Hey guys! I am posting with some guys in the old ford truck links about putting a locker in the front diffie (Dana 44) of my 1976 f250 highboy. They suggested I get some info from the off road guru's. Any reason why I should not put one in?

BTW, this is NOT a daily driver. the only pavement it sees is to and from off-road sites. So, daily drives through town is not my concern. I want the best traction and mud-hole terrorizing rig I can build. Right now, I do have LS in the rear D60. But, I am not a big fan of selectable air/electronic lockers. (lets not start a debate about that please)

What do you recommend?

 

Full Spool the rear and put a Powr Lok up front.

 

i highly recommend (mainly from personal experience) to either weld front and rear or spool front and rear. then get drive flanges for the front instead of lockout hubs! your only fuse in the front axle then will be joints! easy enough to fix.

-cutts-

 

Fishy, If he breaks those joints, there is a good chance he'll take out an ear with it. That's why I suggested he spool the rear and Powr Lok the front. He could also get some superior axles up front, but that's some $$$$.

 

very true but i would be impressed if the 2.8L could break a joint!

-cutts-

 

What do you mean by spool front and rear?

 

Why a power lock and not a detroit?

 

The Powr Lok may be a ls, but it has a unique cross shaft that allows it to run 4 spider gears which is why it has a 2 piece case. The case is very strong as well which would be very difficult to break in a D44. I think it would have less wind up and be kinder on the stock axle shafts and 5-760x axle joints. While these are clutch ls, it is way above the trac lok a.k.a the crap lok. The down side would be hard core rock crawling, but I don't think a D44 in a big ol F250 could cope with that anyway.

Also, the Powr Lok case and side gears are stronger than the Detroit True Trac.
The Zexel Torsen would be another option and are supposedly stronger than the True Trac, but I've never ran one so I don't have exp with one. Those 2 ls are gear driven which I like, but the case and gears of the Powr Lok are hard to beat. With a spool in the rear, the rig would do quite well.

o.k Thats my nickle on the subject.

 

lock up front and rear full time....if it sees very little pavement that is!

-cutts-

 

If it's a serious offroad machine why not upgrade to a D60 front and then throw Detroits in front and rear? I pity the poor D44 that has to deal with a spool or a locker under a full size truck.

 

Now there's why D60s are are to come by cheap, Ivan keeps giving them away!!

 

D60 may not be cheap but calculate your expense when you start snapping axles in a 44 and then get stuck on the trail. If it were a mall crawler I wouldn't think much of it but since he's going to be using it strictly offroad it would be a worthwhile upgrade. Then all he needs is 4 link, etc.

 

well it all comes down to what size tires your going to run and how much you love pushing that go pedal to the floor. I was running 38.5x14.50 SX's on a hpD44 in a 78 bronco. I completely destroyed everything in that axle in over a years wheeling time. It was built. I had the diff welded up, warns and CTM's and 4.56 gears. I went thru 7 or 8 sets of warn hubs, toasted a complete bearing set, wasted a R&P set, snaped 2 warn stub shafts one which took out a spindle. I do alot of rock crawling. Now I have a D60 from a 78 F-350 snow fighter. I could not be happier, well I would be if I had a ARB in the front but for now it is locked from a Miller.

 

what about the detroit EZ Locker?

 

Like mr. RLH said, I've heard that the "Powr-lok" is hands down the best limited slip in existence. It will work great and be more forgiving than a Detroit. Those are very hard on parts. I will second the Powr-lok option.