Hi everyone. I need some help. I went on a 9 hour roundtrip drive last night to pick up mh new wheels. My truck a 98 Mazda B4000 ran like a champ until I decided to take a dirt road shortcut 5 miles from home. As I pulled into the dirt road I switched to 4 Hi. There was a clunk and the truck immediately started pulling to the right. I tried switching it back to 2wd and to 4hi back and forth several times thinking maybe just my hubs were stuck, but no such luck. The truck felt like it was stuck in 4 low and pulled to the right hard the rest of the way home which was around 5 miles half of which was dry pavement. I kept the truck slow hoping to avoid any further damage. When I got home it was 2 am so I just poked my head under the truck for a quick look. It appears the front pinion seal is leaking as well as both of the hubs where the cv axle goes into them. I'm gonna pull the hubs and diff cover this weekend to see what I can find. Any ideas why it would be stuck in 4wd? And pulling to the right? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Well I think I foound the problem. I crawled under the truck today and from the tags on my diffs it appears i have 3.73 gears in the front and a 7.5 w. 4.10's in the rear. Guess i need a new front diff w 4.10's and might as well do manual hubs while I'm at it.

 

Why are they mismatched? From the previous owner, or did you swap in a different rear axle/gears?

 

It was done by the previous owner. Does anyone know whether my truck should have had 3.73 or 4.10 origionally? I prefer to keep the 4.10 since I'm gonna be running 32's. Is it worth putting in some sort of traction aid in the front only? Any front diff with a 4.10 from 98 on should fit right?

 

98-00 front differential will work. 2000.5+ have live axles, no "hub". you don't need the entire diff, just the gears but its easier to swap the whole diff.

 

Thanks for the help guys. A few more questions. If I just replace the whole front diff and reuse my axles then anything from 98 up with 4.10's should fit right? While my truck is down I'm gonna service the transfer case, tranny, and rear. Is there a way of counting teeth on the rear ring gear or someway of telling if I have 4.10s in the rear for sure?

 

I dont know about counting the teeth but there should be a tag on your differential cover as well as an axle code on your door jam sticker. if both show up to be the same its 99% that you have the ratio it represented by the diff tag and axle code. if you use your axles from the 98, a 2000.5+ will, im pretty sure, require different axles



JUSTIN CHIME IN. EYE SEA YEW

 

Ok so I checked my axle code which is RC 81 which corresponds to a 8.8 L/S w 3.73's. I assume someone put the 7.5 in there so they could sell it to me. I think I need to find a front and rear w/ 4.10's.
I'm not having any luck finding anywhere w 4.10 ring and pinion for sale for the front.

 

explorers have the same front end.. also their rear axels can be swaped over too if you wanna go throw the hassel of rewelding the spring perches

 

Thanks guys. I think I may get a used front diff w/ 4.10s. I found one for $325 shipped seems steep to me, but I cant seem to find 4.10s or a locker for the front anywhere. Any idea of vendors for that stuff.

 

i would find an explorer 8.8 with 4.10s and ls rear and get the front diff too and swap in both get rid of that 7.5

 

I'd get the LS rebuilt or just get a new one all together.

 

^^ agree

 

I found an R7 code axle out of an FX4. How much work will it be to swap? Is it just bolt in?