I found a solution to the speed sensor, check this out.

About Brea Auto Electric: Products: Speed Sensor

 

Speed sensor ??? I have a 95 with 8.8 it has a exciter tone ring on it for the speed & abs..You need to keep this... Also a detriot truetrac has a different set up than a tracloc..It dosnt use a pin...It is still c clip but it is much better system & the exciter tone ring will fit on it...Lew

 

Not sure what your getting at or asking here. This has nothing to do with a trac-loc, or true-trac. But is about C-clip issues, the only true solution to C-clip issues is to get rid of the 8.8 and put in a 9 inch. The biggest problem that comes up in doing so is finding a way to maintain the systems that rely on the speed sonsor/tone ring that is in the 8.8. It appears with this set up you can remove all that need from the rear axle by moving it to the driveline.

If there is a good speed sensor/tone ring solution changing to a 9 inch is easy. There are alot of good cheap 9 inch axles out there in wrecking yards that bolt right in to F-150s and Broncos. The shocks, springs and brakes all transfer quite easy. In fact with the brakes the only part from the 8.8 brake system you can't reuse is the backing plate. All one needs is a viable axle assembly with backing plates, and a couple hours.

 

I've had a lot of vehicles with 8.8 rearends. Ran up to 550hp and a lot of 4,000rpm launches on the street and strip and never had a problem. Except for a lot of fried tires!

 

This isn't about power, the 9" is only a little stronger in handling torque then a 8.8. And that streangth is only in the ring and pinion due to the 3rd bearing.

But the 9" will and does handle everything else better. They will carry a heavy load longer. They will handle the side loads of cornering longer. Not to mention when something does fail you don't die cause the wheel stays on the vehicle. Unless the axle breaks outside the bearing which never happens.

There just plain better. There's a reason the NHRA won't let you go fast with a 8.8 that does not have C-clip eleminators.

 

The c-clip eliminator was gonna be my next addition to the subject.

 

C-clip eleminators are cool but there a pain in the a**. expensive, unreliable, and leak. Thus they only have one use, to follow the rules. That in some racing bodies it's against the rules to change the type of rear axle, thus they can't change to a 9". And the C-clip eleminators are the only option, for the rest of us they are a poor option.

 

...The only point i am trying to make is im not sure what system 95 f 150 dude has in his truck..Mine is a 95 & i have a exciter tone ring in mine that also controlls the shifting in the trans 4R70W..It dosnt look any thing like the speed senor..His rear might be different than mine ?? The tone ring is a big ring the size of the ring gear that it goes on..My system wont work with a 9in..I use my truck for drag racing & looked in to the 9in but when i found it would not work i just built the 8.8..Used a detroit truetrac with 456 gears...superior axles & welded the axle tubes to the housing to make it stronger & less flex..I didnt use the c clip elimanaters a that time they had a bad problem with them leaking..Im not sure but i think the new kits they are making now are better ??..There are alot of pepole using the 8.8 in alot of the mustangs at the strip runing 10s with no problem..I agree the 9in is a better rear & if he can use it great..But if he has to use the 8.8...I dont think he wants to spend that kind of money on a 9in or building an 8.8....Lew

 

Guys,

I didn't get to pull the cover off last night but I will do it this afternoon. I am leaning towards repairing what I have for now unless the cover removal tells me something different.

I like the idea of a 9" but since the truck has 300K miles on it and I only paid $900 for it, I can't see dumping a bunch of time and money into the truck. If the truck was an heirloom and I was attached to it that would be a different story.

Scott

 

Problem solved! Come to find out the left wheel was loose. I had done a rear brake job recently and the tire rookie (me) failed to tighten the wheel. It was so loose that it sheered off one of the studs. Someone needs to stamp "*******" on my forehead . At least I'm not out any money (except for the stud).

Kudo's to all that replied to my thread and offered their suggestions

 

Hmmm...interesting that the loose wheel was your issue. I was just getting ready to comment that during normal use, the biggest reason I have seen for losing a wheel/axle has nothing to do with c-clips...it has to do with wheel retention (especially aluminum ones) due to flex, improper lug torque, etc. While they do exist in extreme use, I have never personally seen an issue with losing an axle due to c-clip failure in normal, light duty applications. I have, though, seen plenty of people sitting on the side of the road with the axle intact, with the vehicle on one side of the road resting on the rotor or drum and the wheel/tire in the ditch somewhere far away from the stranded vehicle. Agreed, a non c-clipped rear is a better design for high stress applications (drag, mudding with monster meats, towing the Titanic, etc.) but there is nothing wrong with the c-clip design within it's intended purpose. There's a reason that 1 ton trucks use full floating axles too...but that doesn't mean you need the strength to putter your way to work in a daily driver. Speaking of full floaters...how many duallies have you seen with hogged out stud holes in the wheels from flex, loosening, etc? Best thing anyone can do to help themselves is properly torque lugnuts and recheck them regularly (and very soon after having had one off...especially for aluminum wheels!).

 

Opossum..I would still like to know how my set up will work in a 9in...Your the expert about this stuff..If i made a mistake just tell me how to do it..How do you get a exciter tone ring to work on a 9in with out changing my trans shift points...Lew

 

Two things to preface, you might have noticed that I campaign against C-cilps, I think they are unreasonably dangerous. That said most of my customers are in older rigs and all the 8.8 to 9" changes I have done were in rigs that either didn't have or don't still need the tone ring. (due to modification)

That said all this stuff pushed me to do some research, I'm sure I'll need to do one soon. So I sent out some feelers, and what came back was this unit made by Brea Auto Electric. I haven't used one yet or even spoken with them on the phone yet but it makes purfect sence and others have used it with great success.

To understand this you need to know that the tone ring sensor or VSS (vehicle speed sensor) just counts the number of notches that go by. So by example if your tone ring has 355 notches (it doesn't, I don't know how many) and turns once per axle rotation it sends 355 pulses per axle rotation and your computer uses this info to control the speedo and the RABS. Now if you move the tone ring to the driveline, (at the back of the tranny so it's out of the way) have 3.55 ratio and the new ring has 100 notches, it will still send 355 pulses per axle rotation. Does this make sence?

So you are just adding two more complications for the traded benifit of getting rid of the 8.8. First by moving the tone ring to the back of the tranny it is exposed, I can't see this being a problem with a street rig but an off-road rig will want to build a cover/sheild. (but with an off road rig you are also getting the wiring away from sticks and stuff) And it is now gear ratio sensitive, with it on the ring gear in the 8.8 you can change gear ratios and it won't effect the speedo or RABS. But with it on the driveline it is now gear ratio sensitive. It appears they machine different rings for different ratios. With the above example the same vehicle with a 4.10 would need a tone ring with 87 notches to produce the same 355 pulses per rotation.

All this said the speed of the truck, or more accurate the speed of the rear axles, which is what this thing measures, does not effect tranny shift points. Your shift points are determined by engine RPM and throttle position. To understand this just realise that you can change your gear ratios or tire size and and the tranny will still shift the same. It may just appear that it doesn't because the engine may have to work less or more to effect the same acceleration thus changing the throttle position, which will effect shift points.

Try just unplugging your VSS, your truck will run fine, but the speedo, RABS, and cruise control won't work.