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Any Point of Swapping An Axle to get the Limited Slip Differential? 1988 Bronco 2


Blmpkn

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2023
Make / Model
Ford Bronco
Engine Type
2.3 EcoBoost
Engine Size
2.3
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
2.5"
Tire Size
285/75/18
My credo
Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
My old turbo subaru outback was the most fun in the snow. It had been swapped with an sti drivetrain so it had lsd front and rear and I could lock the center diff in a 50/50 power split.

Burned so much gas in that car just driving around in the snow for fun.
 


wildbill23c

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1987
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Ford Ranger
Engine Type
2.9 V6
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Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Total Lift
0
Total Drop
0
Tire Size
215/70-R14
My credo
19K, 19D, 92Y, 88M, 91F....OIF-III (2004-2005)
If you want a really wild ride, get a limited slip or locker in the front and the rear. I had a f150 that had this from the factory. The front was really locked good, I think it may have been from rust, when I first got the truck it was dry as a bone in the front diff.

But that truck was crazy to drive in the snow. If you went into a sharp turn or wanted to turn into a driveway or a side road, you had to come to a complete stop. If you didn't, with the wheels turned all the way in the direction you wanted to go, you just went right on by the entrance. Come to a stop and then hit the gas and you were then going in the right direction. Went into the ditch several times on turns till I figured this out.

Then you are going down the road, snow is pretty deep, you are floating on top. Back of the truck is empty. Going straight down the road, you could turn the steering wheel, with your foot on the gas, and instead of the front of the truck turning, the rearend would come around. You could actually turn the steering wheel back and forth as you went down the road, and the rear of the truck would swish back and forth, the front would stay straight. As you got used to it, it made going around turns interesting. You could turn the wheel not in the direction of the turn, but opposite, You needed the whole road so you had to make sure no one was coming, but you could swish the rearend around in the turn, straighten the wheel and hit the gas and convert a gradual curve in the road to a square corner. A little bit of fun once you learned how to control it.
My Jeep Grand Cherokee just has a rear limited slip, in full time 4WD mode it'll slide sideways on you very easily if you aren't careful and get carried away with the skinny pedal LOL. In part time 4WD mode its not nearly as bad, it'll still do it but its not quite as touchy. Now that I'm used to how it handles I have no problem at all, but first time in the snow I was like what the hell is going on my previous Grand Cherokee handled awesome in snow/ice this one should too...then it made me think, maybe I should do some research and find out what the heck is going on. With Jeeps there's a site you can enter a VIN and it'll give you a PDF build sheet for your vehicle (All Chrysler vehicles actually from I think 95 and up)....so the build sheet revealed a rear limited slip...well now I know its not something wrong with the vehicle, and now I just drive it with the limited slip in mind in snow/ice and have no problems at all...it does help in the snow/ice if you are careful, but it can get sketchy on sloping roads where they've crowned the roads it'll want to pull you toward the ditch LOL. With the new tires its not nearly as bad, and I think I need to add some friction modifier to lighten the clutch bite up a little.
 

JerryC

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I had an early ranger bought new back in the early 80's with front and rear LS. I lived in the Wash DC area and I drove it through snow and ice without any of the problems described here. Stock and with a suspension lift and big tires. Wheeled it offroad a lot. We lived off a long downhill road that had a good crown in it. I pulled lots of cars out of the ditch on that road with that Ranger. Seems that most people never learn that with the brakes on you can't steer on ice.
My current BII I have has a factory LS in the rear only. Memphis doesn't get much snow but gets lots of iced over roads. It's got P235/75/15 snow rated General Grabber AT2's and I haven't needed 4wd. 4wd makes driving much easier on the steep hills but unless I try to get stuck 2wd gets the job done.
Back then my parents had an 86 BII with open diffs and it was good in the snow but it stayed home in the really bad stuff and I went out in the Ranger. I had that 86 for a few years and couple of Dallas ice storms and it did ok but it was a long ways from what my current BII can do.

I will admit that it could be that biggest difference is the tires and not the LS diff. Those OEM Goodyear Wranglers that Ford loved to install weren't the default tire because they were a great tire :) But in the end, IMHO, a LS diff is worth it and every truck I bought new had it optioned until traction control came along and then I optioned a selectable locker over a LS. That was a 2013 F150 2wd and there were times on the ice here where that F150 wouldn't get going in TC alone and it took the locker to get moving.
(Sidetrack rambling...) it was that F150 that trailered my BII home from Dallas when I bought it because I thought it was nuts risking the F150 on the ice and I needed a "beater" instead. LOL, my "beater" has a ton of money sunk into it now.
 

