that front Diff came out of my truck, it will fit into your truck its the same though the years 97-03 are all the same front diffs. If you need to know anything about the diff just ask me.

Hell the 05 diff at the shop looks alot like it with a few differences.

But anyways back on your topic, IMO the whole diff needs replaced... i know i know theres specific damage but that could have weakened the unit as a whole. That diff took a HIT even if it was internal, the IFS 8.8r is a weak axle from side to side nothing strong about it. No where near indestructible.

You can ATTEMPT to fix the damaged Cover, if you fix that axle thats broken do both of them at the same time. This would be a good time to UPGRADE the whole system. If you offroad then start upgrading the internals in that thing.

I still say replace everything including the housing. The 4.56's are up to you. i wouldnt run them. Doesnt take much to mess them up (unnoticeable damage) that will cause problems later on. Not to mention now that the gears are out its almost impossible to get the same mesh pattern that they had the first time installed.

 

While all of that is true, I wouldn't say that everything needs to be replaced just yet. Keep in mind that this is a front differential. On a rearend, I would say replace it all for sure. But I think that if the 4wd isn't used much (ie: on snow or ice-covered roads) then I wouldn't worry about the gearset. As far as I know, the only problem with a used gearset, as long as it has never overheated, is that it may be a bit noisy. But as I said, I wouldn't be concerned about that in a front diff.

 

4.2trimble,

thanks for the reply. I have a couple of questions.
Mesh pattern is the the pattern from the ring and pinion?
Is this so called mesh pattern visible to the naked eye?

Bare with me a minute.

If we look at the front Diff it is brokent down into the 3 parts.
Passenger axle
Differential Housing
Middle piece(sorry don't know what the name of this piece is)
Driver side axle
That middle piece between the driver side axle and the differential, is that considered the axle too or is it part of the Differential??

What do you mean by upgrading the internals?(what parts, etc)

 

keep in mind that if you get the mesh pattern wrong the life of the gears will be seriously reduced. Ive been there. The minute you put gears in an axle and put it in drive the mesh pattern is being set, Heat doesnt help this problem and we know that the stock front 8.8r cover isnt offering alot of cooling to the fluid. You might not be concerned but clearly the OP offroads the truck, so its not a question of weather or not its used. I use my 4x4 at LEAST 1 once a week for up to 8 hours in that day. And another thing you really need to consider about used gear sets is the wear pattern, a bit noisy is what you call it but really a bit noisy is a very bad sign when coming from a diff. that means something isnt meshing right. Thats why theres noise, I had 2 sets of USED gears in my Bronco II and both ended up trashed. The pattern that the gears had from the donnor diff didnt match up close enough to the pattern my diff was givin off. Wear patterns are not visible by eye, you need measurements, and with how that front end came apart theres a VERY good posiblity that theres unseen damage to the R&P. I be that diff didnt self destruct all in an instant so if the R&P were installed incorrectly to begin with (which lead to failure) how can you even count on that wear pattern.

You can do whatever you want, in a situation like this im replacing the whole axle, or rebuilding it from the housing out. Its fairly cheap to get 8.8r and bolt it in and not worry about replacing the internals, except the 4.56 R&P of course.

yeah when i say mesh pattern i mean the wear pattern the R&P make when meshed together, this is not visible to the naked eye. When they set the R&P they use a type of color grease to make the pattern visible. This pattern is hard to get back again after you loose it.

the middle piece that holds the Ring and Pinion? the cover goes over the R&P and the cover bolts to the axle housing. The axles and R&P are inside the axle housing. I wish i had a picture of a axle to break it down for you better. Im trying to use terms you will understand, and beable to peice together.

now this "middle piece" you are talking about is it internal or external? I really cant picture the location you are talking about besides the external axle housing

and forget i mentioned Upgrading parts, i highly doubt you will find much for the 8.8r you might be i doubt it. Just get factory replacement parts if you decide to keep the axle housing and reuse the ring and pinion.

NOTE: Im not saying in anyway that if you reuse the ring and pinion and axle housing that you are guarunteed failure down the road, but its possible and IMO not worth the risk. Do whatever you feel comfortable doing, if you think its ok to reuse parts then give it a try hopefully you will be golden, if for some reason you get the other side of the spectrum atleast its a learning expierence and you gave it a chance.

 

You can strenghten rear 8.8's up abit by using an explorer IRS rear diff cover. Stock they have "ears" where the control arms mount but you can grind those off. Would these work for the front too? Do f150's use the same diff cover on the front and rear? I'd go out and look at mine...but it's bed time

 

I believe he's referring to the axle tube on the passenger side. OP, are you sure it's on the driver side? See my thread from a while back.

 

Code: the 97-03 F-150 uses a cover for the front differential that also contains a mounting point for the whole axle at the end of the cover. that one wouldn't work, as it does not have the axle mount that the stock f-150 cover does.

OP: I am 100% sure the front differential I have will work in your 01.

 

Bingo....

If you look at the second pic of my post you will that some bearings are missing. That gear came out from removing the axle tube. The gear goes into the diff where the axle tube mounts to the diff.

= jiggle

 

Minimoster17,

Does it include the axle tube?

I agree with you too on that red dif cover... It is missing the front mount that is part of the 01 f150 cover.

 

yes, i have the axle tube as well on the differential.
the only thing i am missing is the stupid piece of plastic that directs the engine oil down when you empty the oil pan to change the engine oil.

you can bolt the one off your messed up differential onto the one i have.

 

Did you ever find out what happened and did you ever fix the problem because the same exacr thing happenend to mine andd it looked like that and i was just driving down the road

 

Dude, you necro-bumped a 5 year old thread. Look at the date it was originally posted...