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Owns A Torsen
Joined: Mon Sep 18th, 2017
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The farther out the shaft sticks causes a misalignment with the brakes. BUTTTT
With the disk brake backing plate on (for an explorer) the stock torsen shaft can't be moved toward the gear far enough to install the C clip. The slot never emerges completely from the female spline.
This is because of the e-brake assembly (tucked under the disk in this ancient design) retainer clip posts are taller than they should be. I was going to grind them down a bit and probably notch the back of the area that the wheel studs are pressed in to.
I'm wondering if the longer shaft will cure all this. It is only .375 longer, the area that is ground for the roller bearing is WAY longer than that so it will still hit the bearing.
3 reasons I'm considering the longer shafts are one of the bearing surfaces is pitted on one of the torsen shafts, also that assembly thing because 3/8 is enough to see the rest of the slot for the C clip AND it is nearly impossible to find a proper shaft for this torsen without getting lucky at a junk yard. None of the normal aftermarket shaft makers I checked have one (strange, yukon).
It is funny how many flavors there is of a "Ford 8.8 rear end". Mustang has their own config, F150 has its own, and if you use the Explorer rear end which should be a drop in the spring perches are on the bottom instead of top and the shock mounts are both in one direction where a Ranger points one forward and one backward. Expo is all large tube 31 spline, Ranger is both 28 and 31 depending on which application and Mustang I believe are 28 BUT the fox bodies have 4 lugs. Grrrrr.
The only thing that truly fits them all is the ring gear. The pinion even has a couple different bearing sizes.
Why do I continue this? Because it is a 4.10 gear torsen, bolts onto a Ranger without welding anything AND I'll have to drive this 2WD truck through the winter. The 8 or 10 days it snows in this region I could be severely screwed.
Found out another little tid bit fact I have not seen anywhere on the internet yet. The 1991 open 8.8 not only was the only one with a 3.27 gear, its hub size is smaller making your later Ranger wheels lugcentric instead of riding on the hub. I had no idea there was a smaller hub size though I did know that the older rangers with the 4wd locks on the hub required a larger diameter hub on the wheel.
I did some measuring of the caliper assembly and it should have room either side of the 3/8, either shaft would work from a braking standpoint.
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