Yesterday a friend of mine and I pulled the car apart, including the rear axle and drive shaft. My friend, Ralph, joked about converting the rear end to positraction and we both laughed. This morning I was thinking about it and was curious, is it worth it to convert? What are the advantages?
Unless you have a problem getting power to both wheels (ice, snow, mud, excessive one-wheel spin on launch) you don't need a limited slip differential.
A locking or limited slip differential is best suited for a car with more power than one tire can hold before losing traction. If you are experiencing the dreaded one wheel peel when you mash the go pedal and you would prefer to pull away fast instead of sitting in one spot roasting a tire, you may want to consider this option. ...And zorares, this is serious stuff. We don't laugh or joke around when it comes to rear axles,.
How serious is it? What did one axle say to the other when the car took off? "See you around". "and around.. and around". Sorry.. but you baited me just a tad too much there.
every vehicle I own has or I installed some type of locking differential. 04 F250 3.73 Trac-Loc = Tow vehicle 97 Mountaineer 3.73 Trac-Loc = wifes D/D 94 Thunderbird 3.73 Trac-Loc = My D/D 75 Maverick 3.80 Trac-Loc = My track/drive immaturely car The maverick I'm going to upgrade to a detroit locker soon. If your going to have it apart you might as well upgrade it.
1: What's a detroit locker? Is this a Yankee thing? 2: I was considering the exact thing. If I've got it all apart, might as well upgrade it. I just wasn't sure if it was worth the trouble.
OK Smarty! What is the FORD terminology? Remember, some of us here love our Mavericks but are a bit short on terms.
Thanks! A friend suggested a limited slip differential as the best compromise. Anyone upgraded on that path?
Its not a lot of trouble but it will probably cost you $500 or more by the time you're done. Good used limited slip differentials for an 8" rear end are hard to find and usually pretty expensive if you do find them. I bought a new Traction Lock unit off ebay and by the time I paid for new bearings, install kit, shipping and labor to set up the ring & pinnion I guess it cost $600-$700. You saw the advantages (other than the coolness factor.) Why do you need/want limited slip?
I don't know that I do. Right now I'm just worried about cleaning up the rust and stuff but since I plan on taking the axle apart anyways to replace seals and stuff, I was just curious if it was worth upgrading.
