So you want a limited slip / locker in your Ranger in 2026?

[RangerXLT]

So we'll start out with some ground rules.

• I'm aware of the Explorer swap, it is well documented and a viable option, i did not want to weld nor did I really think i needed disc.
• I'm also aware of the later rear axle swaps same thoughts with added complication of 2 ABS sensors vs 1. They are also expensive.
• I'm like wise aware of the rare FX4/Off Road axles with Torsens and 31 spline axles. These in decent shape extreme rare and also expensive.
• I just wanted to eliminate one wheel peel.
• This is my advice and experience, you may follow it or not as you wish. It is not intended to be a comprehensive "How To"

I spent a lot of time in the technical articles here on TRS, I would advise the same.

First of all if your truck has an 8.8, in good shape and you aren't looking to change the gear ratio, simply find a quality 28 spline LS/Locker carrier and put it in. By quality I mean Ford, Eaton, perhaps Auburn. Particularly for Ford ones Ebay is covered up with them, you can get the clutch packs easily from FRPP and you're in business. If you use Ford carrier bearings, use quality parts and no one has previously monkeyed with it, it is highly unlikely that you will need to do anything but put back the factory shims.

1. Note: if you are reusing gears disregard everything you see on the tube of you and read about gear patterns, your goal is not to get the perfect gear pattern, a pretty good one or even an acceptable one, it is to get exactly the same pattern it had to start with.
   1. With this in mind if you are only replacing the carrier you will need to buy, beg, or borrow a magnetic dial indicator and some gear marking compound.
   2. If you're replacing pinion bearings, you'll need a way to measure the pinion depth, a beam style inlb torque wrench and a set of dial calipers. Again it's unlikely you will have to change any of this but it needs to be checked. If you're going that far, I recommend a crush sleeve eliminator.
2. Pro Tips:
   1. If you get the FRPP bearing kit with axle bearings it's usually only 10-15 dollars more.
   2. If you put the carrier in the freezer and the carrier bearings in the oven and are patient, you can do it without a press. The old axle bearing race makes a perfect carrier bearing driver after you remove the cage and rollers. The same is true for the pinion bearing if you are going that far. The piñon bearing race makes a fine driver for the new pinion seal.

Now if your truck has a 7.5 you know that LS for them are not exactly growing on trees, so your best option there is probably to find an 8.8 and go from there, if that is the case or your present 8.8 is damaged read on.

1. Know that if you're buying from a yard, hollander does not differentiate between LS or not, so you must either see the door tag or the axle tag and verify. Rangers with LS are somewhat rare in and of themselves in my experience.
2. Also note one a vehicle this old an "A grade" mechanical part basically only refers to mileage per year, a 2002 for instance can have around 170,000 miles and still be "A grade" it can also be super rusty and still be "A grade" it took me 3 rear ends from a supplier to get one the the housing was anything approaching nice.
3. My advice is to find the nicest housing you can and get that, all the internals can be replaced. If i had know what junk i was going to get from the yards I would have just pulled the one at Pul A Part that had 210,000.
4. It is highly unlikely at this point that you are going to find a Traction-Lok axle assembly that you can just put in, resign yourself to it now and be happier, if you do get one it is a bonus and buy a lottery ticket.

So here's what i ended up with, I bought a decent housing 4.10 ratio open with 160,000 miles on it. I did find a 4.10 LS (R7) but it was very rusty, to the point that the rear cover which had already been replaced once was about to rust trough again, it had wheel spacers on it and the axles and bearings were shot, the clutches were worn out. The second one was only slightly better. the third one was a nice housing and fairly clean, though they had decided to paint it poorly so I ended up stripping it and painting it. I esuntually got a good housing and a good set of gears. The axles weren't any good and one of my original 7.5 axles wasn't any good without an axle saver (the axles shafts themselves are interchangeable) so I had a choice, i could get a 31 spline Traction-Lok (or any other carrier) and have a set of custom axles made by someone like Moser with 31 splines but 28 spline axle bearing races or i could get "stock axles" and a 28 spline carrier. I was able to find a new but discontinued 28 spline Detroit Truetrac and a set of factory Ford axles for about what the custom axles and a FRPP Traction-Lok would cost. (there were multiple choices for these including Auburns, Detroit Lockers and Detroit Truetracs.)

I put this all together with new bearings from FRPP, new lines from Inline tube and a new hose from Motorcraft. As I mentioned above I checked it all when I took it apart, I put it all back together with the new bearings, the Detroit Truetrac and the factory shims, unsurprisingly everything was exactly the same except for backlash which was ,001 tighter. Perfect.

Note; there is conflicting information on the web, but since I did change the ratio I needed a programmer. You can check ahead of time to see if you have the option in the GEM, if not it's likely in the PCM and will need a calibrator or programmer. I think this happened in 2001 - 2002.

 

[Lefty]

I once had the "one wheel peel." I'm very happy with a brand new Torsen LS on my older gen 8.8 four ten.