Ford F250 Limited Slip 4x4?

[etmountianman71]

Well, I have a question for the many people on here who love getting stuck in the mud and snow.
I have a 2000 Ford F250 with the dash switch for 2h, 4h, 4L and my hubs have the manual option of "auto, lock". I have noticed that when I have trouble (getting stuck and spinning) is that i have either the passenger side wheels only spinning or rarely my driver side. I believe that my factory limited slip has worn our and I was looking at the Eaton Truetrac locker that will work better than factory but will allow normal day driving while having the closest possibility to a "true" four wheel drive or all wheel drive for around the farm work.

http://www.drivetrainshop.com/Detroit_TrueTrac_p/eat-915a550.htm

Any suggestions or thoughts.
I am tired of having an awesome work truck but only on dry ground lol.

 

[Brute 23]

Ya its wore out. Those have good reviews.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Are you locking the hubs in manually on the outside if not then i would say you have bad automatic hub seen that on my buddies truck think those auto/manual locking hubs are vaccum.activated and they leak
If not and you are manually turning them I would start with the hubs you may have one not working properly may be wore out or it may just need cleaned and greased I always used white lithium grease on the hubs because wheel bearing grease is to heavy and can make them hang up

 

[etmountianman71]

Are you locking the hubs in manually on the outside if not then i would say you have bad automatic hub seen that on my buddies truck think those auto/manual locking hubs are vaccum.activated and they leak
If not and you are manually turning them I would start with the hubs you may have one not working properly may be wore out or it may just need cleaned and greased I always used white lithium grease on the hubs because wheel bearing grease is to heavy and can make them hang up

Thanks,
Yes I am manually locking the hubs in. I have rebuilt one side hub bearing assembly and regreased the other. I really believe it is just wore out.

 

[Brute 23]

Have you priced just rebuilding the stock ones? I have a love hate relationship with after market gears.

 

[gundog10]

Nothing wrong with a tru trac but you may want to take a look at Yukon gear and axle. I have used their limited slips on four trucks and still have two in the family both 14 years of use on them. Their master rebuild kits are excellent and if nothing else download their free install guide. Good luck.

 

[Nesikep]

Is this the front diff or rear diff that you're talking about? Front diffs rarely have limited slip at all, though rear diffs it's quite common.

If the rear diff had LSD and it's not working, it's not that incredibly hard to rebuild them, you probably just need a new clutch pack in it.. so you pull the axles, pull the carrier and take it apart, and put it back together (OK, so the real process may be a little more involved)

 

[etmountianman71]

I have not yet priced the factory rebuild, will be doing that tomorrow.

I am not an expert but from what I understand the lock can go in both front and rear. I know the something is not working correctly, got stuck again today in my driveway (snow and ice still) right front and rear spinning on ice while left front and rear was on gravels. Going nowhere. Transfer case is working so it has to be down to the diffs and hubs. Fun Fun.
Sounds easy enough to do. Very frustrating i tell you that.

 

[Nesikep]

you must have had something spinning on the rear! Perhaps you didn't see the passenger rear spin?

I can drive my truck on darned near sheer ice with a limited slip rear and 4x4, and we aren't too flat out here.

Sure, a true-track or any other locking unit is nice.. I wouldn't mind having one, but they're some big $$$. I'd start with checking your rear diff fluid for metal.. if your clutches are that worn I'm wondering how everything else looks.

What's the mileage on the truck?

 

[lavacarancher]

I think Nesi is correct about limited slip on the front. I may be very wrong about this but I don't believe the factory installs limited slip on the front. As I understand it the vehicle will become unstable if the front locks and unlocks (alternately delivering power to the left then right steering wheels) while driving on patchy slick surfaces. The rear is a different story. As Nesi mentioned, the rebuild gets complicated and requires mics, etc to properly set the engagement between the ring gear and the pinion. Then theres setting the pinion depth with a crush sleeve. You said the truck is an F250? You could have a broken axle since the HD 3/4 ton trucks have floater axles you would never know it. It's very easy to check the axle since it will come out simply by removing the 8 or so bolts holding the axle to the hub.

