Im ready to put 4.10 gears in my truck and have a few questions. Ive basically got the rear end figured out, im going to go with a ford trac-lock off ebay and depending on how it looks, i will put new clutches in it, im going to get the gears from a local 4x4 shop and put them in with the help of a friend. how does that ABS ring go on, does it sandwich between the ring gear and the carrier or what? im also going to go ahead and replace all the bearings (including the wheel bearings) and my axle seals are starting to leak pretty bad so those need replaced, plus one of my axles is bent so i will replace that too. now when all that is done i will start on the front end. thats where im lost, how do you get it apart? i was also reading somewhere that with the dana 44 you have to change carriers when going past 3.90 whats the deal on that? if i have to replace carriers i might as well get a limited slip for that too.

 

Yes you have the change the carrier. Been there-done that-my truck sat for a week with the front end apart until I could get one. The front end is fairly simple. Take off the hub and rotor assembly, then the spindles and then slide the axles out. Take out all the bolts that hold the pumpkin in(dont forget the 2 on the side) and drop it down.
The pain about the dana 44 is that the bearing shims go on BEHIND the bearings. So when you put it together if you have to re-shim it you have to press the bearings off again, change your shims and then press them back on. I hope you have a bearing splitter.
If you have any other questions I would be glad to help. I have changed the gears in all 3 of my previous f150's, 2 of my brothers f150's, and my current F250. I always take out the 3.55's and put in 4.10's, because we always run 33-35 inch tires

 

Ok, I can see why the shop quoted me $330 just for the labor to do the front end. I can handle the rear end myself, but I might check with a few more shops on the front end. Im not planing on doing both ends at once. I spend 90% of my time in 2wd, so i can live without my front axle for a while, especialy once i get the LS in the rear

 

I almost forgot, Im seriously thinking about going to 3.73s so I dont have to change carriers in the front. how much do you guys think i would regret that decision? too bad i couldnt find a trac lock for the dana44 for the same price i got the one for the rear.

 

I would go with the 4.10's. You can pick up a brand new carrier for $100. To me there isnt enough of a price difference to justify 3.73's. If you ever plan on running a tire bigger than 33 I would say go with 4.56's. As long as you have overdrive your gas mileage won't suffer that much.
Just my .02

 

well, ive almost adjusted to the 3.55s and 33" tires, but everytime i try to race someone, i realize how slow my truck is now. i know somethings up when i can run 3rd gear out to 75mph. I have a 1975 F-250 with a 4 speed, 33s and 4.10s and with no overdrive it kinda sucks, but i think i will be OK with the 5spd. right now im still getting about 15mpg, hopefully it stays in that range with the 4.10s.

We drove around in my buddies 94 Jeep Cherokee with quadratrac over the weekend and that damn thing has to have lockers in it, we took it up to the mountains and had it places my truck wouldnt go. and it has stock size street tires. thats why im thinking about going with some sort of locker up front.

 

the problem with locking up the front end is that if you get on a side hill and spin at all you slide down it. I did put a detroit in the rear of my truck the second time I broke a stock carrier. I love the diffrence, it is night and day from the open diff I had. If you are going to do something with the front end I would reccomend an air locker or eletric locker, They are far more controlable then a detroit. If I had it to do over gaain I would do eletric lockers in the front and rear.


PS while you have diffrent gears in the front and rear, do not engage 4wd, you will break an axel, driveshaft, hub, pinion, u-joint, or something, it is just a bad idea. But you already knew that

 

dave186, I have 4.10's and wish I went with 4.30 or 4.56. You would be suprised how much gear you can tolerate Don't short youself there. Ford4fun is right about front end lockers, if you gotta have it the air locker is how I would do it again. My first experience was on a jeep cj-7, I put a mini spool in the front end, pos trac rear, could hardly drive it on the road, but that sucker could climb a phone pole
I also had a jeep cherokee, same thing, it went places that would scare my 92 f150 4x4 to death, whatever jeep does on 4x4, they do it right.

 

Check out the Detroit TruTrac torque sensing diff for the front. They offer one for the D44. It's the same principle as a Torsen, only a lot less expensive. It puts the majority of the torque to the wheel that has the load. It doesn't have any bad manners on pavement like a posi or a locker, in fact a lot of FWD racecars use a Torsen to improve both traction and handling since in a turn it tends to put more power to the outside wheel, reducing understeer. There's no clutches to wear out,it workd off a set of worm gears.

 

yah, im probably just going to go with an open diff in the front. I was thinking of a full spool, but decided that was a bad idea. Im going to see if i can pick up a carrier at a junkyard for the 44.

 

Check this out! http://www.fordtruckworld.com/forums....asp?id=187625
Brand new carrier like you need for $40 shipped.