My 92 f250 keeps almost getting stuck after a mild rain where it is parked, and I usually have about 1000 lbs in my bed between my dump bed insert and the stuff in it! You think that would help... It gets super rainy here in the winter. I'm worried about next winter it getting stuck. I'm looking to either buy a 4wd or just upgrade my open diff to something to help the traction. To clarify, this truck is an open diff 4x2. I dont go off roading or anything, this is just in wet or muddy grass. So, I have a few things that don't help, I currently run highway tires for gas mileage and I tow a small 4X7 trailer. I'm thinking of putting all terrains on the back tires and putting in a limited slip, but I've heard they can be useless. So, what should I do?

 

Anyone have any ideas? Someone with a limited slip or lockers that used to have an open differential, even someone with 4wd. Some information would be helpful as I'm sure even you 4wd guys have used 2wd in muddy grass and know its limitations. Thanks in advance.

 

If your getting stuck in the grass , tires , something with more agressive tread for the winter , you could put them on different rims so there easy to change , i would put a LS in it.....

 

Your on the right track with upgrading your tires to something with a more aggressive tread than a highway tire. A limited slip would also be useful, the point they aren't useful is when you get a tire hung up off the ground... which I'm pretty sure won't be an issue for you. The nice thing is you can go to the JY and see what they have for a ls rear... the u-pull-it here charges $75-100 for a rear end, plus you can upgrade your gearing at the same time if you wish. Another thought is to swap in a t-case for 2 lo, which will let you "crawl" out of some sticky situations.

 

i have limited slip in my k10, and it helps when i cant get traction instead of me having to get out and lock the front hubs to get unstuck (unlike open dif) limited slip would probably be your best bet, because ive heard lockers arent that good for mpgs. i get pretty good mpgs in my 86 k10, with a 350, headers, big carb, and 2.88 or 2.78 gears.
and the tires will definitely help as well.

 

Ok, but I've read on these forums that the factory limited slips are pretty much worthless, unless you add shims or an extra disc, plus you need to tweak with the friction modifier. So, should I find a cheap factory ford limited slip or go with an aftermarket model, if so, which one? Also, do you guys think that with a limited slip and some all terrains that I would be able to pull shrubs with this truck? I use my 4wd rig for this because this truck has no traction period. Usually when Im pulling shrubs, I do it with a long chain and I have the truck on cement. Thanks.

 

They're not worthless... simply put, they wear out. The clutches in the ls is like a clutch disk and they will wear out in time. My buddy has a D60 rear end with a factory ls in it and he can give one hell of a mud shower. Also keep in mind, an aftermarket ls is going to need to be set-up, if you don't know how to this, it's going to cost you more coin on top of the initial cost of buying it. For what you're planning on doing with it (you're not drag racing, not off roading) go for a factory one. You'll be in it for the cost of the axle, fluid change, friction modifier, u-joint, and u-bolts if you shop smart.

As for pulling shurbs, still doubt you'll do it with the 2wd truck with the upgrades. Using one of my 4x4s, I pulled my buddies crew up onto his drive in 4wd. When I got up to drive myself, I thought I'd be able to continue in 2wd... negatory, had to stay in 4hi.

 

Put in a detroit tru trac , no clutches to wear out ....

 

But what's the point? I dunno how much money the OP wants to put into his truck. You're looking at $550 +/- for a Truetrac and if he doesn't know how to set-up his own rear end add more on top. At that point you could of bought two new tires for the rear and picked up a posi axle... Maybe I'm just frugal, I dunno. I just don't see the point in tossing that much coin at something that doesn't see much abuse.

 

Depends what the OP wants , just giving him some options , put it in and forget about it....

 

I used to have an open diff in my F150. LS was not an opotion I considered.
I went with a LockRight locker. Time to install was 1 1/2 hours, wheels on the ground to wheels on the ground. This was a Ford 8.8 inch that required a bit more work. As soon as I realized that the occasional clunk when turning was normal, I knew this was it.
I'll be putting one in my DANA 80 in a few weeks and will post again then.
So, my vote is for the LockRight.

 

Will the 8.8 in an 88 F150 have a 28 or 31 spline shaft?

 

you diff will be a 31 spline. Id go with tires FIRST. They make a night and day difference. If its still not enough traction for you, then find a trac loc and throw that in there. You can rebuild it yourself with extra clutches if you wish, its easy and cheap.

 

I would add that you need to get new tires before looking at limited slip diffs. While my truck is 4x4, I can usually navigate everything but deep snow and mud in 2wd and I have a fairly "conservative" set of all-terrain tires (Firestone Transforce AT). I'm not sure what my old boss had for tires on his 88 F250, but we could drive through anything my truck could manage in 4x4 because of the 3-4000 lbs of tools in the bed, but I would think with the weight of the dump bed, you should have good results from a set of better tires.

 

Well, I might be willing to put some dough into the truck. If it saves me from having to buy a 4wd rig, I will do it. The gas mileage cost for 4wd, maintenance, and just more stuff to break adds up. My trucks are all used for my gardening business, so these see a lot of mileage and use. I do NOT know how to set up my own rear end. I got raped by Aamco once and had them rebuild my whole rear end in my 95' mustang. Long long long story short, it was over 2100 dollars, but it was a bulletproof 8.8 build... clutchless detroit? locker, 33 spline moser axles, heavy duty 3.73 gears, etc... But, I could have gone with a completely fabbed aftermarket axle or a 9 inch and been in it for less than that. Theres a few shops Ive talked to who would have done that work for almost half of what I paid. Not making that mistake again! So, there's a vote each for a Lockright and a Trutrac I think, and 3 votes or so for a factory LSD,... A T-Lok is fords lsd, right? I should have done a poll on this thread... Wish I could start one now...Oh well. So, am I understanding that I can just throw a ford LSD in the rear end without needing to re-set up the gears? I'm seeing people saying about swapping the whole axle, isn't that a bit excessive? If I dont have to re-set up the gears, I think just replacing the carrier would be fine. But, if not, I would definitely swap in a disc brake axle, the brakes on this truck SUCK! I think I would rather put in a LSD and the all terrains to replace my firestone transforce HT's, I have all terrain Michelins on my 4wd and if I didnt have 4wd, I would have gotten stuck in the same spots as my 2wd...its a little easier, but my other truck has to pull a small trailer too. So, I definitely need something more than tires, if I went with knobbies it would be ok, but gas mileage would murder me. My fuel bill is 1000$ a month for my two trucks and my wifes car as it is.