hey guys i was doing a search on the van and i saw a part in a review about a limited slip. so i looked it up and its got about 3 different ratios in limited slip. now ofcourse since im looking to make some decent power with this van im hoping to find one of these rear ends with a high ratio. does anyone know where i can find one? maybe ebay, but my browser wont let me go there right now so i dont know yet. thanks guys.

 

Yeah, I put a 4.10 limited slip setup in my '90 3.0 shorty. Seems to help alot on takeoff. You need to be certain whether you have the 7.5 ring gear or the 8.8 because they will not swap over. Im willing to bet urs is the 7.5 though. Got mine from a boneyard for like $10 but on ebay they will cost you as much as $100-$150.

 

Be aware that a higher ratio number just increases the mechanical advantage that the engine has against the weight of the car. It does not change the power of the engine (obviously). So it will help acceleration at low speeds, and it may even increase the top speed of the car, making it feel more powerful all around, but it isn't actually more powerful.

 

well the main reason is becuase the goofy right side burnout is getting embarrassing. but even off the line i can feel the right side lose traction really bad, i was just hoping to get a little better accell from it, i know it doesnt increase power. thats like saying my shiftknob makes 5hp, lol. thanks for the help, ill be on the lookout for one.

 

As far as I know there are lockers available for either aerostar rear diff. Some, like the lockright, are fairly simple to install. this would give you traction at both wheels equally in a straight line. They will unlock in corners, sometimes with pulse raising authority. But you can be guaranteed two nice patches of rubber and greater traction overall. I put a detroit locker in my bronco and went more places in 2 wheel drive than I could in 4 wheel drive prior! Just be warned, they are noisy when turning corners and can be unpredictable as to when they have enough tension on them to unlock. A short wheelbase vehicle can be very exciting/scary to drive if you're not used to it.
Anyway, if traction off the line is what you want, lock it! limited slip is great but eventually the clutches will wear out and you will have to replace them, a locker, properly driven, will outlast your aerostar.
p.s I could be wrong, but I think the aerostars came with a 7.5" or a dana 30. I don't think they came with an 8.8 like later rangers and explorers (I wish!)
007BRONCO

 

never posted on aerostar
but you could also put in a mustang,ranger,bronco2,sable/taurus 7.5 axle under there
most rangers and bronco2 have 4.10ls under them. same thing with auto trans a4ld

 

I agree, except sable/taurus is FWD and I doubt ring and pinion/axle are compatible.
007BRONCO

 

Kind of a related question.

Can you put a locker in an Aerostar AWD? and what about putting one in the front dif to make it a true AWD vehicle?

 

could be possible might have to do some research

 

Maybe, but that would give you far more traction than the rest of the vehicle is capable of keeping up to. Ground clearance, suspension travel etc will still limit you. Unless you are planning on lifting it too! Also a vehicle with a locker in the front is very hard to steer and would definitely not be drivable on the road in this application. Since you cannot disengage AWD in an Aerostar you would tear it apart.
If you must, a limited slip in the front and a locked rear would work best.
007BRONCO

 

So detroit lockers are out of the question. (I guess I will have to save that idea for the next 78/79 Bronco that I buy.)

So that brings up another question. Did AWD come with LS difs in both the front and back? I would think that it would make sense for traction in ice and snow.

I am not really looking for doing burnouts (well at least not all the time ) I just want to maximize the traction do to constantly changing road conditions around here.

 

The AWD Aeros came with limited slip rear only. Ford does not have a road friendly limited slip for the front. So in the worst case, you get 3wd.

In the old brochures I got for the Aerostar, it mentioned the improved traction of the AWD system on the road during foul weather. Nowhere does it say anything about off road use. I think the AWD model has a whopping 1 additional inch of ground clearance over the 2WD version. It also does not have a frame that would be strong enough for any serious off roading.

The Detroit Locker could be used in the rear, but as someone said, it would be a really bad idea in the front. It rachets rather abruptly, and would be very dangerous when driving on slippery roads if installed in the front.

A better choice for the front would be a Torsen differential. It is essentially an open differential with specially cut angles on the driving and driven gears that allows controlled torque split from one side to the other. It does not use clutches like the Ford Traction Lok nor will it lock like the Detroit Locker, but it offers very smooth operation, so it's used on a number of FWD cars. But like a clutch type differential, it still requires SOME traction to activate, whereas the Lockers do not. The typical Torsen designed for road cars have a 2:1 torque ratio between the two sides; the torque generated from any available traction on the loosest side is effectively doubled to the other side. For off road trucks, the gears are cut to deliver 4:1 torque ratio.

 

I figured I had a limited slip on my 92' awd as well but i had the back end up and my dad, who has been a mechanic/owned his own shop for years, said it's a positraction rear end, because when you spin one wheel, the other spins the same way. not to say my dad couldn't be wrong, but with cars, he's almost never wrong.

 

just for a reference I believe 1985 and older mustangs(v8) have trac-loc 7.5's
of coarse they might have been upgraded by owners to 8.8..so....

 

Well I guess I will have to settle with 3wd.

Note to self, don't use Detroit Locker in front end of Aero.

Maybe I will look into getting a Torsen, or a Quafie for the front end. I don't know, I will probably end up doing nothing up there but keep it going good.

That is usually a characterisitc of LS rear end. From what I understand a Limited Slip dif= Posi Trac Dif = Detroit Locker in the sense that it keeps both wheel moving at relatively the same speed and same direction so you have traction. Unlike an open dif where one wheel will spin while the other wheel does nothing.