found this in my diff pile

[Rockhauler]

A few years back I grabbed some 4x4 parts from a local wrecking yard that was sending some older trucks (80's to early 90's) to the crusher. So today looking through some of the parts found this front diff, haven't found a Ford logo or part number yet but Dana is stamped on the ring gear. I assume that's clutch packs tucked back in behind the spider gears.

I do some traveling on old logging roads but no extreme 4x4 stuff would I be better off with a open diff and pass this onto someone who could really put this to use.

Paul





 

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's an interesting piece, with bolt on axle tubes.
Does it have any casting marks indicating exactly what it is?
Can you decode the BOM?

[salans7]

Jim, those holes by the opening for the axles are for the support that comes off of the diff housing as shown below on a D50 halve.

The only trucks to have a bolt in-axle shaft were the 1980-1983? D44's (maybe D44HD and D50 too but not sure).

[ArdWrknTrk]

Axle shaft, or axle tube?  
I guess I'm just used to 70/80 axles when I'm thinking Dana/Spicer

[Nothing Special]

Yeah, looks to me to be a TTB Dana 44, Dana 44HD or Dana 50 (I don't know enough to tell those apart).  We're looking at the driver's side in that last picture.  The passenger's side is where the difference between the early (bolt-on retainer) and later (C-clip) designs would show up best.  Again, I don't know enough to tell the difference from these views.

Ford did offer Traction Loc front diffs, so that's likely what that is.

As far as whether you'd be better off with that diff or with an open diff for logging roads but no extreme stuff, I need to preface this by saying I'm no fan of clutch-type limited slips in really any application.  I can't think of an application where one would be in my top four choices (and I only know of five).

The up-side for a clutch-type limited slip in a front axle for your situation is that if you are having trouble getting moving and one of your front tires is getting a lot better traction than the other the limited slip front diff will send more torque to that tire and you'll have an easy time getting going.  But in my opinion that's not a lot of benefit, especially since with all of the weight on the front axle typically both front tires are loaded pretty well and it's not that often that one tire gets a lot better traction than the other.

The down-sides are that it will be harder to control in slippery conditions (it will tend to spin both tires which lets you slide around more), it will be harder to steer at very slow speeds (but maybe not significant with power steering) and it will tend to pull you to one side or the other as tires gain and lose traction (this may be only mildly annoying or it could be dangerous, depending on how hard and how abruptly it pulls).

There may be people with a different opinion than me who might really value that diff, so it might be worth something to sell.  And you might be someone with a different opinion than me who might really like it for driving on logging roads.  So I can't tell you what to do, I just give my opinion.

[85pig]

One of the TTB diffs - can't tell which one off hand.  Does appear to have 3.54 gears in it.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

If it was a 50, it would have a big "50" cast in it...

[Rockhauler]

Sorry guys should stated in the first post that it was from a F150 just not sure what year. The trucks I was grabbing parts from were in the 80-89 years. Only casting marks I can see are on the bottom if mounted in the truck shown in the first picture, second picture shows the other side of the diff.

Paul

[ArdWrknTrk]

It's a D44....
D50's only came on bigger trucks,350's until '85 and 250 extended cabs (only) for sure.
Crew cab 250's and regular cabs got the D44 HD unless optioned with a plow package, or intentionally ordered with the big hub D50 as a stand-alone option.

But you will see "50"cast in to the diff case.

[Nothing Special]

And that's the later style that uses a C-clip to hold the passenger's side axle in (the earlier style had a bolt-on retainer plate).  Not sure what year that changed.  Maybe around '84???

[Rockhauler]

Bob thanks for your insight into the limited slip.

4x4 has two advantages for me one being with the Tremec RTS using low 4x4 is great for crawling along and not needing to work the clutch to regulate my speed. The other times it really benefited me was backing out of or into somewhere up a steep incline. Not much traction when most of the vehicles weight is on the front axel.

Also the odd time in winter 4x4 can really make a difference.

Paul