for its size and does so at a laughably low RPM.

[gadget73]

The HO makes all of 300 ft/lb, and the stock police 351 makes 285 or 290 ft/lb so by comparison the 280 a lopo makes isn't so bad. The HO does it about 1500 rpm higher though. Thats kind of something to keep in mind with gearing though. Since the power runs out at such a low rpm, you want to be careful about getting too radical with gearing.

[andymac0035]

What is "ideal" (as in for a daily driver) gearing for a lopo anyways?

[pantera77]

My lopo seems quite happy with my 3.55's. Cruising at 60-70 it feels like it's perfectly in it's power band.