Me and a buddy of mine have been disargreeing on which rear end I have in my truck. Its a 97' with the 5.4, auto tranny, 4wd. I do know that it does have l/s (junk) and 3.55 gears. Im pretty sure it has the 8.8 but he thinks it has the a 9.75 or whatever it is. I am also curious about removing me junk l/s and adding a lock-right from powertrax. Its supposed to be much better off road, and stronger than l/s. Basically a locker except it unlocks around corners and when you let off the gas. good price too. also 28 or 31 spline axles?

 

5.4 comes with he 9.75. Find another 97'-04 with the 4.6 and look at the differential cover. The 8.8 is symmetrically round and the 9.75 ovals to the right.

 

Comonly refered to plainly the Ford 9 inch?

 

No. Not the same thing. Ford hasn't used the 9" for years.

 

Went to Jegs to look up parts and the only thing I see for Ford rear ends are the 8.8, 9", 8 and thats about it, no lockers or l/s for 9.75?

 

Go back and search on 9.75. You will come up with quite a few hits. 9.75 and 9" are 2 totally different rears.

 

when NASCAR came into existence, the Ford 9" rear was used in almost all the cars running, chevy, mopar, etc... This was the case for almost 20 years!

As for your topic, there is an LS for the 9.75 and you can buy a Detroit true track or Eaton for a pretty penny.

 

Check the code on the door sticker or the tag on the rear cover and you will know for sure.

 

Door sticker only tells you ratio and whether it's a LS. The axle tag also has the size.

 

Couple of things. You probably won't find much at Jegs or Summit for the 9.75. Probably need to look at one of the gear/ axle companies.
Take a look at this site, and you can see the difference in shape betwen teh 8.8 and 9 3/4.

http://www.yourcovers.com/diffcover_9519.php

All cars in NASCAR run aftermarket versions of the Ford 9".