RC diff-drop kit arrived!

[BigMeatsBronco]

My rough country diff-drop kit arrived today. Thought I would post pictures of the parts. Looks easy enough to install from their downloadable 3” kit instructions. I'll be installing this (without the 3” lift) soon and report back.

This is a solution for those that want to lift (with a spacer) a SAS or other models and don't want to risk CV joint bind. Also for those that are buying upgraded longer coilovers, a diff drop is a NECESSITY! That will help achieve 20% more travel without destroying the CVS.

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[NORCALGXP]

Cool, part # and link please.

 

[Tricky Dick]

It looks like they made it easy. I once did a diff drop on a 2500 Chevy and the instructions said to cut away part of the frame to make room. Lots of pics when it's done please.

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

Cool, part # and link please.

You have to call RC and ask for this specifically....it comes with the 3” kit, but I was able to order it by itself...I intend on doing coilovers soon so this is in preparation for a long travel setup in near future.

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

It looks like they made it easy. I once did a diff drop on a 2500 Chevy and the instructions said to cut away part of the frame to make room. Lots of pics when it's done please.

I'm looking at that as a possibility, although the instructions don't require it.

 

[Lurker B6G]

You have to call RC and ask for this specifically....it comes with the 3” kit, but I was able to order it by itself...I intend on doing coilovers soon so this is in preparation for a long travel setup in near future.

What did they charge?

I had this, and the rear track bar drop (3.0 inch pivot drop) in my hot little hands as part of the 3.5" lift kit, but could not justify the cost of the kit just for those parts.

Any idea how much this actually drops the differential. I could not tell from just the bracket, but based on the fact that the side takes two 0.19 inch spacer washers, it looked like it drops the differential 0.38 inches. If that is the case, it's not much, but could help out the front end geometry somewhat.

Even with the 2" spacer lift that I am putting on (when she arrives), this could help a little to keep things safe, if it is a reasonable price.

 

[Lurker B6G]

FYI - Pretty sure that those four taller spacers are for the upper control arms, which are part of the full kit.

 

[Cybindustries1904]

My rough country diff-drop kit arrived today. Thought I would post pictures of the parts. Looks easy enough to install from their downloadable 3” kit instructions. I'll be installing this (without the 3” lift) soon and report back.

This is a solution for those that want to lift (with a spacer) a SAS or other models and don't want to risk CV joint bind. Also for those that are buying upgraded longer coilovers, a diff drop is a NECESSITY! That will help achieve 20% more travel without destroying the CVS.

Do you have the part number or the link I Need this

 

[broncoepic]

You'll have to call RC to piece together the parts for the diff drop. $122.08 will get you the new bracket and the complete hardware bag.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

Holy hell that is some crap welding.

 

[Lurker B6G]

One of the things that I noted was that using this requires a small notch in the "skid plate" in one spot. The "skid plate" in the instructions is plastic. So if you have a Base, BB, OBX, then no worries. Metal skid plates will require more effort...

 

[jessgut12]

Subbed - looking forward to your install

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

Well folks, I have my 1.5” diff drop done.

I bought the RC kit hoping it could be utilized.

The kit itself is decent and well made...HOWEVER it did NOT fit my Sasquatch well, and did NOT drop the diff more than 3/8 ”.
The problem with the fit was on the front of the diff, the mounting hole or ”slot” was placed too far rearward.
(This may be because the kit was make for the smaller m190 housing. Although I doubt Ford changed the mounts)
Additionally, the RC kit ONLY drops the front portion of the diff and the rear mount just ”twists” as the diff is tipped down in the front with their design

So after installing it and being quite disappointed I decided to utilize what parts I could and build the rest myself.

I wanted a 1.5” drop at the axles themselves, so on the rear of the diff (above the pinion) there is a factory mount where the flange rests on top of the frame-plate. I was able to move the mount to BELOW the frame-plate, and add a 1/2” spacer too. This part of the job is not easy and difficult to reach without removing a ton of shit like the whole exhaust system and the swaybar assembly. Instead, I elected to just drill out the factory studs and weld-on-nut that Ford engineers found brilliant to make absolutely impossible for removing. I started with small 12” long drill bit and worked up to a large size that wound mimic the original hole with a ford stud press welded in. (Impossible to pound it out) and a larger drill bit to chow away the weld-nut ford so graciously provided.
Once this miserable work was done, the rear mount could be positioned perfectly under the original frame-plate.
I bolted it up with new 10.9 bolts and spacer.

One the other mount on the passenger side, I was able to use the RC spacers (different than instructions) and get 1.5” drop.

Lastly, on the front mount that RC supplied, I had to cut/weld and re-drill the hole in the correct position.
I also added some additional support to the sides of the front bracket with some 4130 I had laying around. And a nice piece of high density foam between the bottom of the diff and the crossmember to alleviate any noise or vibration.

Today I will modify the skid plate slightly to fit around the new slightly lower diff.

For reference I now have 13” of ground clearance at ride height under the lowest part of the D44 front diff.

For those who are wondering, this mod will allow up up to 2.5” of additional drop travel (or lift if you desire) on the front axles WITHOUT binding the CV joints.

One of the steps necessary in the process to get to my 15” of front wheel travel target.

 

[Captain Howdy]

Holy hell that is some crap welding.

It looks like what came with a BBQ that I had to assemble.

 

[Lurker B6G]

Thank you for the update.

It's pretty much what I thought. The kit only drops 3/8" (two 3/16 washers).

I think RC has determined that max droop CV is pretty much met with the 2 inch kit (Base,BB,OBX). In order to get to 3.5" on the kit with the diff drop they added a spring pre-laod. But, they didn't want to overdo the preload (0.75" preload x 1.47 ratio = 1.1 preload lift). So the front spacer is bigger than the 2" kit (1.8" vs 1.6"). The added lift from the bigger spacer is 0.2" x 1.47 = 0.3".

Given that the preload does not add to droop, they put in the mini diff drop to avoid binding from that additional 0.3 inches of front end lift.

I was thinking of ordering this to use with my RC 2 inch lift just to keep the CV angles down, but after the comments, I'm not sure it's worth the effort...

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