Hello to all of you FTEs in AR. It's been awhile since I have posted here, not that we haven't been busy repairing or rebuilding our Ford trucks. We have a fleet where my Bronco happens to be the newest. How many Ford trucks can one family of 4 own? Well we just held "oil change Saturday" if that is any clue. Anyway the reason for my post is that my daughter (who thinks she is a race truck driver) curbed my Bronco and now the ABS light is on, no speedo and it shifts really hard. Replaced the VSS,no help. I have the original rear end out of the truck and need to have it rebuilt. It went bad a few years ago. I need either a quality local shop to do it or a good place to get the parts needed. I live half way between Ft. Smith and Russelville. Thankyou in advance for your help.

 

The only place I know of is in Cabot and that is Cabot Offroad. I guess that might be a little far for you to drive though.

 

Andy,Cabot may not be as out of the way as you might think.My husband runs out that way fairly often for work. It wouldn't be anything for him to toss it on his truck. Getting a semi up to the shop might be a tad tricky. What is the name of the shop? Have you had work done there?

 

Cabot tire and off road. They are a bit pricey, but quite skilled. They do good work.

I'm not sure I understand the situation you're in. The truck was curbed, the abs light is on, and so the rear end is bad???? I don't get it. If I were going to guess I'd say the output shaft sensor on your tranny is bad. But a quick trip to the dealer to get it scanned will tell you for sure.

 

No I haven't had any work done there yet. I do plan on having them regear my truck once I can afford the parts. But after thinking on this I agree with Scott, it might be something else. The dealer might be your best bet to start with and a lot cheaper if it doesn't need a rebuild. I just don't know much about all that electronic stuff. Give me old school!! LOL

 

I will have to go into more detail. The rearend I have in my bronco now is a replacement for the original. We pulled the rear end off a donor vehicle.The speedometer has always jumped. We ignored it as we didn't want to get into replacing the excitor ring. My teenage daughter "says" that she curbed the right rear tire going around a corner. Within 5-10 miles she shut the truck off to go shopping. When she turned it back on the ABS light stayed on, no speedometer and the truck shifts very hard( up and down). We replaced the VSS and no help ( recommended by a local tranny shop). We are thinking the excitor ring needs to be replaced. Rather than do that as this rear end has over 300,000 miles on it we are going to rebuild the original rear-end and put it back in. We are open to other ideas.

 

By the way Andy I agree with you on " give me old school". I miss my '79 Bronco for it's simplicity. As far as going to my dealer to have it scanned, they want $200 to put it on the scanner which they would then apply to any repairs they do. Thanks for that idea to save me $ but it won't work. The other Ford dealer that is close has a bad rep. I didn't even call them.

 

Jeez!!!! I wish you lived a little closer. I'd scan it for you for nothing. Of course, my scan tool only reads engine codes, so it probably wouldn't pull anything anyway.

I'm still having a hard time getting my head around the idea that the tone ring is "bad". It's just steel spokes passing through the magnetic field generated by the VSS. Won't take but a few minutes to pop the cover off the rear and check it.

Since you've already replaced the sensor, you should also chase the wiring forward from the sensor to make sure it didn't get pinched somewhere. You might also try resetting the computer by disconnecting the batteries for a while.

Did you check the price on the OSS? It isn't any more difficult to change than the VSS.

 

Ok, we checked the wiring , nothing pinched or broken. Rather than just replacing any more sensors my husband wants to rebuild the original rearend. Don't ask... we've been feuding about it. What do you think of the Detroit Truetrac? The ring and pinion are shot as well so it looks like a total replacement is in order. Any manufacturer recommendations on those? What fun! At least we are contributing to the economy, lol!

 

For rear-end parts check out Reider Racing - Gears & Rears We carry high performance ring & I have bought several gear sets from them and have had no problems.

 

A truetrac is a good choice for a 4x4 that sees a lot of street use. It also works very well as a front differential.

 

My Bronco sees mostly street use , some trailer towing( livestock) and the occassional trip thru the fields in the mud. Any heavy 4-wheeling will be done in my husbands '70 Bronco as soon as it is restored. Thanks for the advice. We are going with the Truetrac and still discussing the gears. Frustrated with web sites not saying what brand gears and what bearings. We want Timken bearings ( no cheap Chinese crap,lol! )

 

Try this link for high quality gear sets and genuine Timken bearings WELCOME TO RICHMOND GEAR
I've never bought from them but they have been in business for many years. The other link I posted for Reider Racing I have used and they have always sent Timken bearings and sometimes OEM gearsets.

 

Appreciate the help Jeff. I will go check out the links now.

 

Randy's ring and pinion uses Timken bearings as well. Click HERE!