Front Differential Replacement

[16ranchel]

Recently developed a grinding sound at low speed and noticed that the front differential was leaking via the pinion gear. Shop said once they looked into it, the front differential is shot now and need a new one. They found one that has ~64k miles on it but will be a week out and it's just the generic front open diff. We've recently done some work to the vehicle to get it more offroad worthy and was looking into putting a detroit truetrac LSD up front. Does anyone have any experience with these or any other recommendations?

Vehicle is 2016 king ranch el 4x4 with 3.73 gear ratio.

 

[16ranchel]

Upon some further research I'm looking at the eaton detroit trutrac https://www.drivetrainshop.com/Detroit_TrueTrac_p/eat-913a561.htm or a ford front torsen limited slip differential like they install on F150s https://morepowertuning.com/product...ju9l8Rgn8y8S6Cnj2FKfsYTY80t__Y_tIc9ttIVN0_PcG however I'm having trouble confirming the gear ratio of the ford front torsen. All I can find is 8.8", 31 spline, fits F-150 great, expeditions can get bent and we don't support.

 

[ExplorerTom]

I have Truetracs front and rear in my Explorer- but it is an offroad vehicle. It does get driven onroad but rarely in bad weather. If you live somewhere that the roads get icy, I wouldn’t do an LSD up front.

 

[16ranchel]

Why do you not recommend a LSD up front if the roads are icy? I feel like I’m learning something new everyday regarding differentials and pros/cons.

 

[twodollars]

My experience in torsen style front (and rear) diffs has been in commercial H1s. Super friendly on road, but that was with the t case in 4wd, unlocked front to rear. When I locked the T case up front to rear, it was a different experience. Not scary, but takes some getting used to.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Like @twodollars said, it’s a very different experience from driving an all open vehicle. Rear only isn’t too bad.

 

[16ranchel]

Just to be clear, the rear is already an eLSD so not looking to change anything there.

Does having an LSD up front completely ruin the onroad driving? I’m having trouble following what a different experience onroad implies. The F150 raptor has an LSD up front and I’ve not heard of them being completely out of touch on pavement.

 

[twodollars]

Understeer occurred with the t case locked up, but to what extent depends on the bias ratio of your specific unit. Torsendiffs are a great on off road compromise diff, and worked great with the H1 factory traction control. In the snow, t case unlocked, which is the normal on road selection, excellent control in snow and on ice. But lock that t case up and steering could get challenging at times. I like a detroit out back if it's a heavy truck with a tall tire, true track up front. But I'm used to that type of hillbilly setup.