Rear axle question
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Elder User
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 523
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From: NY (not the city!!)
Rear axle question
I used the axle code chart on this website to check the axle code on my door. According to the chart I have 3.55 gears and a limited-slip diff. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a limited slip mean that both rear wheels or the wheel with the most traction will spin in snow, mud, ice etc. The other day I got stuck in a parking lot (had to get out and lock hubs). ONE rear wheel was on a patch of ice, the other was on DRY pavement. Only the wheel on the ice spun, the other one sat there. The truck has always been like this, so i just assumed it was an open diff. I just checked the chart out of curiosity one day. There have been two owners before and the one i bought it from was a lying POS so who knows 
. I will be taking the cover off the pumpkin in the next few weeks to change the oil the rear end. That will definately answer the question. I was just curious what you had to say. Sorry for the long post.
BTW, it is a 95 F-150 XL 4x4, 5.0, 5-speed, Reg. Cab, Long Box, manual t-case. 209,000 miles.
. I will be taking the cover off the pumpkin in the next few weeks to change the oil the rear end. That will definately answer the question. I was just curious what you had to say. Sorry for the long post.BTW, it is a 95 F-150 XL 4x4, 5.0, 5-speed, Reg. Cab, Long Box, manual t-case. 209,000 miles.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 347
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From: USCGC Never Home
The trac-lock LS in these trucks was never good even when they were new. And after 209k miles the clutched will be toasted and will do next to nothing. Even a good working LS can only transfer so much torque, so even with a good LS unit, you would probably only be doing one leggers if one tire has 0 traction on ice.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,512
Likes: 8
From: Cook Forest and Irwin PA
yes, get the kit from FMS with the kevlar cluthes AND add an extra plate to both sides (the guy who owned my 355LS I put in my 1981 did this and its at times like having a dang spool - ever see a 300-1bbl run a dual patch?)
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 797
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From: ohio
ford motorsport. u can get a kit from ebay. Its not hard to change out the clutches the key is to put them in clutch plate,metal clutch plate metal. When i did mine it had 2 or 3 metals and then 3 clutch not mixed. The hardest part was gettin out the center pin
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Elder User
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 523
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From: NY (not the city!!)
Ford MotorSport, duh i should have realized that. Thanks everyone for your help. I will add this to my "to-do" list once I take the diff cover off and assess the situation.
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FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31,930
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
The others pretty much have you covered, I'll just add that I have "rebuilt" trackloc diffs with clutch plates from a junkyard diff and got good results. The big improvement comes from changing the way the clutch packs are stacked, you'll find they have 2 steel plates together with a friction plate on either side... which provides very little grip. Change this to alternating plates and grip improves immensely, squeeze another plate in each side and you have damn near a locker.. may be a bit hard on tires with a regular cab truck though.
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FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
Yes.. with the diff built like I described there isn't enough weight on the axle to overcome the preload when turning and the tires will skuff and drag like it has a spool in it. This is a great setup if you're offroad most of the time but it makes driving on wet or snow covered pavement entertaining.. the rear want to slide out all the time. The ext-cab trucks like mine have more weight on the rear axle so they can handle more preload.
Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,006
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I had the 10.25" out of my truck last summer for rebuild, While it was out I restacked the clutches and added a plate on each side just like Conanski said. My truck has about 140,000 miles on it and the trac-lok flat out did not work before, now it kicks ***. Granted my truck is a little heavier because it is an F250, but it is a regular cab, long box and it drives fine with this setup. It does like to slide on snow and ice though, but it's not that much worse than it was before.
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Elder User
Joined: May 2007
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From: NY (not the city!!)
That might be the best route to go. It still needs to be drivable in tight spaces though. Unfortunately, this is my daily driver and as a result has to be driven EVERYWHERE. So I will decide what to do later on, i am just going to change the diff fluid at this point. Thanks for you responses everyone. BTW, about how much is one of the rebuild kits?
Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 34
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From: Wellsburg,WV
if your going to have the diff cover off anyways, see if in fact there are clutches in there and pull them out for inspection and restack them as mentioned above. will not cost you nothing but a little time. then you can see how you like it and decide if you want to add the extra disks later.