Help! 3.55 Regular Axle

[JustinU1X]

Hey guys,

First off, not sure where to put this. Anyways, I'm in the market for a new truck and found one that has pretty much everything I'm looking for. Then I had some one say if I'm going to be towing I'm going to want the electronic locking rear differential option. The truck I'm looking at is an f150 with a 3.55 ratio regular axle and is 4x4 since I am in WI (snow). Boat will be less than 3000lbs.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[bass crazy]

That truck should work fine but  I am a Chevy guy.  Not familiar with  what an electric rear axle is.

[JustinU1X]

3 minutes ago, bass crazy said:

That truck should work fine but  I am a Chevy guy.  Not familiar with  what an electric rear axle is.

I believe it locks both wheels so they turn at the same time to give you more traction.

[Way2slow]

You don't need electronic locking but I would want a locking rear end.  They come in many forms with many names.  Air Lock, Detroit locker, positive traction, limited slip etc. but all serve the same basic purpose.  To provide additional traction on slippery surfaces.

With a standard differential, when trying to go forward, only the right rear pulls.  If it starts spinning, the left rear does nothing as far as helping.   With one of the locking rear ends, after the right rear make a turn of so more than the left rear, it engages the left rear so it pulls also.

The main advantage of having one that is selectable like the electronic or Air Lock is there might be times when you don't want both rear tires spinning.  If you are on a slanting surface, the rear end is going to slide sideways in the direction of the slant.  If there's a big ditch there, that ain't a good situation. 

The ideal setup is 4WD with front and rear Air Lockers.  I have not been without a 4WD vehicle since 1967 and it has never made any since to me to buy a truck that's not 4WD.   However, being an old, south GA redneck a truck is just one of life's essentials.

[moguy1973]

I have an F150 with 3.55's and it tows my boat just fine.  You only want the locker for when you are on slippery boat ramps where both rear wheels are in the water.  With 4x4 though it shouldn't have any problems though, even without the e-locker.  You definitely don't want to run the locker when you are just towing on dry pavement though, bad things can happen when you go around turns.  The e-locker shuts itself off around 40mph anyways, not that you would ever need to be going that fast offroad with it locked. 

I will say that if you are going lift it to put bigger tires on it the 3.55's will act more like 3.31's or higher (numerically lower) depending on the size of the tires so take that into consideration.  I am not planning on bigger tires so 3.55's work great for me.  I have the 2.7L EcoBoost by the way and it tows my Bass Tracker great.

[scatterbrains]

If u have an open rear and get into a slippery situation while going slow ride the brakes a little bit.

It will slow the spinng wheel and send power to the non spinning tire.

That truck should tow fine and u can always through a limited slip  in later

[paleus]

Any new truck is going to have traction control, so if a wheel starts spinning it will automatically brake the slipping wheel with the ABS system. I wouldn't worry about getting the locker unless you're gonna do some serious offroading. 4x4 by itself should be able to handle slippery ramp situations. Just be sure to stop first before engaging 4x4. If your rear wheels are spinning and the fronts still when you engage 4x4 you might blow something up. 

[WIGuide]

You'll be fine without it. You should be able to add limited slip with an aftermarket kit if you want. If you plan on driving it in the winter, you might as well just plan on doing that. You could get by without it, but whichever tire has the least amount of traction is the one that will end up spinning. The locking differential will either transfer power to the wheel that has traction, or will lock both together to transfer power to both usually letting you keep moving.