I was wondering if anyone cold tell me what kinda front diff I have in my 94 F-150. I'm going to do a gear swap but don't really know what I need to get. Going from 3.55 to 4.10. will I need a new carrier for the 8.8 in the rear. and does my truck have a dana44 in front or a 8.8. there is no tag on the front.the door says axle type is 19. and do the ring gears in the front have to be reverse cut or standard. All input will be greatly appreciated

 

Dana 44
And you'll need a different "thin flange" carrier for 4.10 gears

 

is this the only front end that came in these trucks? the bolt patter looks just like the rear end.

 

Yes, the front is a Dana 44 TTB. IIRC, the carrier break is somewhere around 3.92, so you will need a new carrier for any gears lower than that.

And yes, this is the only front axle that came in the 80-96 half ton trucks. What do you mean by bolt pattern? The pattern on the differential cover?

 

yea the cover bolt pattern/shape. Iam also thinking of some 4.30 in the back but all i can find for dana 44 is 4.27. is this going to make a difference. or make the front end hop in 4 wheel drive

 

Do not put different gear ratios in each axle. What size tires are you running and what do you plan on using the truck for?

 

Ford puts different ratios in almost all 4WD trucks, but the difference is only 0.01 . All '80-96 F150 & Bronco use a Dana44IFS (TTB) front, & '87-96 use a Ford 8.8" rear. '80-82 use a 9" rear; '83-86 use either 9 or 8.8 .

. .

 

i'm running 94 f150 with 4" skyjacker lift and 285/75. trying to get my power and highway speed back. going highway at 75 i have to have it floored to keep 75. and i've been pulling a lot with it and need a little more umph. i think i'll stick with 4.10 since i can't find any 4.30 for the dana 44.

 

You'll never notice the difference.
Ford uses a 3.07 Dana front with a 3.08 Ford rear. That's a 0.3% difference
4.27 front with a 4.30 rear is a larger variance but still only a 0.7%.
What you do not want is a greater reduction in the front; that would be unstable

285/75-16 tires roll at about 620 per mile vs. 720 per mile for the stock 235/75-15s so the gears which would give you the equivalent of 3.55s would be:

3.55 *(720/620) = 4.123 which is close enough to 4.11 for most purposes

 

Numerically higher gears REDUCE speed, so if you want higher, you're going the wrong way. A straight 6 can't rev like a V8 - when you get to 3500RPM, you're finished. Have you tried shutting the O/D off?

It sounds more like you need engine work than gears. I run that size tire, 3.08s, an NP435, and a 4.9L, and I can do 110mph according to my Garmin.



The lift could be part of the problem - it's like you're raising a sail. You don't need any lift to run those tires, or to do serious off-roading. I have 0" suspension/body lift, and I crawl the SuperLift trails in Hot Springs with built Jeeps & Land Rovers. The difference is: I drive there, and back home - they trailer theirs.

 

my truck has a warmed up 351 so it's got plenty of power. running at 75 with overdrive off it's still only 2400 rpm. i don't want speed i'va got a nova that has plenty of that i just want a good pulling truck tha also will get me wherever i want to go. i live in montana and take the camper up a lot of old forest service roads that are very steep and the stock gears aren't cutting it. i think i'll throw a set of 4.11's in and see what happens

thanks for all the help guys

 

i was also wonder what is better for towing open diff, limited slip, or a posi

 

Positraction is the name of a limited slip diff used by GM. It's now built by Eaton, the same company that makes the Trac-Lok limited slip for Ford, and most other specialized diffs. Towing doesn't affect the diff, so it doesn't matter. Use the diff that fits the surfaces you drive on & the road conditions. For more info, read this thread.