$450 is kinda pricey. I paid $200 for a Detroit Locker & $75 for my lightweight 3.70's in my drag car. I would thing less than $350 would be a better price
yeah im going to say ..350..max if they were in original box and not used..200 -250 if they were used. i paid close to 350 for an unused set of 3.55's..(for an 8")
Thats about what they run 'round here. I've been looking too, and they are overpriced. I don't think its worth $450, but I haven't found much cheaper.
Is it a nodular case as they came in trucks sometimes, it would have a letter N on it? If it is the case alone is worth $250.00 or more to the right buyer. I don't think the price is too out of line as long as it's tight.
It's a heavy duty case made with a special alloy steel. Here is a used origonal one off ebay for $245.00. Like you said he should have mentioned it but might not have noticed.
$350, Dave That used posi may not be very posi after some years of hard use. For my money, I bought a used 31 spline open diff in a standard iron case off ebay for $195 + shipping. It came from a late '70s truck and had only been washed and painted. The seller did tighten the bearing adjustment a bit to make it seem tighter than it was, but I backed it off to where it was and put a dial indicator on it, then checked the pattern with marking paste. All good. Now I can drop a new locker type diff in it for under $500 when I get ready. If I use a Lock-Rite, I won't even need to reset all the setup. It's almost a 30 minute install. I figure $750 in the diff and another $450 in the rest of the axle has me in a 500+ HP 9" for well under the cost of a fancy new end-to-end unit from Moser or Currie.
It's a locker, ratcheting style. Richmond Gear bought up the little company that created it about 10 or so years back. They make two types. One is aimed at off-road types and rock crawling, the Lock-Rite. The other is quieter and smoother, more like a limited slip in it's behavior, but still a ratcheting locker, aimed at musclecars and the like. It's called PowerTrax. Lock-Rite usually cheaper, $300. The Powertrax is right at $500. They convert your open carrier, so now gear setup required. http://www.richmondgear.com/powertrax/noslip.html Mine came with a 3.50 gear, too. I am keeping it due to the power to weight ratio I will have, plus I have that .86 OD in my M21. First gear may be a little slow out of the hole, but with skinny tires, that should be OK.
And beware of Ford Factory posi for a stick shift with slicks application, bad habit of fraging the factory posi case. A light car will most likely be okay but we have broken several in fullsize cars with serious motors.
I don't know about the prices there but my buddies have been paying less than $100 for complete 9" and 8.8" Ford rear ends down here in Biloxi area. A friend just bought a complete big bearing 31 spline 3.50 posi rear from a 4x4 truck for $40 drum to drum. Another just bought a just rebuilt 4.11 posi 28 spline center section for $100. You can buy 373/411 posi 8.8 4x4 explorer 5 lug rear ends at the pick and pull here for $67.50 . I'd bet you can buy a used locker on e bay and have it installed in your axle with new 4.11 gears, bearings and seals for less than $500.
I doubt you'll have any breakage problems with that set up. I had no problems with stock 57 28 spline 9" with that same set up and 400hp at the rear wheels. It didn't hold posi with slicks but about every tenth p*** at the track though and things started to break when I went with a locker and slicks.
Dave, You could always just set aside your carrier when you change the gears and put in a spool, or install a mini-spool inside it. They run $50-$150. At 2700 lbs, you won't hurt 31 spline axles. The tire chirp around corners on dry pavement is a little annoying, but there is no question you will have both wheels putting power down. I guess the biggest caution would be wet conditions get kinda hairy.
I just pulled the 4.11 gear one wheel wonder last winter and installed a 3.25 gear Lock-Rite unit and had a great summer with it. I bought the 3.25 pumkin for 100 bucks and the used locker unit for 150 I think, it actually went 3 tenths quicker in the 1/8 on the new setup. This is in a mild 350 with a th350 and a 2000 lb car with L78 bias plys.
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