So I was talking to a guy at work the other day about my truck, and the plans for it. I told him that I needed to either rebuild the rear end or swap it, and if I understood what he was saying right, he said that if I put in a locker, I wouldn't need to worry about rebuilding the rear end. Is that true?

I haven't opened up the diff yet because I don't have the Ranger to drive right now, but I am pretty sure that the ring and pinion are toast. The plan was to have my mechanic rebuild it for me, as he can do it in a day, where as I would have to do it over an entire weekend in order to get it completed, and even then, I would imagine I would run into a snag and be without a rig the next work day.

Lockers are a little on the pricey side, but if I don't have to rebuild the rear end after installing one, I would love to do it.

 

your guy at work is not right. if you have a serious problem, then a rebuild includes all the bearings and gears. the carrier (open/lsd/locker) is only a small part of the whole assembly.

the carrier mechanism can be either open, lsd, or locker. its bolted to the ring gear. the ring and pinion are the big gears. if yours are worn or broken, then they'll need replacement to the tune of $200-300 for parts. in addition, you have the bearing kit which includes the carrier brgs (inner axle) and the pinion bearing (drive shaft). its another $125 or so. the last piece is the carrier assembly (the differential mechanism). an open carrier is just a cheap piece with spider gears. an lsd or locker will have some more complex parts, and start at about $400 up to $1000. then there's labor, including some special knowledge/experience/tools.

 

Yep, like dhvaughan said. If you have to rebuild the rear end, well, you have to rebuild the rear end. It doesn't really matter if you use a locker, limited slip, or open diff.