I have a '95 5.0L 150 4x4 that I aquired a year ago. The conventional diff drives me crazy as i often drive in the snow over mountain passes.

What is involved in regards to time, money and parts in changing to a LSD or something better, Traction-Lok?

Thanks

 

Trac-lok is a limited slip. It requires a new carrier, so you have to pay to get your gears set up again.

I would look into a powertrax no slip or a powertrax lock right. One of them installs with common hand tools and requires no carrier replacement.

However, know what you're getting into. A truck with a limited slip in the rear doesn't like to stay on the road because both rear tires are slipping. Extra weight in the bed becomes mandatory, even with 4wd.

 

I dont fully understand why it wont stay on the road with LSD. Are you saying the rear end will be sliding around during everyday driving in the dry as well as in the snow.

Could it really be worse than driving in the rain or snow and having one wheel spin with just a bit of throttle and no forward movement

 

I put in a new carrier without paying to have the gears set up.......I did it myself. So to say you HAVE TO pay to get them set up is a lie on your part.

What do you mean by both rear tires slipping? Slipping on what?

 

If you are going over mountain passes and snow.....you want a detroit locker. The carrier costs about $600.

 

A lie? That's a pretty strong word...

You *should* have your gears checked for tolerances after a new carrier. You *may* have to have them set up again.

Better?

Umm..... snow?

A detroit locker for snowy roads? I wouldn't recommend that. That's a lot of money for a bulletproof locker that's overkill for this situation.

 

i have no problem with mine in the snow with ls front and rear ,

 

Well that depends.. it easier to fishtail a a vehicle around a corner with a tight LS or locker, regardless the road conditions.. assuming sufficient power under the hood.

Yes and No.
A regular cab truck will still need some weight in the back under slippery conditions, weight distribution is terrible on these models, you'll find the back wants to pass the front all the time. This can make driving in wet weather more dangerous if you are the type to day dream behind the wheel. That said, both my trucks have been equipped with the Trac-Loc and I have rebuild these tighter than stock. I have not crashed either and drive on partially snow covered roads half the year. Good tires make a big difference to winter/wet traction as well.

 

You misunderstood me.

You said he will HAVE TO PAY TO GET THE GEARS SET UP AGAIN. That IS a lie because he could do it himself or maybe someone will do it for him for free.....meaning he is not PAYING. Yes wear pattern and back lash ought to be checked and the pinion and carrier re-shimmed accordingly, but he will not HAVE TO PAY a shop or whoever for this to get done. This whole payment is a must notion of yours is a LIE because paying for this to get done is merely an option and you know that but stated otherwise. The suggestion that the backlash, wear pattern etc. be checked by whomever is one thing but saying that it will HAVE TO BE PAID FOR is another and qualifies as a blatent lie if you ask me.

 

Somebody put a burr in your fruit of the looms this morning or what?

 

Well here is my .02. I would rather have a limited slip in the rear to drive in the snow than not. You double your traction over an open diff. Granted you have to pay a little more attention because if one tire breaks loose with the limited slip both break loose and the truck will go sideways easier. If you pay attention all you usually have to do is let off the gas and it will straighten out again. I have an 03 F 150 with the factory limited slip and I have not had any weight in it the last three winters and it goes as good or better than my 95 F 350 with the open diff and 700 pounds in the back. Both in 2wd by the way.

There are a few lockers that will install without even removing the carrier. The Lock Right or the PowerTrax No Slip here on this page are a couple. There are other options there also. I would say the Detroit Tru Trac is one of the best, but if you are just driving on the street and want a little more traction in slippery conditions you could use the factory Ford Traction Lock or a Trac Lok limited slip. If you can switch out the carrier and set the backlash and the gear patterns then I would go with a full carrier swap unless you want to pay the money to have it changed. If not you can go with one of those that you do not need to remove the carrier. Hope this helped and didn't confuse the crap out of you.

Steve

 

I had a no-slip in my truck.It was really tough on tires,screeching going around corners.It also made the truck pull pretty bad if the air pressure was not equal on both sides.That being said,after installing it,I really never needed to use 4wd in the snow again.If I had to do it all over,I would have run a tight limited slip.I lost the link,but there was a 5 liter guy who said you shouldn't have to reset pinion depth or backlash when changing the carrier.

 

What is a tight limited slip? A LS with less backlash than the factory specifies? More preload on the pinion bearing? And what is the advantage to doing this?

When I installed my Detroit Locker I had to add 0.015 inches to the pinion shim and I had to add about the same to the drivers side carrier shim and subtract an equal amount from the passengers side carrier shim in order to obtain the proper wear pattern and backlash. It came out perfect on the drive side AND the coast side and backlash came out perfect as well....I had it apart 6 or so times and that wasent fun though.

 

Everybody that has a truck with a Trak-Lok should disassemble it and look at how Ford stacked the clutch plates. For some reason the stock stack has steel pressure plates back to back, and these pairs are seperated by a friction plate. But steel slips on steel pretty easily, so it really doesn't grip as well as it could. Simply changing the stack to a standard 1 - 1 pattern makes a BIG difference to the performance, and adding more shim to the stacks puts more preload on the stack and further increases grip.