made out like a bandit today!

[LCAM-01XA]

Was at the U-Pull-It looking for a 3G alternator, and in the medium-duty section there was this bricknose crew dually F350, as I was walking around it I notice on the ground what looks like a Sterling axle differential. Looked up close, and sure enough, she's a limited-slip!!! Look under the F350, yeps, diff is gone, but bearing races are there still - crawl under and grab them and the fit the diff perfectly. No gears, I guess that's really what them folks who pulled the thing were after, but I got my 4.10s so extra set of gears I do not need - what I did need, however, was a limited-slip diff So I guess it is indeed one man's trash is another one's treasure, I took this thing home for just $20 and I couldn't be any happier

So now I just gotta clean her up nice and pull the Lincoln locker out and put the LSD in. But before that, is there any way to check if the clutches are any good? Also how the heck do these differentials work anyways, there's no S-spring inside them like there is in the 8.8 differentials used in halftons, what pushes on the clutch packs to make them engage?

 

[Alex S]

i sorta been looking for the same thing, are setting up gears in the sterling axle easy or it a PITA like a dana 44/60

 

[LCAM-01XA]

There are no pinion shims to install like on the Dana axles, just crush sleeve (which in my view is a worse design, but whatever), however my current wear pattern is perfect so I ain't touching the pinion, just swapping carriers out - supposedly it should be a simple bolt off and on operation, then check for gear mesh with the paste, but we'll see what really becomes of the job...

 

[sle2115]

yeah, there are pinion shims! They are under the inner pinion bearing, against the head of the gear, but you should be good to go as they are used to determine pinion depth, which yours should be correct. Personally, I think they are easier to set up. Shims are on the cups on the career, not under the carrier bearings like the Dana...we did both in my truck, dana was definetely harder to change shims. Both the Dana and the Sterling used a crush sleeve as well, and pinion shims to set the pinion depth. The dana was exact on the engraved numbers on the pinion though, the Sterling we had to adjust twice to get the right pinion depth. Both were new gear sets and we added a limited slip rear differential after verifying that the clutch's were good.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Yes, you are correct about the pinion shims - I completely forgot about them, as I was thinking about the crush sleeve vs. solid spacer thing - do you know which is the Dana that does not have a crush sleeve, the D80?

Also, how did you verify the clutches in the limited-slip differentials are good?

 

[Ironman03R]

I took mine apart and inspected them. I bought a rebuild kit from ford but there are 2 styles and I bought the one for the newer style and mine was older. It didnt matter anyway since my clutches were still good.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Steve, is there any minimum thickness of the clutches I should be checking for? Or is it just a visual inspection, to make sure there is still clutch material left in there?

 

[Ironman03R]

I just looked for any visual damage. Mine are the old style which are metal w/ grooves in them, the new style are a friction material on a steel plate like you would find in an auto trans.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

The steels that lock into the differential on the clutch replacement kits I've seen had radial slots cut in them on both sides, but there is also friction material too on the parts that lock onto the axle, just like you said is in slushboxes. Guess I really gotta take mine apart to see what lives in there... which model year was the differential you installed, do you remember by any chance?

 

[Ironman03R]

Mine was from a 87 I think and I ordered parts for my 94, I wana say the change happend in 92 but dont quote me on that.