Hey everyone quick question for my love hate 98 f150 4.6 4x4 5 speed manual. Maybe not so quick, my diff grenaded on my way home from work yesterday turning onto a street and gently taking off from a stop sign just went bang and that was it. Used 4x4 to get the rest of the way home maybe 7 minutes of driving.
anyways got home peeled the cover and found my carrier with a bunch of missing pieces and looking like it now freely rotates independently of each axle on each side. Anywho. Only noticed a new surging feeling between 1500 and 2000 rpm this last week and chalked it up to cleaning the gunk out of my throttle body just before but could have it been the carrier or clutches letting go? What would cause this? Clutch failure or casting flaw? And can I just grab a new set of guts from another differential with the same ratio and slam it in mine?
thanks everyone!

 

You could get a carrier and ring from a junkyard but you will likely have to adjust the backlash at the very least, pinion depth should not be affected but check the gear mesh pattern to be sure.

 

looking to abandon this diff now and just find one in the wreaker.
I heard I can bolt up a 9.75 with the same ratio, is there any other problems I can expect?