good day,
new guy here.

i'm in the market for a 1997 or newer E150. i'm planning on setting the van up for an extended camping-/road trip.

i strongly prefer to find a van with an limited slip differential. all the vans i looked at so far did not have one.
now my question: how many vans (roughly in %) with a LSD are out there? anyone knows?

thanks a lot,
andreas

btw, if you know of any E150 with LSD for sale (days drive around denver/co), please let me know. my upper limit would be $7000

 

A LSD is something that can be installed easily by a reputable shop. Look for an offroad 4WD shop and give them a call for pricing. It may be easier to find the right van and then have a LSD installed.

 

thanks katoranger,
i hear you and i did look into that option. a limited slip can be had installed for around $1000 and a locking one can be had for $1500. i will go that route if i can't find a one with and LSD already installed.
if i find out that only a few had a LSD installed, i will give up looking for one and focus on a good deal.

 

FWIW, i installed a powertrax locker on my e350. they're among the simplest lockers to install, and you don't have to worry about setting up the ring and pinion or any other scary stuff. i'm a pretty confident mechanic, and had no trouble doing the job in my backyard.

 

thanks josh,
from what i hear, powertrax eats your tires. if i go with a locking diff, i think i go with the good ol' arb.

so what you guys think, how many LSD vans are out there?

 

Not many that I know of. But like the previous statement, it is cheap and fairly easy to go to an LSD. Shops around here charge about half of that to do it. That is a crazy price to me. I would say it gonna be easier and take less time to just get the van and do what upgrades you want.

Or! Just get a different axle from the junkyard with an LSD. Cost you maybe $100 for it and maybe another $150 at the most to have someone else install it. You can find out what rear ends have an LSD by decoding the tag on the axle.

 

I would say that very few vans have one from the factory. It may be more common in the Denver area though.

The ARB locker would be a nice setup. Retains the drivability of an open differential and you can just lock it when needed. Expensive though.

 

I would say that very few have a factory LSD. I bought a new 2002 E150 conversion (new old stock with open diff) in Feb or March, 2003, and for my birthday in April '03 my wife let me put in an Eaton Posi as a present. Cost about $550 including labor back then. It has always chattered a bit but it has gotten me thru a TON of crap Michigan weather. It got me thru my son's Boy Scout years, including rutted, snowy, and muddy campground roads, and in trips to the UP of Michigan, got me thru some CRAZY stuff... With the recent bigtime snow in Detroit, I have been delighted to have it.

In my prior life, I had an Auburn LS put in an '86 GMC G2500 that I bought in '88 (and drove for 9 years) when I changed the stupid 2.73 gear to a 3.42 (it had a 305 and a Turbo 350 and the axle ratio was idiotic). I actually drove that GMC on some Jeep trails and fire roads and it got me and my family thru a ton of bad weather as well. I remember a 200 mile drive on crazy snow and frozen rain with my late parents and my infant son, and I was really glad to have an LSD.

I'm an old hotrodder and the only disadvantage to an LSD is a sideways slip on glare ice and in fact, the residual ice on our driveway this morning had my van slide just a *bit* toward the house--enough to make me stop and throw down a load of salt. I would avoid a lunchbox or Detroit Locker because they are more abrupt than an LSD and could cause some crazy stuff on glare ice with a crowned road...

When I had the one put into my current E150, the shop could get the Eaton Posi (same as on my long-gone Corvettes and Olds 442) at only a couple bucks more than the Ford Traction Lock diff, so I went with the Eaton. They seem to be fussy about not using syn lubes, and like I said, I've always gotten a bit of chatter when a wheel is busted loose, but that lets me know the unit is working.

If you are looking for a used van, I would focus more on one with a clean body and solid engine/trans, as well as a good maintenance history, and then put in the LSD of your choice. It will probably be cheaper in the long run than seeking out a van with a factory LSD.

Good luck, and I am completely with you on a LS axle in a big van. It will get thru a LOT of stuff (if you can fit the huge box in between the trees) and bad weather.

And welcome to the forum. You will find a number of very generous contributors here with a TON of experience.

George

 

thanks Joker,
the junkyard action would be on my list as well. got the axle codes somewhere.

thanks George,
i now will do as advised and just look for a van in great condition. if it has a LSD already great, if not, i will find a way to get a nice locker in

 

You aren't going to find a junkyard axle for $100 and sure as hell are not going to find somebody to swap the entire axle assembly for $150

 

Agreed on the junkyard axle. A limited slip unit can wear out and get flaky over 100k or more miles although the Ford units are rebuildable--but that is $$$ too, and on a used axle, you are also dealing with used brakes (unless you move yours over), used ring and pinion (which will generally be OK) and maybe some bearing or seal issues. An axle that's had a pinion seal or rear cover leak for a long time could have been run with inadequate lube, etc.

Again, I've had LS units put into 2 vans (my GMC which I kept over 100k miles, and my E150 has 117k on it and it's staying indefinitely). An LS unit is an expense, but I have justified it by driving mine for over 100k miles each. And my GMC needed regearing as well so I was already paying the labor (forgot to mention but it was a Turtle Top camper conversion, so it was a killer travel vehicle).

Again, I don't think you want a full locker unless you get an on/off air locker kind of unit which sounds appealing, but in normal driving, I'd rather just have a good LSD. I liked my Auburn a lot and the Eaton in my van is the same Posi unit I used to have in my Vettes and GM musclecars back in the day. And Eaton owns the official "Posi/Positraction" brand name, which is cool--us old guys called every LS axle a "Posi" just like we call a tissue a Kleenex

George

 

You must live in crapville. Lol. That is how much junkyard axles are here. As well as the labor cost for a shop to put it in. Mom and Pop suspension shops are the way to go here. I can pick up an axle from the junkyard for between 80-120 bucks.

As for that, who says take the axle straight up and stick it on there? Lol. I always either swap in known good brakes or put new on. And ALWAYS check the guts out. If it looks worn, you can get a good priced rebuild kit on RockAuto and have it done in a day or two. All for under $700. Unless you want to upgrade the guts. Then the price may go up.

I spend my spare time picking up parts like this at the junkyard, rebuilding them, and selling them. Good money to be made because the parts are cheap and I do the labor myself. I have an 8.8 axle downstairs right now I am building for my Ranger build. I only have about $500 dumped in it and I have all the parts I need minus the brake setup.

 

I am confused by your logic. You are talking about $500-700 investments in used axles doing your own labor, and not including the price of installation. Having a limited slip installed into the existing axle would cost less than that and would not require dancing around with junk parts, taking apart brakes. Finding a used E150 axle with a LS in it and the right gear ratio is a "needle in a haystack" proposition in my opinion.

Certainly the existing axle in an older van might need brakes or something, but your way of doing it sounds like a $1000 project up front if someone else is doing the labor...which means you have to spend MORE money and do more work searching, etc. to save money?

Your math doesn't seem to work in the slightest unless the OP does his own work (which he may be able to do). Not everyone is a Sanford and Son hobbyist like you with "spare time" to spend sifting thru garbage in junkyards and moving rusty and greasy junk around.

George

 

Just did a quick check of Amazon for LS diffs and here's an OEM Ford unit for $250....sounds like a fine deal to me. (My van has 31 spline axles and I would assume this is the standard instead of 28 splines.)


I'm thinking installation would run a couple hundred bucks.

Good luck,
George

 

"Tis is easier to advise in writing than actually doing the work! Hell I'm a genius in writing about things---the doing though not so much!