My Ford Ranger again

[GPster]

It may be time to refer to my on-line FREE Hollander manual again. The rear end under my '89 Ford Ranger is noisy (clanks when you put it in-to gear). I've noticed it lately because I've been driving with the passenger window rolled down. To see how bad it had become, I parked the truck with the motor off and the auto trans in neutral and the emergency brake set. The drive shaft can be turned a considerable amount (between an 1/8 and 1/4 turn). The pinion seal is not wet and the pinion has no side-ways movement so I'm wondering if this slop is mostly in the spider gears as it's an open not posi rear end. The door tag says the rearend is a code 87 and I checked it one time I think that code is 4:11 gear. This truck is long bed with a normal cab and the 23000CC engine and automatic transmission. Things like emergency brake cable length would not present a problem because mine are new and could be swapped to a different rearend. I'd like to know how many year rear ends will swap and if that code 87 is the same for other years. The local Bulletin Board comes out today and I'll look at the "Parting Out" Ford Ranger ads but I need the interchanges and I'd rather not ask my local junk yard with the intent to buy somewhere else. I could just roll the window up but it's 250 miles each way to the "Crosley Build". Dropping a rearend (truck's not mine) along the way might make it hard to contribute any more. Got an answer? GPster

[wayne petty]

start here....

http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/index.php


i will see if i can find some direct information...

have you thought about pulling the diff cover?

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Explorer8_8.html

i would think .. it could be slop in the spider gears... did you run different sized tires on the rear for a while...    

checked the lube?? lately?


http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/setting_backlash.htm


here is an article with pictures of what you are going to see

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/spring2008/7_5_lockright.htm

you will also need a 5/16 or 8MM, 6 point wrench to loosen and remove the cross pin bolt...   you also might want to pick up a replacement.. if you end up doing work inside..   they do break off.. usually at the last thread... so you have to use a carbide scribe to back the broken piece out after you center the cross pin to reduce pressure on the pin end of the bolt...

   
Brand:   Dorman - HELP! - Carded #81048  
Type:   Differential Shaft Lock Bolt
Make:   Ford 2007-65 / GM 1994-90
OE #:   D8BZ 4241-B, 393132, 14056196


if you need a replacement...

here is the interchange list and ID list

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Axles.html


i hope this helps.....

[wayne petty]

and one more...

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Fall2003/Out_with_the_old_in_with_the_new.htm

[GPster]

Well I made a reply but it got lost. I'm hestant to pull the inspection cover just yet because it took so much work to get it so it wouldn't leak. But since it doesn't leak now the fluid level should be OK. It's always had stock size tires on it. I book marked the ranger site and I'll have to read it closer to see if I would try to change spider gears. It looks like it might be the same rearend from '83 to '92 with the exception of some having an electronic sensor. Mine does and maybe it's part of my anti-spin idiot light. I'll continue thinking about it, maybe more so when I don't have three grandkids helping. GPster

[wayne petty]

Felpro / Axle Housing Gasket
Part Number: RDS55393
Application: WAC or WFM axle (Prefix is on upper left side of ID tag)

Felpro / Axle Housing Gasket
Part Number: RDS55341
Application: WDC or WFG axle (Prefix is on upper left side of ID tag)
Notes: Differential cover gasket


do you know about hammering the cover flat where the bolts go through...

when over tightened...  they pull the cover flange through the gasket.. so when you replace the gasket...   it is already touching where the bolts go through... and not tight between the bolts...

a hammer and a deep socket in 5 minutes of gentle tapping with the hammer... gently rapping...     until the cover it totally flat..

makes sure that you use shop rags to move out any lube still in the housing...  any dripping across the mounting face will probably cause the leak you have had in the past...

and please... what ever you do.. i know that you don't...     use only a gasket scraper to remove material from the housing flange..   use of air or electric tools with abrasive media...... will kill your rear end bearings.. no matter how clean you think you are...

pick up the gasket... pick up the spare cross pin bolt...  and a gallon of lube..   AZ usually has it cheeper...

enough from me... i have hogged this thread too much...

[GPster]

enough from me... i have hogged this thread too much...

