Expert: Carl Brandt - 9/29/2004

Question
I recently put 33" tires on my '81 Ford Bronco. My plan was to also do a gear change. My problem is that I love my Dana 44's, and do not want to change anything except the gear ratio. I was told I could possibly save money by purchasing an assembled third member. Besides having a new interior, is there a draw back. Also where can I find more info. to research (such as manufactures,and options like rear disk brakes) before I make a desion? Both front and rear are factory. Or just fork out for air lockers, disk brakes, and 4.56 gears?  

Answer
Cory,

Your Dana 44's will work just fine.  As far as lockers go, are you planning on doing some extreme wheeling?  If you are, lockers are great.  Air lockers are good, as you can unlock, and lock them when they are needed.  The downfall, is the price, and they do have some problems, such as the seals wear out, and need to be replaced.  There are some other options available, such as electric, or cable lockers.  You can, also go with a locker, such as the Detroit.  These are very dependable, and work quite well.  The disadvantage of this type of locker, is there are some handling characteristics that you need to get used to.  Disk brakes are a definite advantage over drum brakes, but there are some assemblies that can be purchased from wrecking yards that can be used to replace your stock brakes.  Contact some local wrecking yards, and see if they can help you with this modification.

As far as sources for information goes, I would purchase a few off-road magazines, and check out the distributers ads.  There are some that specialize in Broncos.  Another source, would be to see if you can locate a local off-road club, and talk to some of the members, and see if you can find someone who has done these modifications to a Bronco.  The members, usually can point you toward the cheapest supplier of parts, and give you some suggestions on the modifications.

The cost of replacing an assembled third member, compared to replacing the components in your old assembly, varies depending on the cost of setting up the old one.  If you can do it yourself, or if you have someone who can do it for you at a reasonable rate, it is usually cheaper to replace the gears in the existing differentials.

It's hard to estimate what would be cheaper for you, as the labor costs are different in every location.  Where I live, shop rates are $85 an hour or higher, so it's a real advantage whenever you can do your own work.

Get those magazines, and start calling around for parts.  Make sure that you've checked out as many possibilities that you can.

I know that these answers may seem somewhat vague, but a lot of what you asked, really depends on what is available in your area.

Carl