First of all big thanks to Bruce and the team at FTBR! The kit is well engineered and made, any issues I had during installation were from Ford's "good enough" approach to the IRS. I ordered the FT 5001 kit with the Ford Racing diff cover and I highly recommend anyone else considering replacing their bushings do the same. The cover is far beefier than the various braces I've seen, not to mention its a work of art no one else gets to see.
The install took me several weekends over the course of two months. This is longer than some but I wasn't in a rush and I some other projects and maintenance I took care of at the same time. With all the tools and parts ready and a few volunteers who know what they're doing I could see doing this in a weekend or two. Be forewarned, it is a lot of stuff. I've replaced a motor, done clutch jobs, and installed lockers but I did find this slightly intimidating at first:
However the kit is well organized, the directions are thorough, and Bruce's videos answered any remaining questions.
I did the install in my garage with hand-tools and jacks, someone with a lift and air tools would probably have an easier time, but its definitely doable for the weekend warrior. The essential tools I found:
-Ball joint puller
-Dremel
-Various files
-Harbor Freight electric impact wrench
-Jack, preferably two for the re-install
-Various pry-bars
-Furniture dolly (move the IRS around once it's out)
-Drill with 2 inch hole saw and 2 inch wire brush
-A Freezer
-Paint Pen
-Bruce's bushing removal tools!
There are plenty of right ups so I'll stick to tips on what I found helpful:
1. Watch all the videos first. I read the directions then dove into it but I frequently found myself stopping and looking up the applicable videos. It would have been faster to watch them first.
2. Have a shop look over your differential while it's out and rebuild the LSD while its accessible. I did the LSD with the ford racing kit on my own. If you have ever installed a lunchbox locker on an offroader, the positrac is half as complicated. You should have someone who knows what they're doing verify backlash, pinon depth, and general wear and tear. If you're like me you will discover the rubber was covering up some not insubstantial gear whine and cobra clunk, might as well take care of it while the diff is accessible.
3. Be prepared for some maintenance although I didn't notice the gear whine until it was too late my swaybar endlinks were obviously shot. I verified my axle boots and hubs were intact and serviceable. Replace the fuel filter while you're there. I've done it with the IRS in place, not fun. After 90,000 miles things were a little worn. I took the time to clean and paint the subframe.
Painted:
4. Bushing removal and installation tips:
-Use a hole saw on the LCA bushings. No drama, no fuss if you find one that just fits in the bushing (2 inch IIRC) then follow it up with your wire brush attachment.
-The removal tools are essential, can't stress this enough. Use plenty of anti seize or you will tear them up.
-Freeze your bushings prior to installation, most slid right in or at most required a slight tap.
-You can use a dremel for the UCA bushing removal, I went through a cut off disk or two clearancing the outgoing bushings for the bushing removal tool but it worked. I used the sanding wheel to smooth the buckets after I filed them and help widen the bolt holes.
5. Reinstall: Get a second jack for reinstall. I used my harbor freight furniture dolly to evenly lift the IRS with one jack then the second under various corners to help push and fine tune the level of the frame when bolting it back. This is also where the long prybar came in handy. The 9/16s bolts took a lot prying and pounding before I could feed them through. Another important point, I left the axles and hubs out until the frame was end, way lighter that way.
6. Alignment after your done. It's essential, I made sure to put the camber bolts back where I marked them and left my tie rods as they were. You would assume little or no change to the alignment. When I took it to get aligned my before measurements had the whole rear end oriented slightly to the passenger side. Somewhat related, I maxed my differential angle with the provided shims and have had 0 drive line vibration since.
7. Enjoy the end result. I've only had it running a handfull of days but the difference on things like a tight S curve is immediately noticeable. No more floating feel as the suspension "unloads" coming out of a corner, it just smoothly transitions from one corner to the next. The only sacrifice is I have to turn the radio up on the highway for now, I can live with that.
The install took me several weekends over the course of two months. This is longer than some but I wasn't in a rush and I some other projects and maintenance I took care of at the same time. With all the tools and parts ready and a few volunteers who know what they're doing I could see doing this in a weekend or two. Be forewarned, it is a lot of stuff. I've replaced a motor, done clutch jobs, and installed lockers but I did find this slightly intimidating at first:
However the kit is well organized, the directions are thorough, and Bruce's videos answered any remaining questions.
I did the install in my garage with hand-tools and jacks, someone with a lift and air tools would probably have an easier time, but its definitely doable for the weekend warrior. The essential tools I found:
-Ball joint puller
-Dremel
-Various files
-Harbor Freight electric impact wrench
-Jack, preferably two for the re-install
-Various pry-bars
-Furniture dolly (move the IRS around once it's out)
-Drill with 2 inch hole saw and 2 inch wire brush
-A Freezer
-Paint Pen
-Bruce's bushing removal tools!
There are plenty of right ups so I'll stick to tips on what I found helpful:
1. Watch all the videos first. I read the directions then dove into it but I frequently found myself stopping and looking up the applicable videos. It would have been faster to watch them first.
2. Have a shop look over your differential while it's out and rebuild the LSD while its accessible. I did the LSD with the ford racing kit on my own. If you have ever installed a lunchbox locker on an offroader, the positrac is half as complicated. You should have someone who knows what they're doing verify backlash, pinon depth, and general wear and tear. If you're like me you will discover the rubber was covering up some not insubstantial gear whine and cobra clunk, might as well take care of it while the diff is accessible.
3. Be prepared for some maintenance although I didn't notice the gear whine until it was too late my swaybar endlinks were obviously shot. I verified my axle boots and hubs were intact and serviceable. Replace the fuel filter while you're there. I've done it with the IRS in place, not fun. After 90,000 miles things were a little worn. I took the time to clean and paint the subframe.
Painted:
4. Bushing removal and installation tips:
-Use a hole saw on the LCA bushings. No drama, no fuss if you find one that just fits in the bushing (2 inch IIRC) then follow it up with your wire brush attachment.
-The removal tools are essential, can't stress this enough. Use plenty of anti seize or you will tear them up.
-Freeze your bushings prior to installation, most slid right in or at most required a slight tap.
-You can use a dremel for the UCA bushing removal, I went through a cut off disk or two clearancing the outgoing bushings for the bushing removal tool but it worked. I used the sanding wheel to smooth the buckets after I filed them and help widen the bolt holes.
5. Reinstall: Get a second jack for reinstall. I used my harbor freight furniture dolly to evenly lift the IRS with one jack then the second under various corners to help push and fine tune the level of the frame when bolting it back. This is also where the long prybar came in handy. The 9/16s bolts took a lot prying and pounding before I could feed them through. Another important point, I left the axles and hubs out until the frame was end, way lighter that way.
6. Alignment after your done. It's essential, I made sure to put the camber bolts back where I marked them and left my tie rods as they were. You would assume little or no change to the alignment. When I took it to get aligned my before measurements had the whole rear end oriented slightly to the passenger side. Somewhat related, I maxed my differential angle with the provided shims and have had 0 drive line vibration since.
7. Enjoy the end result. I've only had it running a handfull of days but the difference on things like a tight S curve is immediately noticeable. No more floating feel as the suspension "unloads" coming out of a corner, it just smoothly transitions from one corner to the next. The only sacrifice is I have to turn the radio up on the highway for now, I can live with that.