Blmpkn

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Ford Bronco
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2.3 EcoBoost
Engine Size
2.3
Transmission
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2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
2.5"
Tire Size
285/75/18
My credo
Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
In my experience traction control is more of a hindrance than a help. I pull the abs fuse the first time it snows to completely disable all the nanny systems or the truck is next to useless trying to get going on a hill, even with 10 gallons of sand and my summer set of wheels/tires in the back.

Snow requires momentum, having an idiot computer kill power at the littlest hint of wheelspin isnt usually conducive to keeping it gaining momentum lol.

Plus, gotta pull that fuse to do donuts and shit and no winter is complete without that nonsense.
 

racsan

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2WD
Tire Size
235/70/16
My credo
the grey-t escape
I hate “traction control” The escape has a switch for it and every time I drive it I turn that damn thing off. not fond of abs brakes either. My truck has had the abs light on since I got it, stops just fine though. When I put the “new” rear axle assy in I thought maybe the light would go away but nope.
 

wildbill23c

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Ford Ranger
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Transmission
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2WD
Total Lift
0
Total Drop
0
Tire Size
215/70-R14
My credo
19K, 19D, 92Y, 88M, 91F....OIF-III (2004-2005)
I had an early ranger bought new back in the early 80's with front and rear LS. I lived in the Wash DC area and I drove it through snow and ice without any of the problems described here. Stock and with a suspension lift and big tires. Wheeled it offroad a lot. We lived off a long downhill road that had a good crown in it. I pulled lots of cars out of the ditch on that road with that Ranger. Seems that most people never learn that with the brakes on you can't steer on ice.
My current BII I have has a factory LS in the rear only. Memphis doesn't get much snow but gets lots of iced over roads. It's got P235/75/15 snow rated General Grabber AT2's and I haven't needed 4wd. 4wd makes driving much easier on the steep hills but unless I try to get stuck 2wd gets the job done.
Back then my parents had an 86 BII with open diffs and it was good in the snow but it stayed home in the really bad stuff and I went out in the Ranger. I had that 86 for a few years and couple of Dallas ice storms and it did ok but it was a long ways from what my current BII can do.

I will admit that it could be that biggest difference is the tires and not the LS diff. Those OEM Goodyear Wranglers that Ford loved to install weren't the default tire because they were a great tire :) But in the end, IMHO, a LS diff is worth it and every truck I bought new had it optioned until traction control came along and then I optioned a selectable locker over a LS. That was a 2013 F150 2wd and there were times on the ice here where that F150 wouldn't get going in TC alone and it took the locker to get moving.
(Sidetrack rambling...) it was that F150 that trailered my BII home from Dallas when I bought it because I thought it was nuts risking the F150 on the ice and I needed a "beater" instead. LOL, my "beater" has a ton of money sunk into it now.
A couple years ago we had about 2 feet of snow so I was in 4WD for about a month in my Toyota Tundra, Bronco 2 was useless due to a blown manual locking hub, and summer tires LOL. However, after I got the hub replaced, in 4WD the Bronco 2 did manage to get through the crusty snow/ice without too much trouble, but this coming winter I plan on upgrading to some Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S tires like I put on my Jeep they're doing great on the Jeep, thought I'd throw a set on the Bronco 2 as well...I haven't had any snow/ice issues as far as getting stuck but I don't want to get one of those "lunchbox" lockers that sound like a bag of marbles every time you turn either. I'd like to have a factory limited slip for no more than my Bronco 2 would ever see I think it would probably be fine. Now that I have gotten used to the way the Jeep handles in snow/ice with the limited slip it don't bother me, the first time it went sideways and tried turning itself around was an eye opener though LOL...not nearly as bad as our M1009 CUCV Blazer we had at our armory though, that thing had some weird option of a front and rear Detroit Locker in it talk about paying attention driving that thing in snow and ice LOL.
 

Glen James

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I'm not doing a lift and huge tires, or anything like that, its a daily driver, mostly on the highway so swapping a bunch of stuff for a totally different axle size wouldn't make any sense, just wondered if having a LS differential would be of any benefit especially for the winter months. Swapping an axle straight from another B2 would make more sense than trying to fit another axle from a different vehicle that doesn't belong, and that would require modifications to get it to work...not in the books/budget to do that type of work, a simple swap between 2 of the same vehicle would be as far as I'd take it LOL.
The ranger 3L73 Axel's are about 2"narrower than the ones in the B2
 

truckerdawg

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GA via NC Mtns.
Vehicle Year
1990
Make / Model
ford
Engine Type
4.0 V6
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
4"
Tire Size
31X10.50
Lived on worked on Beech Mtn, NC. Go to work in the morning-no snow, left work and maybe 10 inches of snow on very steep mountain roads by the end of the day. Yes, the 373LS is a much wanted upgrade over the open diff with no drawbacks. Drove in mud and rocky terrains too with no problem. Since my motor is built a little, I could spin both rear tires a good piece with my limited slip-not that I suggest that! I had an open differential BII also.
 

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