Full Race's "Gen 2.5" Raptor build

[Zeusmotorworks]

All good. I'm not that guy.. pretty much if I see I'm not moving, i stop tearing my stuff up and throw out a rope...

Our motto was "wheel it on Sunday, drive it to work on Monday...". Not because you had to (not that was a problem), but you were "good enough" you could! I wheeled a 6 spd FJ and broke twice in 10 years. 1 was an aftermarket CV, the other was a ring and pinon at 4 years and 11 months on a warranty on 35's in some rough shit. It was taken care of by the vendor and sold to another years later with no further issues.

The torque applied by the loose nut behind the wheel IS the deciding factor!

 

[downforce137]

Our motto was "wheel it on Sunday, drive it to work on Monday...". Not because you had to (not that was a problem), but you were "good enough" you could! I wheeled a 6 spd FJ and broke twice in 10 years. 1 was an aftermarket CV, the other was a ring and pinon at 4 years and 11 months on a warranty on 35's in some rough shit. It was taken care of by the vendor and sold to another years later with no further issues.

The torque applied by the loose nut behind the wheel IS the deciding factor!

3 times a year i take a 3hr 90mph road trip to silver lake, and then proceed to send it for 4-8hrs over 2-3 days and then do 100mph most of the way home.. trucks been good to me for 60K+mi, so i just chalked the diff thing to being cheap in the engineering dept.. some extra gussets in the AL housing would help, but the bean counters are not..

thats really interesting. Does the ford diff cover claim to increase rigidity of the front diff housing? I read through your thread and had to laugh that people were recommending to JB weld or TIG + JB... Im going to buy a spare housing to take apart and see if I can learn anything

if anything, it will hopefully give more support than the stamped steel cover, but also adds a drain plug.. theres studs to preload the carrier bearing main bearing caps, so hopefully make it solid, but the coast ramp thing is real and the cheap aluminum housing is too..

its for a mustang 8.8 diff, and bolts right on, other than the mods to make it fit past the steering rack.. look at the ARB or some of the other ones that dont have a huge gusset/brace on the left/driver side

 

[Zeusmotorworks]

3 times a year i take a 3hr 90mph road trip to silver lake, and then proceed to send it for 4-8hrs over 2-3 days and then do 100mph most of the way home.. trucks been good to me for 60K+mi, so i just chalked the diff thing to being cheap in the engineering dept.. some extra gussets in the AL housing would help, but the bean counters are not..

Speed in and of itself doesn't break properly cooled and lubricated machinery as a rule. As I'm sure you know, shock load/misalignment/or loading the back side of gears can and do. I thought that was what we were talking about. Not speed.

 

[downforce137]

Speed in and of itself doesn't break properly cooled and lubricated machinery as a rule. As I'm sure you know, shock load/misalignment/or loading the back side of gears can and do. I thought that was what we were talking about. Not speed.

well, driving fast in the dunes is a lot different than on the highway.. there has been some mounting ears broke off these diffs from jumping and hitting whoops as well, but not in my case..

 

[Zeusmotorworks]

Fair enough... I was always the anomaly not breaking parts while wheeling a "stick" (Millennial anti theft device) in the rocks. However, knowing your gear and it's limitations has always been the key. Blew peoples minds that not only did i wheel a stick, I sold it at over 140k miles on 35's/4.56 gears with the original clutch and as far as I know it's still not been replaced.

 

[full-race geoff]

I researched the front diff issues, and found a couple interesting products

wavetrac LSD -- ive used these in a number of RWD and AWD race cars over the last few years and really happy with them. I had no idea they offered this for the raptor 8.8 front diff! its oddly listed as fitting 2011-2012 only (will also fit all the way to current). I see a few people on here complaining about torque steer with a front LSD (likely due to tires + 4A). either way it makes sense, and is something I am OK to compromise with to get more traction

front diff brace - I see some companies make a "front differential brace" that attaches to the unused diff bracket/ mounting ear - have any of you tried one? I was going to order it but saw they do not support 2021+ (lowered front diff mounts). Interested to know your thoughts, will probably design something myself to provide additional rigidity

well, driving fast in the dunes is a lot different than on the highway.. there has been some mounting ears broke off these diffs from jumping and hitting whoops as well, but not in my case..

do you know if anyone has broken mounting ears off with an additional brace attached? or cracked a diff housing? some pics i found largely show a crack in the housing, with a few of the ears cracked like you mentioned

Fair enough... I was always the anomaly not breaking parts while wheeling a "stick" (Millennial anti theft device) in the rocks. However, knowing your gear and it's limitations has always been the key. Blew peoples minds that not only did i wheel a stick, I sold it at over 140k miles on 35's/4.56 gears with the original clutch and as far as I know it's still not been replaced.

older stock-ish toyotas with gears are reliable and capable (i still have a couple yotas i cant bring myself to part with). The "toyota trifecta" is the issue - gutless motor, lame auto trans, poor mpg ... while getting the same mpg as a raptor. i dont think i could go back, will bleed blue for the forseeable

 

[downforce137]

I researched the front diff issues, and found a couple interesting products

wavetrac LSD -- ive used these in a number of RWD and AWD race cars over the last few years and really happy with them. I had no idea they offered this for the raptor 8.8 front diff! its oddly listed as fitting 2011-2012 only (will also fit all the way to current). I see a few people on here complaining about torque steer with a front LSD (likely due to tires + 4A). either way it makes sense, and is something I am OK to compromise with to get more traction

front diff brace - I see some companies make a "front differential brace" that attaches to the unused diff bracket/ mounting ear - have any of you tried one? I was going to order it but saw they do not support 2021+ (lowered front diff mounts). Interested to know your thoughts, will probably design something myself to provide additional rigidity

View attachment 468922


do you know if anyone has broken mounting ears off with an additional brace attached? or cracked a diff housing? some pics i found largely show a crack in the housing, with a few of the ears cracked like you mentioned

View attachment 468923
View attachment 468924

older stock-ish toyotas with gears are reliable and capable (i still have a couple yotas i cant bring myself to part with). The "toyota trifecta" is the issue - gutless motor, lame auto trans, poor mpg ... while getting the same mpg as a raptor. i dont think i could go back, will bleed blue for the forseeable

i was under the impression they changed the diff housing for 21+ but i could be wrong..

most anything that fits mustang 8.8 will fit 2009-2020..

still seeing breakage in the 21+



I do know someone personally that broke the mounting points off.. Midtravel, big jumps, coyote TT swap.. not sure the circumstances, but do know the housing failed at mounting in stock location with no braces installed, other than maybe some frame plating or like Krazy house added frame supports

 

[full-race geoff]

it appears most of the breakages occur in this area of the driver side front/upper mount circled in red. I may plate/fill those voids with chunks of aluminum

i was under the impression they changed the diff housing for 21+ but i could be wrong..

thanks for the feedback. i checked and it looks like the gearsets are consistent from 2004-2024 and the diff housing is consistent from 2015-2024. I'm planning to start building up my front diff this weekend, got a spare front case and a set of yukon 4.88s + install kit to go in

 

[letsgetthisdone]

How much is the wavetrac diff? I don't see it being an upgrade over the OEM torsen as I haven't seen an OEM torsen blow up, its usually the case that fails, like the pics you just posted.

 

[full-race geoff]

yup - same thoughts. I will find out how much it is, and if there is any value beyond the OEM torsen. Overall my first impression is it's a great upgrade for any 2024 raptor owners with an open diff