Your answers are not that much longer than my questions. It's only space and it looks like everyone else got bored after my second sentence. From reading and looking at a parts break-down I see that the rearend cover was originally sealed with a liquid gasket. My neighbor must have just got to it and thought that someone had glued (siliconed) the cover on without a gasket and I mis-understood his explanation thinking that it was a plastic cover. I finally found what I had read about the computor sensor. It's the ABS and it looks like they all have them. It's one of those lights that gets me and after I got it reset the last time everything was OK til I spun the wheels in mud at the "Land Fill" when I was un-loading a batch of compost. Maybe it's just re-set time again. All this reading and I'm finding answers to questions I haven't even asked. I appreciate it, GPster

[enjenjo]

You can change the spider gears without pulling the rear end. It's  a bit of hassle getting it all lined up, but it can be done.

[The Paisano]

Sometimes when the companion flange and the pinion splines get dry,they cause a clank,type noise,If you put some Teflon grease in between splies on both the rear and trans side it will probably help you.Lowering the idle if you can will help also.Doubt that you have a spider gear noise or anything in the carrier.They really don't load up that much till you get moving or turning.If you reset the ring gear backlash again.that's going to cause any pattern to be establised,that your going to get probably a new set of problems,like a whine while going down the road.
Good Luck
Paisano

[GPster]

I'm going out and get another rear end just so I know what I've got. It's no wonder my neighbor/mechanic couldn't find a gasket for it. Of the two choices none of the numbers even look like a match. I've got a 3A    312B      S4  10759F30  and that tag looks like it belongs there. I even took the tag off and wire brushed it to make sure the numbers I got were what was stamped. While I was under it I checked the lube, right on the mark. Ithe engine idles at 750RPM according to the dashboard tach and that's not enough to even make the truck move in gear. I wouldn't want it any lower and that's where it's always been. Oh well! gpster

[GPster]

Checked at my favorite junkyard and he asked me what ratio I needed. Told him 4:10 and he said he didn't have one. Said he didn't think he ever had. Most he's seen have been 3:50 or 3:73. Checked another yard and no Cose 87 s and it is too wet to crawl underneath. I hate to think it but maybe it should just be worth $4,500.00 towards a new Dodge Dakota. GPster

[junkyardjeff]

I had a few 8.8 rear ends that made that clunk and did nothing about it,they will last a long time making the clunk so dont worry about it until you hear other strange noises and just turn the radio up a little more and you wont hear it.

[GPster]

The years '89 and '90 for 4:10 gears seems to be a land all it's own. Tried last night to find some sense of the tag's numbers and Googled Ford Ranger 7.5 rear end and it wasn't until page four of the thousands of references that I came up with something. They were taking the size. style and year of Ford rear ends and giving them a Code Number. Knowing the year and ratio I started looking. Could find '83 - '88 and '92- but no '89 in 4;10 gears. Started looking on the listing at all the 4:10 gears and happened on S312B that fit and my tag has a 312B (without the S) that matched the year and gear ratio of my application. This code was not even on the same page as the rest of the ranger rear ends. I went a little further in Google to parts and came upon a note that said my rear end had a cross shaft for the sider gears that was not the same as the others and would require a different part from Avery (?) leading me to think that my rear end was from a different manufacture. Trying to fix something before it breaks is as hard as ignoring Check Engine lights. GPster

[wayne petty]

different cross shaft for 4.10 rear end....?

i bet... that it has flats on one side so it will slide in past the ring gear...

the 4.10 ring gear is thicker...

[GPster]

Well there seems to be a distinct shortage of '83 to '92 Ford Rangers with code 87 rear ends under them. Started a list of things I've got to to so I can cross them off and was going to write "truck pulls to the right and has a pulsing vibration in the front end" but then I remembered this problem is still up in the air. There seems to be a lot of 3:4? and 3:7? rear ends out there. Other than the speedometer what problems will changing the rear end ratio have on this truck? The guy that rebuilt the transmission mentionedsome computor tie ins with the tranny how about tranny/rear end and that anti-skid sensor. I took a break and saw on the internet that that "Cash for Clunkers" is going to dry-up Monday. I can't sort my options. I don't want to miss the next Crosley build day ( or maybe Goodguys at Norwalk next weekend) GPster

[wayne petty]

if you get the different ratio rear end... out of a junk yard... slide forward... take the speedo driven gear off the end of the speedo cable...   might take 2 minutes...


since it is rear wheel anti locks on that truck... you should not have a problem .... there are no speed sensors on the fronts...