you can get a detroit tru trac for less than 500 bucks.

 

I know but i have to get my truck back asap cause the snow is raping us and i gotta get rides everywhere it creates a problem and the mechanic my truck is at doesn't go thru(if i tow it somewhere it'll make up the price diff) any suppliers that sell Detroit trutrac's. I'll just have to suck it up and do the auburn. Between that and the km2's i ordered last week im so depressed $3000 grand in one week... put me out of my misery.

 

damn dude that sucks! you should just try to get one overnighted or something! that would save you atleast 800 bucks!!

 

How do you figure 800??? Looks like they're close to 500. Auburns about 700. Im going thru them cause they can get parts today. Looks like about 200 difference.. Don't depress me anymore than i already am..

 

Here is a quick photo i was able to snap.. i have finals this week im workin all week no truck everything is closed bc of snow..shot me..

Pieces of the carrier unit

 

oh, i thought you was saying they were charging you 1400 for the locker. my bad.

 

Its kool.. I was like where can i get this done for 600 bucks?!?!! I mean thats the whole job with an auburn unit, new R&P, new spider gears, bearings, labor, everything.. I'll just have to do the front when it breaks or i have the training/area(a place) to do it (at) and the tools. I could've about done a motor swap for all this $$$ money ive spent this week. Sell my motor/trans 1000-1500, 1300 for my km2's,1500 for the rearend. I guess I need to beef up my powertrain anyway before i starting putting power adders/v10 in.. (Don't get me wrong this still sucks just trying to look at the bright side of things)

 

damn. that all sux. im going to get a detroit eventually. i need one cause of how much my expo weighs and the flex she has limits my tires. but from what ive read the weak link all the axles the 8.8 and 9.75 are the axle shafts. ive herd of spiders and what not exploding... imploding, but the weak part is the shafts. just at least its not the trans! or if you dont want to upgrade right now just put a open diff in, but since you have snow go Alburns. better of the 2.

 

Yeah drag racers weld the axle tubes to the housing You can make them strong just have some weak points stock

I was backing up pretty vigoriously and pulled it down into drive and accelerated pretty vigoriously ha ha it broke. Those big tires killed it i think plus the 4.88's too much torque

 

i had a friend weld his diff on his bronco II. and a few other drifter friends do that too. it works until a weld breaks and they get what you got. but the 35s did probably break the rear end. do you have the 8.8? cause that could be why. not strong enough with the 488 gears. ive always thought the weak end in my expo was the rear end. but i rip that thing to shreds and it keeps coming back. some of the trails i go on and open desert are a beating to it.

 

Haha yea its the 8.8. I was pretty rough on it from the get go after the gear install.. I just gotta learn the limitations of it I just didn't think that lil 4six had enough ***** to break it, but when you think about the tires and gears its possible. Im worried about the transmission next, i just have a bad feelin in my gut about it. It just seems like every once in a while it shifts a little funny lately..Hopefully its gonna last long enough to where when it fails on me i can just go ahead and swap in a 6.8/4r100. Who know's what'll break then, Just gets me excited thinking about it tho!!
.

 

You could start looking for a six lug 9.75 deal and they are a bolt-in swap. (9.75 inch ring gear (duh) but 34 spline axles. Well up to 35s. Actually an 8.8 is up to 35s too but the OE carriers are a weakness... one which you have cured now. The 31 spline shafts in the 8.8 are actually very strong. Ford specs a SAE1050 carbon steel in their shafts, which is considerably stronger than the SAE1025 or 1040 steel in most other axle shafts. Still, you have an 8.8 in a relatively heavy truck and, combined withteh 35s, that cuts into the strength considerably.

You might be interested in the factory output torque ratings for recent Ford axles (rating for the complete assembly):

8.8 28 spline- 4,600 lbs-ft (short duration), 1,250 lbs-ft (continuous)
8.8 31 spline- 5,100 lbs-ft (short duration), 1,360 lbs-ft (continuous)
9.75- 34-spline- 6,100 lbs-ft (short duration), 1,600 lbs-ft (continuous)
10.25 SF- 35 spline- 8,300 lbs-ft (short duration, 2,000 lbs-ft (continuous)
10.50 FF- 35 spline- 10,660 lbs-ft (short duration), 2,900 lbs-ft (continuous)

Some year back, I was involved in some destructive testing of axles and front axle u-joints. We broke some of the popular types. 30 spline Dana and GMs snapped at under 5,000 lbs-ft. A 31 spline Ford maxed out the test fixture. It couldn't be broken by the machine's maximum output, which was a shade over 6K lbs-ft.

 

The symptoms offroadn'98 talked about leading up to it, the jumping or jerking .... I think it was something I've talked about before, something I went through back in the '70s with my Swinger 340.

I think he's been spinmning rear wheels and with added stress imposed upon the spider gears by 4.88s multiplying torque on one side and those big tires on the other ...
... lots of pressure there, it likely wouldn't take a long burnout ...
... I think the cross shaft seized to a spider gear and twisted and sheared the retainer bolt and then after it cooled off that now unrestrained cross shaft was being slung out the case part way and hitting the pinion gear as it came over the top and the jumping he felt was that cross shaft hitting the pinion gear and getting knocked violently back into the case ..... and that the implosion was the result of "the straw breaking the camel's back".

The jerk where it was sticking out at low speed stopping the truck, backing up and then hitting it hard ...
... parts busted.

 

Yeah, or the insto tech left the lock pin loose. For some reason, I walked away thinking he was 'wheeling the truck.

 

you have quite a bit of bearing wear too, get water in the diff by chance?