hey guys
ive got a 2000 ranger 4x4 i was wondering if any one know of any company that make a limited slip kit or locker for it. the open diff just isnt cutting it anymore. i would like to avoid having to get a whole new rearend i just want a kit i can install to the existing one thanks cory

 

Google the word POWERTRAX It is one you can do yourself with the tools you now have.. in about 3 hours or less.
Big Jim

 

Bought one on eBay for $41.00. It was just the carrier

SD

 

Which axle does your truck have? Ford uses the 7.5" in 4-cylinder and most 3.0L trucks and the 8.8" in the 4.0L versions. There are diff choices for the 7.5", but you can get almost anything you want for the 8.8". Look in the Ford Racing catalog or something similar. How do you use your truck? That would help determine what LSD or locker choice is better suited for you.

 

I may be interested in lockers from what I'm reading here. Getting suck and having only 2 wheels turning when you are in 4x4 is just a horrible design! I'm trying to find out if that is normal in another thread I posted.

 

Normal? Yes!
BJ

 

Why do they do that? Why can't they design it so that when the truck knows that 2 wheels are just freely spinning that power needs to go to the other 2 wheels as well? If everything is based on a series of gears/clutches/sensors then couldn't they make it foolproof for idiots (I've seen plenty) who like to drive diff locked trucks on pavement? Had I know how poorly designed the 4x4 was on my Ranger it would have changed my criteria when purchasing a new vehicle. I assumed that 4x4 meant 4x4.

 

What you are describing is called POSITRACTION.. It is an option in the rear of most 4X4 vehicles. I know of only the RUBICON that has something LIKE that as an option in the front today..
It does exactly what you are wishing for.
Big Jim

 

You assumed wrong - unfortunately, that it the way things are with the average 4WD system. It doesn't matter if its a Ranger, a Tacoma, a Durango or an Audi. If the vehicle has open differentials in the axle, then torque will flow to the wheel with least resistance to spin. There's actually a bit more to it then that, but that's the simple version.

To combat this problem, manufacturers offer limited slip differentials, which provide some resistance to wheelspin. Consequently, it keeps one from spinning longer then a standard open and can send some torque to both wheels if (when) one does get spinning. Not all LSDs are created equal, though, and some are more effective then others. But all of them have limitations, and all of them will eventually allow spin. Enter lockers. These lock up rigidly, preventing spin completely until both tires on an axle loose traction. Put a locker in both axles of a 4x4 and lock the center through the t-case, and now you have to loose grip on all 4 to get any spin. Why don't OEMs use lockers then? Well, some do. But they add to the cost, and somewhat to the liability of the manufacturer.

To answer your foolproofing question is yes, given enough money throw at it from the manufacturer, a vehicle can be equipped with a super-all-condition-drive-over-anything 4WD system. Traction control systems and active differentials and couplings (as well as other electronic systems) can work together to do this. Why don't they? Its expensive. Manufacturers, especially domestic ones, don't spend money on anything they don't have to. And on vehicles that are in dwindling market segments like the Ranger, they invest even less.

Trucks have traditionally been kept simple because that makes them hold up longer in harsh enviroments and allows them to be easier to repair when they need it. If you endow one with a high-end electronically governed 4WD system that requires wheel speed sensors, a control ECU and several controllable clutches or couplings and such, well, now you've added a highly complex system that gets expensive to fix and has a shorter lifespan in the field. I don't think that's what truck buyers want.

So at the end of the day, don't be too mad at your truck. That's just the nature of the beast. You need to invest a little more into it yourself to get above and beyond that.

Oh, for the record, Positraction is an Eaton trade name. The Eaton Posi is a specific model of diff. It just happens to have gotten the universal treatment by people, like Kleenex and Xerox... The Rubicon has air lockers in the axles. The front is an open when unlocked and the rear is a helical gear LSD. I don't know of anyone actually offering a front LSD in a 4x4 vehicle. Ford used to in the F-series, but they dropped the offering.

 

Thanks for the info - that response was detailed and awesome! I think it is pretty beneficial to have people like you on the site willing to take the time and explain so many details to guys like me. So thanks!

I did just get off the phone with Ford and they told me there's nothing they can do to lock the axle's. I'm starting to think that's incorrect?

 

There's nothing they can do. That doesn't mean that there's nothing you can do, only that they do not offer the parts to do so. There are, however, a number of locker choices for the 8.8" rear axle (you do have the 8.8, right?).

For the front,though, its a bit more limited. The Dana 35 used on the SLA front end Rangers is a *******ized version of the axle. Ford had Dana shorten the length of the differential between the carrier bearings substantially, I suspect so that it would package better under the front end of the truck. The result is, though, that while the ring and pinion gearing allow it still be classified as a D35, none of the standard D35 LSDs or lockers available aftermarket will fit it.

There is only one choice that I'm aware of (unless you're like me and can build your own prototype diffs) - the Powertrax locker conversion. It basically allows you to take your stock open diff and convert it to a ratchet-type locker. This is done by removing the stock gearing from the differential body and replacing it with the locker mechanism. Be cautioned though - I know a few people that have done exactly this with a late model Ranger, and the success has been mixed. I guess Powertrax doesn't put the grooves in the outputs of the diff that are needed to accept the snap rings that retain the CV shafts on the front of our trucks. I know some people that have gotten away with it, others that haven't. So its a gamble to an extent.

However, I suspect that putting a locker in the rear alone will go along way to improving off-road mobility. See, if the front is locked to the rear through the transfer case, neither front wheel can spin as long as the rear has traction. If one front wheel spins, then the rotating speed of the front differential itself has to increase, and it is directly tied to the rear diff which isn't speeding up (because it has traction). So the front diff can't speed up, thus neither front wheel can spin. Now, if the rear wheels are also locked together, then as long as one of them has traction neither will spin. And again, neither will the front. On the other hand, should you loose grip entirely on both rear wheels and one front wheel, then spin will start - the open front diff isn't going to help much here. But you have to get to that level of traction loss for that to happen.