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Poll

Have you been stuck this year?

Total Members Voted: 49

Topic: It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck… (Read 10452 times) previous topic - next topic

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #15 –
Quote from: kitzdnm;192074
Ya just need something like this!


I wanted that thing so bad!
1986 Cougar LS

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #16 –
Quote from: kitzdnm;192074
Ya just need something like this!


Holy :toilet: !! Is that thing for real?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Operation: X Marks the Spot
5.0L SEFI, AOD, 8.8" 3.02 TracLok - All Stock

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #17 –
so how do you tell if you have trac loc on your car. i cant tell on my 90 sc.

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #18 –
well on my 90 sc i have a locking rear end. if yours is auto and has the e axel code then its possible you have it. but just jack up the rear of the car and turn one wheel if the other one turns opposit then its open if they turn the same direction then you might have a trac lock. but to be sure look up the axel code at tccoa.com or even on erics site. coolcats.net
2001 Buick Regal LS (DD):hick:

Got that fox rash again!

-Resident smartass! :ies:

- Don't listen to the naysayers. For every person who actually helps with your project there will be 10 who will discourage you all the while thinking that they are helping. 99% of all people have good intentions. That doesn't make them right.- XR7 Dave - SCCOA.Com

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #19 –
speaking of snow, my day has been ruined by it!  i live in ga, so normally i would have had to vote "wtf is snow?!" but not today.  its 1pm and snow is still falling and we got about an inch.  bald tires+snow=fun/smash.  i was ganna inspect the front end to see if the left front needs to be pulled, fix the wrinkles in my bumper cover, install fog lights, adjust my new headlights, and check my speedo harness for any kinks, but nope.  snow.  now i see why you guys complain so much about it.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
:america: An American Restoration. :birdsmily:
1987 Ford Thunderbird Sport (resting)
1993 Mazda Miata 1.6l (daily driver)

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #20 –
A few blerbs from days gone by on this board which can be found in my diy link.  I have always found nick's comments very informative on this topic so i had to save it.


-----------------------------------------------
REAR END INFO
Measure backlash of rear diff to axle
lock pass wheel and raise driver rear wheel
find a cheap ruler that has a hole on one end
locate the CENTER of your wheel and lightly mark the spot
slid a nail through the ruler and let the point touch your center mark
hold the nail and let the ruler come to a stop as it acts as a pendulum and does not rub nothing
12'' from the center of your wheel is the key here so a ruler makes things easy
rotate the driver rear wheel CW till it stops
mark the wheel in the background of the ruler looking directly onto the left edge of the ruler
rotate the driver rear wheel CCW till it stops
mark the wheel in the background of the ruler looking directly onto the left edge of the ruler
now you should have two marks if you were able to not distrub the ruler and mark the wheel
measure the distance between the marks,, ford calls out for no more than 1'' or 25.4mm


blakct----
Today I pulled the 8.8 out of my '88 TC parts car and put it on the bathroom scale
(it's accurate) complete with brakes but no mooseballs. - 175 lbs.
Then I weighed the 7.5 drum brake axle from an '85 stang that I threw
in the car to keep it rolling. 145 lbs. Sure, there's no quad shock brackets and
they're 1.5" shorter than a cougar axle but that's as close as I could come.
Probably only a 3-5 lb difference between a stang 7,5 and a Cougar 7.5 due to the
length and brackets anyway.
That's a 30 lb difference, all day long


Nick--blown306cougar
i picked the f150 diff for a few reasons
i'm useing a 8.8 mustang rear with a F150 31spline diff inside the housing..
most of the other name brand diffs are a lot of money and most of them are very good.now in the case of the alburn diff and alburn pro.. these are reasonably priced..but!! and i know what i'm about to say some people would parden the pun"beg to diff"anyway they are known to brake i have seen a number of them busted.. alburn and the alburn pro. and the funny thing is i've seen more busted alburn pro's i guess they can't get the temper in the steal right.. but i'm still not saying their junk but here are the reasons i did'nt go with the an alburn diff or any others..1 price price price 2 in the case of the alburn all of the ones i saw busted where in cars with motors that had the same or more horse power as mine..3 when a alburn is busted it can't be fixed you will need to buy a new one which again cost big money..
now with the case of the F150 diff and why i picked it is.. 1 i spent only about $800.00 to have it set up parts inclued.and that allso inclued the moser axles and that is at New York prices and 2 when the diff needs to be rebuilt"clutch pack" it only cost about $100.00 for the parts..3 i can do it my self..you can replace the clutchs with out taking out the whole diff and don't have to worry about reshiming it..
so far it's bin two years and it's still going strong..


