Control Trac system??

[85_Ranger4x4]

Yes i get that. But it was still AWD when you selected "A4WD". When the rears slipped the fronts grabbed automatically.

AWD is where you have something in the t-case so the front and rear drivelines don't bind up. A differential or viscous coupling, something so there is give.

4wd is where you have a chain or gear driven t-case where there is no mercy and the truck bucks when you turn too tight.

I suspect you had automatic 4wd not automatic AWD.

My wife's Edge has automatic AWD.

 

[Otis413]

Single leaf steel springs...

Getting it home was a bit of a chore, used a tow-bar, got a few miles down the road and the rear started seizing up.. I thought at first the brakes were draging but turned out the dif was Hot and dry of oil. I popped the cover off and not a drop came out. I think I toasted the pinion bearings. Ended up taking out the spider gears, (not the ones with the C clips of course) refilling the dif and made it the rest of the way home with no trouble.
The ring and pinion look good but I'll prob have to replace all the bearings...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Any sign of where the oil went?

It doesn't just evaporate.

Am I seeing the remains of springs below the single leaf? Like it original had 5 leaves?

 

[Otis413]

Rust pin holes in the dif cover, it sat under a tree for 5 years and must have slowly drained out. The guy pulled it out to his driveway before I came to get it so I didn't see any sign on the ground..
Lesson learned.
Luckily I had a spare cover that I had welded a barrel bung into for a fill hole, I was going to put it on my Ranger next oil change. So I had to drive home and get that and some oil, only had two qts but that seemed to work out with no spider gears.
The little pieces under the single leaf look factory, cut evenly and the same rust as the main leaf, I guess they're there for a spacer for the shock mount plate.

 

[pacodiablo]

I had a 1995 Sport with the earliest version of Control Trac. In that one it used a vacuum operated coupling on the front axle tube and the switch had 2WD, 4 Auto, and 4 Lo (later ones had 4 Auto, 4 Hi, 4 Lo). It was supposed to engage/disengage the coupling on the fly as it detected wheel slippage, but it really worked better if I just treated it like 4 Hi. At low speeds off road it always engaged when I needed it to and worked like it was supposed to, but it didn't really like to be left in Auto mode and would flash the 4WD light if I got over maybe 30-35 MPH. Something was up with it, but I never looked into it.

Mine had the monoleafs too, and I think all Sports might have them from '95-'03.

 

[Snoranger]

I had a 1995 Sport with the earliest version of Control Trac. In that one it used a vacuum operated coupling on the front axle tube and the switch had 2WD, 4 Auto, and 4 Lo (later ones had 4 Auto, 4 Hi, 4 Lo). It was supposed to engage/disengage the coupling on the fly as it detected wheel slippage, but it really worked better if I just treated it like 4 Hi. At low speeds off road it always engaged when I needed it to and worked like it was supposed to, but it didn't really like to be left in Auto mode and would flash the 4WD light if I got over maybe 30-35 MPH. Something was up with it, but I never looked into it.

Mine had the monoleafs too, and I think all Sports might have them from '95-'03.

On that version, when you switched to 4Auto it engaged the vacuum disconnect, then locked in the transfer case with the electromagnet/bearing ramp system as needed. A slight mismatch in tire height (even same size, different brand tires) could have caused the issue you had.

 

[Ranger850]

For my curiosity and the sake of discussion, What is the best true AWD system that Ford makes. I'm asking because I haul scrap and debris in the bed and/or trailer and sometimes traction is an issue. I would like it to switch seamlessly, without me even knowing, between 2, 4, and All wheel drive. Is that even possible?
What would be even better is if I could switch From 2wd to Awd with the little OD button by the thumb actuator, that would be sweet.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

There was a TC in the early 90's Aerostar that I want to use in my racetruck. It has power 30% to the front and 70% to the back and has a differential so can be driven on the street while engaged. IIRC it's a Dana20. I don't know if it's the best.

 

[8thTon]

This is the definition of a real AWD system - it has a center dif and some form of LS or viscous coupling and is already driving power to both axles. It's not waiting to sense a loss of traction before sending power, it's sending power so a loss if traction doesn't happen. But for this to work your front axle must already be engaged, with the associated increased friction, and mileage will suck.

The key is having a center dif. Even an open dif is sending power up until traction is lost. The LS or viscous coupling are reactive too, in that they don't function until slip starts to occur. But at least they react fast and they can begin to transfer power proportionately unlike some wheel speed sensor and clutch system.

So you need a center dif to prevent traction loss, and then something to fix it up once a wheel begins to slip. And money to pay for the fuel.

 

[Ranger850]

There was a TC in the early 90's Aerostar that I want to use in my racetruck. It has power 30% to the front and 70% to the back and has a differential so can be driven on the street while engaged. IIRC it's a Dana20. I don't know if it's the best.

This seems like what I would want too. and I think hooked up to a V8 gas mileage wouldn't be that big of a deal... right?
still like the idea of an awd actuator button for better traction purposes, but this also sounds a lot like "4-lo"

 

[adsm08]

There was a TC in the early 90's Aerostar that I want to use in my racetruck. It has power 30% to the front and 70% to the back and has a differential so can be driven on the street while engaged. IIRC it's a Dana20. I don't know if it's the best.

This seems like what I would want too. and I think hooked up to a V8 gas mileage wouldn't be that big of a deal... right?
still like the idea of an awd actuator button for better traction purposes, but this also sounds a lot like "4-lo"

The red section isn't describing anything like 4-low.

Think of high range as the transfer case being in 4th gear, because that's basically what it is. 4th gear in the trans locks the input and output shafts together and 100% of the engine revolution flows in the front and out the back. In lower gears only a fraction of the engine revolutions go out.

In high range the transfer case puts 100% of the transmission's revolutions through to which ever outputs are engaged, front or rear.

Low range is roughly the equivalent of putting the transfer case in 1st gear. Only a fraction of the revolutions going into it come back out.


The system that was described is a torque split. All of the revolutions make it out, but only part of the power. I don't quite understand the mechanics/physics of how that is done, but it probably involves a fluid coupler of some sort.

 

[8thTon]

Lo range is just a gear reduction.

 

[Ranger850]

still like the idea of an awd actuator button for better traction purposes, but this also sounds a lot like "4-lo"

That's better.

I wasn't saying the red text sounds like 4lo. The push button thingy sounds like 4lo. Sorry for rhetoric confusion, but I think I'm starting to wrap my head around the concept of 4wd and/or Awd for practical uses.

 

[Snoranger]

I've always want to see if the rear case half of a 44-05 Explorer case would bolt up to the front of a 13-54 Ranger case. I know that a lot of the internals are interchangeable. If it can be, you can build a 13-54 manual shift with a push button on the shifter to engage "auto" 4wd when ever you want.

 

[don4331]

There was a TC in the early 90's Aerostar that I want to use in my racetruck. It has power 30% to the front and 70% to the back and has a differential so can be driven on the street while engaged. IIRC it's a Dana20. I don't know if it's the best.

Dana 28 is the Aerostar AWD transfer case. Dana 20 is the 2nd generation Jeep transfer case; Dana 18 being the original.

While it wasn't stock Ford, the NP 242 in my truck gets my $$$ as best: 2WD, AWD, 4WD, Neutral, lo-AWD and lo-4WD. 48 Front/50 Rear split (doesn't add up to 100 but that is actual gear ratio). But a NP242 needs the adapter on Ranger transmission to bolt to the std 6 bolt pattern; I have a 4R70W behind the V-8, so no issue.