fx4 axle

[jlracing]

Does anyone know where I can find a exploded view of the fx4 rear end. Sounds like maybe my spiders lost a tooth but i'm not sure what the torsion rear end looks like. Have not opened it yet.

For parts, any 8.8 exploder 31 spline would work right (4.10 gears)


Thanks
Jason

 

[c_note]

you gotta be shittin me. my rearend just took a dump and i finished putting in my explorer rearend in maybe 20 minutes ago.
my fx4 torsen diff shot the bolt through the diff cover while i was on the freeway. what happened in your situation?

 

[jlracing]

My fault probably, my pinion bearings have been humming for a bit and i've been putting it off. Truck was hung up on snow last week and I was rocking it back and forth when i could he the rear end all of a sudden popping and clicking so i just called for a tow.

What kind of a swap was it to switch to the exploder carrier? Are there many with the 4.10 gears or is it rare?

Carrier
l/s or open gears


I'm guessing you keeped the fx4 axle since there both 31 spline. What did you do for shimming it? I went to one shop and they told me just to take the shims form the other housing and put it all in mine the same way as the other and it should be ok. They've done it many times he said. Kinda scares me....

 

[c_note]

i swapped the whole rearend to the explorer with disc brakes and a l/s. i need to swap the gears and when i do that im not gonna just transfer one carrier to the other with the same shims. i might buy a new bearing kit but if not im gonna measure everything and make sure its done properly unlike the way u said that shop does it. every housing might be off by .001" to .002" from the other, which could be enough to throw you off. id seriously consider going to another shop!

btw, open it up and look to see what was making the noise. im sure it was the bolts on the carrier. since the Torsen differentials have worm gears rather than spider gears, i dont think it broke a tooth. maybe well have to call torsen and ford one right after the other and see what we can do about getting a replacement carrier.

 

[tbars]

...a buddy of mine bought a torsen and r & p off another ranger board...i told him it had a problem when he bought it and the seller didn't say anything to him...it busted the teeth on the r&p...
...from what you guys are describing it sounds like this may be common???...

 

[metalmacguyver]

there was a reason that they issued the recall on it.

 

[tbars]

...if i remember correctly the ones that were recalled were made prior to feb 4, 02...the one my buddy bought was not on the recall list...

 

[Bent Bolt]

The carrier was weak prior to that date. AFAIK, the R&P was ok. I know of a few guys that took those recalled carriers and installed them in their F-150's. Didn't last very long.

 

[kenneth074]

If I were you, I would check the serial # that is scribed on the differential case. The reason I say this is that mine blew up about a month ago when I was driving and almost caused an accident. So, you could have a recalled unit. Even though I have an automatic tranny, I contacted Torsen about the LSD and the unit I have was recalled according to the serial #. The recalled units have "9700" at the beginning of the serial #. Also according to Torsen, Ford knew about this but Ford ONLY decided to recall manual transmission due to initial torque and did not think the automatic tranny would be a problem. I have an official email from Torsen regarding this.

So if I were you I would open the diff up and find out what is wrong and find the serial # you have. This is apparently becoming a problem and a real safety issue.

Regards,

FX4Ken

 

[jlracing]

Do you mine the vin number or is there a number on the torsen unit itself?

Thanks

 

[tbars]

...if i remember correctly, it is an etched in number...

 

[kenneth074]

Yes, the serial number is etched into the case itself. FYI: If the serial number has "9701, 9702, 9703, etc..." in the beginning, these are the good units.

 

[c_note]

well apperently my torsen was repaced back when the recall came out, but they just repaced it with another torsen. from my understanding, a recall is called off when all the units have been replaced. so i guess this just means that torsen is just plain ole junk.

 

[jlracing]

Ok, so ford wouldn't know by the vin number then? I still have not taken it apart cause I have not found out enough info yet and a donar if it's bad.

 

[jlracing]

I hear that there a quite a few exploder's with the 4.10's. What models and years are more common to find? Ex. 5sp-auto, sport-xlt, 2-4 door, 2wd- 4wd? I have checked around 12 so far and found mostly 3.27, 3.55, and 3.73.

I've been going by the axle code on the doors which are
#41 3.27op
#43 3.08op
#44 3.55op
#45 3.73op
d1 3.27ls
d2 4.10ls
d3 3.73ls
d4 3.73ls


And also still looking for a diagram of the torsen diff, I can't find anything on these little units.


Thanks

Jason