Gears and Lockers
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Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 855
Likes: 40
From: SoCal
Gears and Lockers
Well I'm pulling the trigger this morning on putting 4:56 gears and ARB lockers in the Ex. I'll be installing a D60 up front and a D70 in the rear. Chromoly axles all around and Spyntec hubs. When the dust clears she'll be on ridding on 37's. Custom Axle Design in Miss. will be building the axles.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 855
Likes: 40
From: SoCal
Building from scratch. We discussed a D80 for the rear, but that was just to much. Still overkill with the D70. I remember having a D70 in my 1980 F350 SRW and towing with it for 20 yrs with no problems. I believe it never hurts to have a little headroom/overkill on a tow rig. I don't know if I answered your questions Pirate.
Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 8,259
Likes: 346
From: Northern California
I consider the D70 to be equivalent to the sterling 10.5 in strength just easier to get parts for, especially aftermarket stuff like lockers and shafts
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Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 855
Likes: 40
From: SoCal
I had a hub go bad once on my OBS F250 sterling , and it was a nose bleed getting a replacement.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 112
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From: Raleigh, NC
Curious how much you tow to warrant the upgrade.
as a former off-roader I know that shock loading the drivetrain is what kills axles and other parts. You can break any axle combo if you try hard enough but can also get by with d30 if you are careful
as a former off-roader I know that shock loading the drivetrain is what kills axles and other parts. You can break any axle combo if you try hard enough but can also get by with d30 if you are careful
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Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 855
Likes: 40
From: SoCal
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 855
Likes: 40
From: SoCal
My Ex has 4:30 with LS currently. I test drove an Ex with 3:73s before getting the 4:30 equipped one, and difference was substantial. By the time I mount 37s I probably won't notice the difference between 4:30 and 4:56 gears.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Oct 2012
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We plan on keeping the stock tire size and ride height, but will be spending quite a bit of time with my 9000lb camper in tow. Plan on heading out west and into the mountains etc. Thought with the weight, elevation and grades the steeper 4.56 gears would be the way to go.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,293
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I did a full axle swap in mine to move from 3.73 to 4.30 and at the time I had 285 70 17 tires and it drove like a completely different vehicle. So much so that I almost didn't make the jump up to 315 70 17. But I did. With the taller tires it negated most of the gains from the gears but it bumped it up to an effective ratio of around 3.90 which is still better than 3.73 but not by much. With stock size tires and 4.30 from my experience there would not be a need to go deeper than that.