Good luck.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

Any chance you just need a fluid change with limited slip additive? When I bought my 01 f-250 the limited slip would not work till I changed the fluid and put in the additive. Might be something cheap to try before you get too involved.

 

[Judge Sharpe]

If the Locker is out, I bet you can get a used one and just slide it on. I have done this with a F150 when the clutch pack went out. It was MUCH less expensive than repairing /rebuilding the damaged rear end.

 

[Nesikep]

If he can move in 2wd it eliminates broken axles or a problem in the rearend that would be causing NEITHER wheel to spin.

In the front I wouldn't put a locker, but perhaps a limited slip would be a tolerable since they engage nicely.

I've done the rearend on my truck and my friends.. I don't imagine just changing out clutch packs would be terribly expensive, and if the crown and pinion are in good shape, just leave well enough alone as far as the setup goes, keep the same shims on the same side and you don't have to muck with setting it back up. Crush sleeve wouldn't have to be replaced if the pinion isn't messed with either, though if you're into it that far perhaps it's a good idea to change the input shaft seal... but the crush sleeve MUST be replaced any time you fiddle with the pinion nut.. they're only usable ONCE, and they're serious about that!

 

[Kingfisher]

If the Locker is out, I bet you can get a used one and just slide it on. I have done this with a F150 when the clutch pack went out. It was MUCH less expensive than repairing /rebuilding the damaged rear end.

Good used/recycle housing assembly are expensive today. Not saying that's a bad choice just saying you would be shocked at their value.

 

[Hook]

Try putting a little pressure on the brake pedal. It tricks the ls and locks both sides.

 

[etmountianman71]

you must have had something spinning on the rear! Perhaps you didn't see the passenger rear spin?

I can drive my truck on darned near sheer ice with a limited slip rear and 4x4, and we aren't too flat out here.

Sure, a true-track or any other locking unit is nice.. I wouldn't mind having one, but they're some big $$$. I'd start with checking your rear diff fluid for metal.. if your clutches are that worn I'm wondering how everything else looks.

What's the mileage on the truck?

I got so mad got out of the truck while it was still spinning ( i know that was stupid but it was the only way to validate the two passengers were the only tires spinning). Verified this two times.
Mileage is 220K.

I went to Ford today and found:
You were right about the front diff not having a limited slip and should not put one in (even though they do make them). They told me the front is probably a vacuum related issue (pump or hub).
The rear does have a limited slip with 373 gear and is probably the clutches and they cost $218 (just the clutches). He also told me that the special fluid was optional (did not sound right to me)Of course they wanted me to bring it in and let them look it over for the hourly fee of $87 and that could be applied towards if they fix it.
I have some thinking to do on it but will have to decide soon, thanks so much for your suggestions.

 

[Kingfisher]

I was about to say you have two problems....
Just curious how did you " get out of the truck" with it spinning?
Have you checked the vacuum to the hub? I don't know about a ford but a Chevy posi trac will get lazy if the additive/oil gets used up. Maybe you should inspect the clutches...

 

[Hook]

The hubs run off vacuum so if you lost it to one the other wouldn't switch in either. They aren't on isolated systems. Lock the hubs manually and see what happens. On the slip additive...you absolutely need it.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I was about to say you have two problems....
Just curious how did you " get out of the truck" with it spinning?
Have you checked the vacuum to the hub? I don't know about a ford but a Chevy posi trac will get lazy if the additive/oil gets used up. Maybe you should inspect the clutches...

Probaly a manual, he just left it in gear and got out. I used to feed square bales off of the back of a truck by myself like this for years. Put it in four low, jump on the back and throw out bales. Hop out and turn around when I got to the end of the field.