I was looking at some lockers for my truck. It is a 2004 F150 4x4 4.6L engine

I'm thinking it has the 8.8 IFS with 28 spline and rear 8.8 with 31 spline.

How difficult are lockers to install?

There are two different brands I was looking at:

Auburn Ected

front part # 545001
rear part # 545002

Are there any other parts I would to do the install or do the part #'s above include everything?


ARB air lockers

front part # RD82
rear part # RD81
compressor # RDCKA

Are there any other parts I would to do the install or do the part #'s above include everything?


Also, where is the cheapest place to get these parts?
Thanks

 

I had a 4x4 shop to installed my gears for my jeep cuz i dont want to frig it up...

After you learn from your friends or boces or training then Its pretty easy to do it but you need some special tools for gears...

one little mistake-KABROOM bye bye gears haha..im serious...better off to have prof. 4x4 shop to do the job and most of them included a year warranty which is good idea...but its your money..

I dont think your rearend has 8.8, its 9.75"..

I called ARB and Detriot lockers to see if they have for F150 2004 and up and they said no, only right now they re testing is Detriot True true thats it..

As for front, i dont know what axle is it, Dana 44? if its Dana 44 then its more avaiable but again i m not sure what front axleshaft spline counts...

I m sure other will filll the info in here...maybe try to post "off roading forum" ??

I m big fan of detriot and ARB...cuz they have been around for lloonggggg timmmeee...AUbrun seems not to be popular...

YOMAN!

 

I know it is not the 9.75. I have a 9.75 on my Lightning and what is on my Lightning is not on my 2004 F150.b


I asked on another thread and the guys said the front was 8.8...

 

Ummm then F150 4.6L has different rear end, no?

I was told that my 5.4L F150 04 has 9.75 rearend....the heavyduty package tow has 10.25" rearend...

I have never heard 8.8 in front...its very odd to me cuz its popular in rearend on explorer truck.

I ll ask around to be sure....

YOMAN!

 

check your axle codes on the drivers side door jam it will tell you exeactly what you have, but you most likely have a 8.8 reverse cut ifs in the front and a 9.75 in the rear, sorry to tell you that they dont make a locker for the 9.75 yet auburn gear is in development of the ected for the 9.75 but it wont be out till mid 05

 

Like I said before I DO NOT HAVE A 9.75 REAR. It is an 8.8.
I have got so much bad info so far on this locker question I may have to find another website where people know what they are talking about.


This is a picture of my truck

front



rear

 

9.75 from my Lightning doesn't look anything like the 8.8 in my 2004 F150



ECTED part #'s and description from catalog

 

Maybe I just dont know enough about the diffs in these things yet, but all those pictures show is the casing. I would assume the case on a lightning is different. I do know my 04 f150 is 8.8 in the front and 9.75 in the back.
I too want to eventually put an ARB in the front.

 

for pete's sake people...It's a 4.6 liter engine!!!!!! It has a different rear end than the 5.4. 4.6 liter engine has 8.8" rear. Front differential on ALL f150s (not sure about the heavy duty payload package though), both 5.4 and 4.6 liters is reverse cut 8.8".

Now for the splines, I can't help you there...

 

For the front definitely a "switchable" locker ie.: ARB, Detroit E-Locker. ARB's are awesome, only downside is you have to buy separate compressor, but hey, now you have an onboard air compressor! Detroit locker makes an electric locker along with Eaton I believe, heard great things about both. Also there is OX locker that is cable actuated, decent in my opinion. ARB or Detroit E-Locker and you will love it. For the rear axle, probably another ARB. If cost is a concern to you, then look for a Powertrax No-Slip locker, acts like a full time locker but a little less aggressive. www. powertrax.com I had one in my '68 Bronco rock crawler and loved it. Definitely don't install it yourself unless you know what you are doing and have set up differentials in the past, no need to chew up ring and pinion gears! For the best price I would just search the internet, I'm sure you'll find some decent prices out there. Good luck. let us know what you decide on and what the prices were.

 

easterland you dont need to get mad all you had to do was tell us what the axle code was on your door so i could make sure i was giving you the right advice on what you should do, i have rebuilt many rearends and done many gears on many difrent vehicles before i give people advice i make sure i am telling them the right advice all you had to do was tell me what the code was on your drivers side door jam because i dont know you and if you can tell the difrence from a dana 44 from a sterling 12 bolt so there was no reason to get mad

 

didnt read everything, but...


You have an 8.8, and any 8.8 locker should work as long as the spline is correct, which I beleive your truck will have a 31 spline.

 

I was thinking of a locker on the front axle as well. What do you think of a detroit locker, I dont want to pay a ton for something I will seldomly use. It would be nice to have a little more reliability offroad though. I have heard the E-Z locker is no good for full size trucks. Any opinions or know how out there?

 

Since we are talking about lockers, i was wondering what you fellas in the know about such things think about this idea...

I'm regretting not getting the LS as an option on my truck and depending on how this winter goes I was considering biting the bullet and having LS installed (yeah, I know for $300 it was a dumb move). For what I'm going to pay to have that done should I consider a selectable locker as well (when they have one for the 9.75 )?

 

fatman66 auburn gear will have the ected limeted slip with electric locker on demand at any speed out in mid 05it will be around 600-700$ the nice thing about it is that it is a ls when not activated and full locker when engaged and the fact that it can be activated on the fly, i am getting one as soon as it hits the market and i would recomend it to anyone who is looking for max traction