droping your body on a 4X4 frame would be possible too. how do u get stuck on wet grass? ive mudded my 2 wheel job and i never get stuck

 

A slight elevation is what really does it. It's actully pretty pathetic to watch. So long at it's not wet and muddy grass, I can put a few hundred pounds of people in the back and get out. But if there is mud, it's over. The only thing I can really do is try not to initiate the 1st spinn. As soon as the wheels slip once I have to start planning the best path off the grass.

I used to do a lot of craft shows. I'd drive onto a fairgound type field, un-load, and drive off...that's when the problems start.

The worst I ever got stuck was on a slight grade at the bottom of a hill on wet grass. No mud. The grond was actully pretty firm. Some dude in a 3/4 ton dodge 4x4 pulled me out and was sure to mention that he didn't even put it in 4wd.

My tires are 235/75 R15. Some one mentioned that I may due better goning to a narrower tire.

Thanks

 

What tires do you have and do you carry weight?

 

I upgraded to a Traction Lock about 2 years ago. I got it on ebay for $150 new in the Ford box. If I could do it again I would have spent the extra money on an Eaton. If you've got some miles on the rear end it is a good idea to replace all the bearings and seals while it's apart. I replaced the gears while I had mine apart because they had about 180k miles on them.

I've never been much of a believer in adding weight to the back when it's slippery. It doesn't seem to help much in the first place, and I don't like the thought of compromising the steering and braking for the sake of a negligible increase in forward traction.

 

Have you tried starting out in second gear rather then first? The six makes a lot of torque even at idle and inspite of that high ratio may tend to break loose. The best rear wheel drive cars on snow were the old original Fordomatic and the cast iron Powerglide
both of which started in second gear in D. Also let the tire pressure down a few lbs.

 

ive got 30 inch all terrains. the key to not getting stuck is to keep moving, and if you do start off in 2nd, that helps. but i guess if you came to a complete stop on wet slippery grass it would be understandable. if that happend to me I'd dig in until i hit the dirt

 

id deffinetly second the tires thing. my dad has a 02 Che*y 1500 and it completly sucks in any kind of sittuation weight or no weight. we got some new tires with a more aggressive on road tread and put a 5.2 liter dodge engine and tranny combo in the back for weight and it does awsome in the snow now.

 

Silver Streak,
How do you like the track lock? In previous responses to my post, people have commented that the rear end is much more likely to get away from you if both wheels spinn. The one thing that I do like about my open diff is that the truck stays linned up pretty good even when spinning. Have you ever spun it off the road in wet or snowy conditions.

Did you install the track lock your self? And if so, how difficult was it? (The most sophisticatred work that I have done was change water pumps and struts).

Thanks

 

The TL is good for everyday driving and it will not slip in most conditions. The reason I say I would have gone with the Eaton is because the TL slipped when I needed it the most. I was headed to my parents house for Christmas with about 8" of fresh snow on the dark country road to their house. A wheel got stuck in a rut under the snow and pulled the truck sideways. It ended up with one rear tire on a high spot. The wheel on the low spot spun and the tire on the high spot did nothing. An Eaton would have kept pulling with both tires. I finally got out, but it took about two hours of letting the truck idle in gear while I pushed. Sucked.

I have never spun it off the road in slick conditions. A limited slip really won't evenly power both wheels unless you are on the gas. If you are in a situation where a l/s will do more harm than good you probably shouldn't be on the road in the first place.

Yes, I did it myself. It take a couple hundred dollars worth of special tools to do the job, which is about what it should cost for installation. If you aren't going to do ring and pinion work frequently it's more cost effective to have a pro do it. It will not be cheap, but it will be right. To have it all professionally done you should expect to pay about $1000. That includes the diff, new gears, new bearings and seals, and the labor. In this case, you could save some money by shopping for a diff on your own.

 

Thanks for the insight. $1000 for the whole job was about that I expected. It beats the expense of going out and buying a 4wd vehicle. As you illuded to, I'll probably get re-geared to 3.5 while I'm in there. 3.08 seems a little high especially since I tow, haul weight, and have the largests recommened tires for the truck. Now alls I need is the permission to spend a grand on a truck that ain't broke...maybe I'll use the 'beats the price of a 4wd truck' angle.

Thanks

 

I thought you could swap to the trac-lok carrier without having to set up the R&P gear again, can't you just bolt the ring gear back on and it will set up at the same place?

 

The pinoin doesn't have to be touched. The carrier bearings need to have the oe shims
behind the bearing cones put on as removed and if the backlash and carrier bearing preload is ok it may be just a matter of bolting it in. Sometimes your lucky, if the
machinist's did their job.

 

9 times out of 10 if you just change the carrier and carrier bearings it goes back together with all the stock shims. However, if it's wrong when you put it back together you're up the creek. If the rear has some miles on it you are better off having everything changed because if you are reusing the gears they have to go back exactly like they came out. If you change everything and start from scratch that isn't the case.

 

Yes that may be the case, however it is alot more expense, and the average guy won't
get the setup correct. Ring and pinions if not run without lubricant are good for a lot
of miles. Even when a pinion or carrier bearing fails the gear set generally isn't hurt.