Hello I was wondering if any one had a locker setup and what is the preference?

 

spq,

What kind of truck do you have (engine, tranny) and what do you want to do with it? We need to know this before we can make some suggestions.

CMOS

 

...and a rearend type (7.5", 8.8", or 9") and a spline count.

 

The truck is a 98 Ranger 4.0 4X4.The rear end is 8.8 with 3.73 gears in it.I am currently rebuilding the motor with a Comp Cams 410 cam and a set of JBA headers.I have been haveing problems with the 4X4 in whic it would flash 8 times then go out.As for the type of off roading it would be part time trail rideing.I was wondering the Power tracks lockers are very loud?

 

I'm running A Powertrax in my ranger, and I love it. It does make some noise mostly on tight low speed turns(especially in reverse). The cheaper ones like the Lock Right get LOUD sometimes in these conditions. I love this style of locker. They have great street manners(for a locker), Perform great offroad, and save you the expense of having a professional install it. You can put one in yourself in about an hour or two. I can't say anything bad about them. I'm kind of a hot rodder at heart, so I put them in all my daily drivers. Some people think they are a little harsh though. Seeing that you are the type to put in a cam and headers you will probably love one. They take a little adjusting to get used to them, but after you do you won't want to go back to anything less. When going around a corner on the street they drive the inside tire (untill you spin it, then it locks)which feels a little weird at first. I like it because you can always induce a little oversteer by getting on it. You have to be carefull doing this at first, because the rear end like to slide out. once your used to it its great though. The only downfall is that a limited slip is better in the snow, but the locker is still light years ahead of an open diff. Offroad, I wouldnt want anyting other than a locker. I run with a bunch of fullsize guys that are always amazed that my little Ranger goes through everything they do. My only problem with running with them is ground clearance because they are all on at least 35's. I don't sink as much as them though because of my lightweight. I'm getting off track, but the Powertrax is my favorite traction adding device all things considered.

 

I run the gear driven detroit tru-trac lsd, it's a strong unit that requires no modifiers and will actually strengthen the 8.8. It make no noise on the road and grabs like a bear. If you get one rear wheel lifted, by appling a little brake presure it will cause both rear wheels to pull together just like a full locker. When both rear tires are on the ground, forget about it, the thing will grab, grunt and snort and get bussy, it's awesome. It will take me in places in 2wd that I use to have to use 4wd. The 98-2000 pulse vacume hub system is very problematic, if your not having problems with it, you will, it's a junk system. The easy and best fix is a set of AVM manual hubs, they do away with the vacume hubs. They only take 1/2 an hour to install and you just turn them in just like in the old days when trucks were trucks. You can get them at
www.tellico4x4.com, part #15001.70 and thier 98.95 a pair, AVM is the only ones making hubs for the pulse vacume systemed rangers 98-2000. It's well worth the investment. Just about everyone with a 98-2000 ranger 4x4 is going with the AVM hubs, they will turn your problematic 4wd into a very reliable offroader, thier inexpensive and very easy to install. A set of AVM hubs and a detroit tru-trac and some BFG KO's and your ready for the outback hee hee. Also welcome to the boards were glad to have you. Also the down side to a lunchbox locker besides the noise, is bad street manners, they are bad for causing the rearend to come around on you when you hit a slippery surface and they do nothing to strengthen the rearend. If you did for some reason want to run a locker on the street, you would be better off paying the extra money and getting a selectable locker. The selectable lockers act like a lsd untill you push a button, then they engage into a full locker mode, they can be air activated like the ARB or they have electric versions like the detroit electro-loc. For the best all around street and trail, it's hard to beat the detroit tru-trac. If you did decide to go with a lunchbox locker, powertrax is about the best of the bunch.

 

Thanks for the info on the lockers and the lsd guys this has helped me a bunch.I know this is for the subject but Wendell I can see that you have a Gibson exhaust and can you tell what you think of it.Also I need to find any one in my area of Portland OR so I can chip the ECU thanks.

 

The gibson is a good quality system, I've had a few of them now. They have a nice rumble, but not so loud that it reonates in the cab. I had my daul sport fabed so that both pipes exit in front of the rear passenger tire, lighting style, I love it. We have a guy who does tunes and programers just for rangers, he does tunes specific to your computer code, the programer also improves shifts on an automatic, corrects the speedo for larger tires, it's an awesome programer that comes with 3 different tunes. I have the 87 octane hp tune, 92 octane torque tune and 93 octane hp tune. It's amazing the difference it makes, feels like a different engine. It's the bama programer, they have excellent customer suport. Doug is a ford guru and does only fords. You can talk to Doug directly at www, bama chips.com, or you can get the bama programer through wwwjusnesmodified, Jusnes is a fte suporter and a regular on this forum, he has a lot of ranger performance parts at decent prices, check out is site. You see him post from time to time, his name is Bob Jusnes. The bam programer is the best ranger programer on the market, a lot of us on here have them.

 

Hey Wndell thanks for the info.I need to save up some money for the Bama programmer.Now I still need to use my money for the internals of the motor.I can not find any sound clips of the Gibson exhaust do you know were I can find any for the 4.0l.Thanks

 

Wendell, I don't want to hijack this thread but I've been searching the old threads to no avail. You've got the three tune bama(custom to the octanes you expect I assume-great customer support).-----What are you seeing on the 87 tune in way of performance and fuel gains. The impression I was getting was that guys were only seeing the 'goods' with the higher octane tunes. AND what do you do with the silly thing when you bring the truck in to the dealer for warranty work. I've got a new '07 FX4 comin' soon so its an issue.

Thanks mate

Fred

 

Flinstone I do believe that the programmer can return the ECU back to the stock program just for this concern.

 

Cool,

I did some research on the Bama site and they do say that factory settings can be returned with the flick of a switch. The only concern I have is if the new ECM's record any changes.

My brother who works at one of the big 3 bought a GPS satallite radio from a "buddy" not long ago. A couple of weeks later, this "buddy" revealed that the radio might be a little "warm". So my Bro pulled the radio an gave/sold it back to his "buddy". The guys from the factory/company were able to read the ECM info from outside the truck out in the parking lot at work(the factory was cracking down on stolen audio gear). The ECM "recorded" the serial # of the radio that he'd plugged in earlier and it showed up(even though it wasn't in the truck at the time). He was suspended until they cleared up the situation.

 

You can return to the stock settings at the push of a button, no biggy there. You can tell a diference at 87 octane, but yes the real benifit is on the higher octane fuels. I pretty much run on the 92 octane torque tune. When I first got the truck new, I was getting 18/22, after bama, synthetics and that other crap I did, plus the motor broke in, I'm getting 22/24 with a manual tranny. I don't do any real city driving as I live and work out in the country. Just about everyone with bama has reported better mpg, or at least no one has reported worse. The better mpg sorta off sets the higher price for the 92 octane. As allways, alot has to do with driving style. You will want to play with it at first, but after awhile you'll return to your old driving style. It's never a good idea to do mods for better mpg, you can buy a lot of gas for what these upgrades cost, but it can be a nice side benifit.