Hey guys,

I am buying a spool in a couple of weeks, and I have started to do my homework so the job doesn't overwhelm me. I have talked to a few different people about the process, and I've gotten a few different answers. First off, just fyi, I have the stupid Ford trac-loc, so I can't do the mini spool that I wanted. Now, I know I have to mount the Ring gear to the spool, so will I have to readjust the backlash? Also, a guy told me that I would have to get the bearings pressed. Trying not to be stupid, but what bearings? I have read some online tech articles, and every one of them implies that this is a straight forward job that can be done at home in a day or two tops. No one has ever said anything about the bearings. I consider myself an adequate home mechanic, but the issues with the diff are starting to concern me. I cannot afford to pay someone to install the spool, and I really wouldn't want to anyway, because I like to know what is going on with my upgrades. Any info from anyone who has done this job before would be awesome. Thanx in advance.

 

You will have to have the carrier bearings pressed on the new spool. You can try to pull the old ones off the trac-loc but they usually get trashed so the best thing would be to buy new bearings. Be careful, there were different carrier bearings used so it might help to pull one off and take with you. And you will have to reset the backlash. You will need a dial indicator. You can measure the backlash before you take it apart and then just duplicate that for the spool. I don't know of a way to do it without a dial indicator. As for the Trac-Loc, I have a mini spool in my trac-loc case in my Bronco. I have had it in there for about a year and have no problems. I just took all the guts out of the trac-loc and put the mini spool in its place.

 

Here's what I learned when I did my mini-spool last week. If you're going from a trac-loc to a spool, the bolts for the ring gear may be too long. I replaced my broken trac-loc carrier with an open carrier and the case for the trac-loc is quite a bit thicker and requires longer bolts. I had to use the shorter bolts from the open carrier.

As for bearings, see my post "this is a mini-spool" and you will see the bearings on the carrier.

K.

 

If you are going to run this on the street go ahead and buy several spare axles. You will need them.

Bear Tracks

 

Thanx, all.
I have done more research today, and the guy at DTS told me that I am being paranoid, and it should go relatively smoothly. Beartrax, I only drive it to the trails and back, less than 1000 miles a year, and 3-4 different guys who have spools have told me that that is a myth anyway. As long as you aren't hauling, towing or taking turns from stops at full throttle, it won't break. Also, I've been told that the knobby mud tires skip in turns alot easier than their all-terrain cousins. Any other input is still welcome, and the job is a week from today, so keep 'em coming. Also, I'll let everyone know how it went in a couple weeks!

 

Like I said before, I have had my spool in for about a year. This is in an early Bronco (short wheelbase is even harder on a rearend) with a HEALTHY 351 and 38" Swampers. I can't even tell it is in there. If I had a Detroit I would have to put up with the noise they make, but the spool makes no noise and doesn't have the backlash of a locker. I haven't broken an axle yet and mine are 28 spline. If you have hard compound tires like BFG's or mud kings etc. they will chirp very loud around every turn. If you stick to the soft compound tires like Swampers you might notice a slight scuffing sound, but you have to try to hear it. The only reason I would change it is when I go to a full spool with 35 or 40 spline axles. I like the hardcore wheeling like Tellico (I am on the east coast) and I have a heavy foot and I still haven't broken a rear axle. (Knock on wood).
I hope this helps.
Once you get it in you will love it!

 

Don't worry about people telling you that axles are going to break and all the other garbage I have been running a spool in the rear of my F150 for 3 yrs and never broke an axle andI have been running a mini-spool in the frontt of my truck for 3 yrs andstill never a broken axle and my truck sees alot of on road and off-road.
I own a custom 4x4 shop and I can show you some of the great things that detroits and ARB's do to axles when they lock up i always try to tell customers that a spool is just as effective and creates LESS damage to the axles than a locker and alot of you may disagree with me but I have plenty of destroyed axles from lockers in my shop.
with a locker you will drive and feel the locker engage and sometimes hear the locker lock up createing a bang sound well look at the splines after a couple of years of this the splines tend to round off and eventualy they just kinda rachet in the locker now remember the old detroit lockers all they were was just a really heavy duty spool they weren't a limited slip type. also remember the axle shafts are made of harder stell then the locker so after time they splines in the locker wear away faster than the axle splines. and people think that a spool is going to wear your tires out faster than a locker well. I am sorry a locker with the locking up action puts more stress on an axle than a spool with the locking action than if they are just locked all the time. with a spool just don't drive like an idiot on the street. Just my $.02 and from my past experience of 20 yrs