Best 2wd Daily Driver Rear End

Steves0118 · Mar 30, 2009

My father-in-law just bought a new-er Ranger. He is going from a 1998 4 cylinder, 2WD, 5-speed to a 2005 3.0L V6, 2WD, Automatic. He lives in Iowa and is concearned about winter driving with an automatic transmission. The new-er Ranger has a door code "97" rear axle (8.8" 4.10 open differential). He asked me about changing the rear end. This will be a daily driver and he wants something reliable and cheap. What would you recommend? Would a stock tracloc swap be a good upgrade?

I read some comments about the Powertrax that said they ratchet through corners. Since it is a daily driver this will not be acceptable.

Thanks,
Steve

fastpakr · Mar 30, 2009

Tracloc would be good, but the best would be a Torsen (available in the FX4 Level 2) or Detroit Tru-Trac geared limited slip diff.

Mac · Mar 30, 2009

The Power-Trax comes in two versions, the No-Slip is the reccomended for more of a street type application. I've had one in my auto 4.0L 4x4 for over 30K miles here thru the Wisconsin Winters and had no problem. Easy to set-up and do right in your drive-way.
Dave

locovaca · Mar 30, 2009

I just went through my first Iowa winter with a 3.73 open diff. Traction wasnt a huge problem, didn't even get any sand tubes, but dealing with the winds on the open fields was. The cheap option is to just load up some sand tubes over the wheel wells to get some traction. But again, no differential is going to make driving in 25-30 mph cross winds on snow/ice any easier.

85_Ranger4x4 · Apr 1, 2009

Why does an automatic make him worry about winter driving?

A factory tracloc would be great, I would just stick in a axle that came with it, keep an eye on what gears are in it though. If they are different it his spedometer will be off.

86ford · Apr 1, 2009

85_Ranger4x4 said:
Why does an automatic make him worry about winter driving?

A factory tracloc would be great, I would just stick in a axle that came with it, keep an eye on what gears are in it though. If they are different it his spedometer will be off.

It is MUCH easier to control a manual trans in the snow IF the driver is skilled. If the drivers driving skills are terrible they should have an automatic. I agree hands down, get a 5speed!

86

85_Ranger4x4 · Apr 1, 2009

86ford said:
It is MUCH easier to control a manual trans in the snow IF the driver is skilled. If the drivers driving skills are terrible they should have an automatic. I agree hands down, get a 5speed!

86

Meh, I have drove automatics in Iowa for years, so far I have kept it between the lines.

It is one less thing to think about, I have driven a FWD 5-speed that I had for awhile thru worst stuff than I have with my 4x4's, it did nothing for me in winter. Sure you can downshift to slow down... you can with an automatic too.

People also almost always think they they are a better driver than they are...

pdmustgt · Apr 2, 2009

Snow this year in Iowa naa we didn't too much of it

. Unlike in the past 3 years plus the blizzard 2 years ago. Damn near bury my truck in a hugh snow driff. Seen the snow was at the bottom of the mail box. After the blizzard they plowed it and it was turned into 8 foot deep drift 300 ft long. Thats what I get for screwing around on the country roads in a blizzard just west of des moines.

I had trac-loc in it at that time I just put Torsen diff in 2 weeks ago.

86ford · Apr 2, 2009

85_Ranger4x4 said:
Meh, I have drove automatics in Iowa for years, so far I have kept it between the lines.

It is one less thing to think about, I have driven a FWD 5-speed that I had for awhile thru worst stuff than I have with my 4x4's, it did nothing for me in winter. Sure you can downshift to slow down... you can with an automatic too.

People also almost always think they they are a better driver than they are...

Your welcome to come out and wheel with us any time. I betcha change your tune.

86

locovaca · Apr 2, 2009

pdmustgt said:
Snow this year in Iowa naa we didn't too much of it . Unlike in the past 3 years plus the blizzard 2 years ago. Damn near bury my truck in a hugh snow driff. Seen the snow was at the bottom of the mail box. After the blizzard they plowed it and it was turned into 8 foot deep drift 300 ft long. Thats what I get for screwing around on the country roads in a blizzard just west of des moines.

I had trac-loc in it at that time I just put Torsen diff in 2 weeks ago.

You should visit the Eastern side of the state more often. We hit our season average of snow by the middle of January, and got 46" (vs. 33" normal) for the entire season. My wife's first winter (she's from NC)

JohnnyO · Apr 2, 2009

I would get the No-Slip, for a locker it is pretty smooth. Proper snow tires like Blizzaks make a huge difference too, and get four of them. Got Blizzaks on my wife's Taurus and it goes as good in snow, even deep stuff, as my truck and probably stops better (the OE Goodyears are horrible at braking in snow).
BFG and Pro Comp All-Terrains are very good in snow if he wants to keep the same tires on year-round.
An upside to the Ford automatic is that if you put it in 2nd gear, you will start out in 2nd gear. This is useful to get rolling if things are really slippery.

85_Ranger4x4 · Apr 2, 2009

86ford said:
Your welcome to come out and wheel with us any time. I betcha change your tune.

86

Wheeling has very little to do with how a 2wd truck behaves on the street in snow.

JohnnyO said:
An upside to the Ford automatic is that if you put it in 2nd gear, you will start out in 2nd gear. This is useful to get rolling if things are really slippery.

I do that all the time in my F-150, it really makes a difference. It has to be an electronically controlled transmixer though, my vacuum shift Ranger still starts in first and will only shift up to second in second gear.

85_Ranger4x4 · Apr 2, 2009

pdmustgt said:
Snow this year in Iowa naa we didn't too much of it . Unlike in the past 3 years plus the blizzard 2 years ago. Damn near bury my truck in a hugh snow driff. Seen the snow was at the bottom of the mail box. After the blizzard they plowed it and it was turned into 8 foot deep drift 300 ft long. Thats what I get for screwing around on the country roads in a blizzard just west of des moines.

I had trac-loc in it at that time I just put Torsen diff in 2 weeks ago.

Yeah, I would almost rather have a blizzard than some of the crap we got this year...

I think there was only one storm that I really needed to blade the driveway aside from knocking down the snowplow wall they leave at the end, the rest was an excuse to play with the tractor. :yahoo:

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