I pulled an 8.8 for my truck out of an Explorer this morning. It's 3.73, limited slip, and disc brakes. I won't be putting it in the truck til the weather warms up, and in the meantime, I want to inspect it and make sure that it's up to par. My question is: Besides changing the diff. fluid, changing the brakes, and cleaning it up, what else should I do? Any seals or anything of that sort that should be replaced as well? This is only my second axle install, so I'm still doing a bit of learning. Thanks for any help! :)

Here's a photo:

 

Measure the backlash between the ring and pinion.

 

are you planning on a 4 inch rear drop? If you are not you need to move the spring perches and maybe the shock mounts.

 

Gotcha. Thanks
No. My truck is a lifted 4WD. I know about the perches and shock mounts needing to be re-located. I meant anything as far as maintenance goes. Thanks for your input. :)

 

You're in LA
I'm in Upstate NY. I had 16 below zero this morning.
What did you have ?
A freezing 60 degrees ?
I hand split a half face cord of wood, changed two u-joints on a friend's truck outdoors,and pulled the neighbor's truck free that was froze to the ground.
Before noon EST.
Get to work.

 

I guess you've never heard that southerners don't like cold weather. :D Today was actually a much warmer day. It's usually in the 40's. I went ahead and pulled the axle today because for one, I'm impatient, and secondly, it's supposed to rain this weekend.

 

If it's gonna rain before you get to it , if you're doing this all outside, don't pull the diff cover right away.
And when you do pull it look it over carefully. They do rust out and get thin spots.You may need to replace it.Pulling it off , then putting it back on may be enough to let it leak.

 

Thanks for the tip! What do you recommend for a replacement gasket? I used a Fel-Pro gasket for my thermostat, and that thing has been great. It required no kind of sealant whatsoever. I simply put it on and torqued the bolts down. Unless someone gives me reason not to, I'm gonna go with Fel-Pro.

 

Kind of off-topic, but where in Louisiana are you? It was 33 here this morning (Ruston).

 

Monroe :) I might be in Ruston next week for the Gloriana concert haha

 

Saw them not too long ago and they were good.

 

That's awesome. I thought I would catch a little heat for that haha. The girl I really wanted to see (Cheyenne) left. :( Anyways, I like some of their songs, and it'll get me out of the house for a little while, so I think I'm going to go.

 

My girlfriend wanted to go and I had never heard of them before the show. They were pretty good. The brunette was way hotter then the blonde I think. You'll still have something to look at!

 

Rebuild the LS, the Trac lok is only good for around 75k.

 

Check the outer bearings and seals. Make sure the pinion seal isn't leaking. And double check to make sure all rotational items spin freely without bearing noise.

And get a lube-locker gasket. Stop messing around with RTV. You'll thank me someday :)

 

+1 on the rebuild the trac loc. id go to the cobra carbon clutchs tho or some kind of locker

 

Rebuild the l/s and check all seals and bearing. Maybe need pads, rotors and calipers?

 

Thanks guys. I'd rather not do the LS rebuild myself, so I may have someone else do it. As far as the brakes, I'm hoping that the rotors are good (they look good and have no grooves), but I'll be replacing the pads.

 

Also, do I have to cut off the old leaf spring perches, or can I leave them on and just weld on new ones? I don't see them hurting anything where they are now on the bottom of the axle.

 

I hear you, its so cold in MA my OHC temp sensor was stuck at 7 all day

 

thats all personal preference bud, i think it would look like dog shiz with extra bracket sitting under there

 

Thanks. There's a weird reason for me wanting to leave them on, but I'd rather not say why.

 

Trac Lok rebuild at 4:30.

http://www.spike.com/full-episodes/b...eason-4-ep-131

 

I have a couple more questions: Will the Explorer leaf springs fit? If so, how much would they lift the rear of the truck over the stock ones?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mthomp1

I have a couple more questions: Will the Explorer leaf springs fit? If so, how much would they lift the rear of the truck over the stock ones?

Yes they fit, you just need to flip around the bolt so it will work sprung over (instead of the stock sprung under)

depends how bad your leafs are now, i gained like 2-2 1/2 inches on mine.