I determinded that my '77 maverick with a 302 has a 2.79 rear axle. I was wondering if there is a way to put on the traction lock unit that was used on the other fords around that year? Would I have to change the ratio?
ken, if i remember right the third member is different for a traction lok and an open rear. if you want a traction lok installed don,t you need a third member designed for it?
Yepper. The trac lok houses the friction discs stackup and pressure spring assembly. They are about 5" in diameter. The open carrier has no provision for them. The discs, pinion gears and shaft is the same as the bigger 9" carrier of the same design. There are a couple of other 9" designs as well. The later 8.8 trac loc carriers have disc stacks (on each side) who's diameter that is half the size of the old rears but still work very well. I just rebuilt a posi and replaced my open 8.8 and used an F 150 pressure spring. It is just locks hard enough to sprag a wheel at times on a wet road.
You can put the traction lock in your existing housing. They are a bolt in change. Should be checked for gear mesh, backlash and clutch disc condition before installation so you have no running problems. Sorry if I was not clear. Now the 9" center will not fit into the 8" housing. I was only referring to the parts that are the same in both assemblies. All the other things I mentioned was more for comparitive info. When I talked about an 8.8 rear, that assembly is a little bigger and not at all the same design as the old 8" rear. The info related to my Lincoln Mark 7 sport coupe having the 8.8 rear.
what i was getting at is that you cannot just add traction lok to your existing third member if it is an open rear end. you need to find a third member with traction lok already in it, then it will bolt right in to the housing.