cougar5.0----
I found something unexpected when I replaced my stock Ford T-Loc with an Eaton E-Locker this past year. The shims on either side of the differential carrier are one piece (for each side of the carrier) ground at the factory based on some statisics as to how the carrier tolerances are running at a particular time (best I can determine). The problem I found was that the material they make the shim pieces out of is some sort of cheap soft metal that is susceptible to permanent deformation by the shock forces normally applied by a good running motor with a nice snappy throttle response. What does this mean in reality? Well, my shims were worn more on one side of the carrier and they were worn such that they were NO LONGER parallel to the carrier (diagonal wear). This was due to the way the force during acceleration is applied to the carrier and then to the housing through the shims. It was obvious to me after taking the unit apart that the shim material from Ford was TOO SOFT and this clearly allowed EXCESSIVE SLOP in the differential carrier. I wont go so far as to say that this is why many of these units clunk, but I will say that what I saw was a CLEAR DESIGN FLAW and lead to a ton of play in my differential. I ground the stock Ford shims down and added the HARDENED STEEL shims that come with any differential rebuilding kit between the now thinner original Ford shim and carrier so that a nice hard piece of TRUE SHIM STOCK was seeing the shock forces from the carrier! I was SHOCKED at the 0.030" lash I was seeing when measuring gear lash, and was almost as stunned to find out that just reinstalling shims to the original thickness as installed by Ford removed all of the excessive lash and put the gearset back into spec without ANY OTHER ADJUSTMENTS!!!

Perhaps I stumbled across the reason for the clunking of the Ford rearends? Let me state this clearly - the difference in thickness from one side of the factory Ford shim to the other (only 110,000 miles) was 0.010"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you familiar with these sorts of things, that a HUGH amount of distortion in what should be a hardened and stable shim.

thunderchicken
2. You can find one (7.5 trac loc) in an 83-86 Turbo Coupe, 84-86 XR7 Turbo, 87-88 T-Bird Sport V8
and 87 Cougar XR-7 V8. Of course it was optional in all other trim levels,
but the above ones had a 7.5" traction lock as standard equipment
______________________________

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #21 –
it's 2pm and its still coming down, slowed a bit at the moment, but here's a pic of my car (parked on the back patio b/c i WAS ganna do work and needed a quick way to the fridge) now mind you, this is GA, I'm talking Google maps says im 208 miles from Tallahassee Florida.  sorry for the quality its from my phone and i couldn't get the color quite right.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
:america: An American Restoration. :birdsmily:
1987 Ford Thunderbird Sport (resting)
1993 Mazda Miata 1.6l (daily driver)

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #22 –
my bird pulled some dude of if a drift

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #23 –
My 4x4 ranger is my dd, but I am usually driving in 2wd, 4 wheel is a waste of gas, and I have been driving in this stuff (3 to 4 feet) for all my life (8 years) and I just know what to do. But 4x4 is fun in unplowed parking lots!!!
1987 Cougar XR7 5.0 SOLD
1992 Ranger 4.0
2018 Hyundai Elantra
2019 Ram Rebel
 

It isn't a snowstorm until the Cougar gets stuck…

Reply #24 –
Quote from: xr7cat;199277
My 4x4 ranger is my dd, but I am usually driving in 2wd, 4 wheel is a waste of gas, and I have been driving in this stuff (3 to 4 feet) for all my life (8 years) and I just know what to do. But 4x4 is fun in unplowed parking lots!!!



YOUR 8YEARS OLD AND DRIVING
wow i didnt start untill i was 10