I have been reading for about two hours now! I have found some very interesting articles about the CD4E found in the 3L Duratec option. None of them even hint to the fact that anything was done to improve upon what was done in 2000. And no, I still cannot find anything very relative to that either. Not yet anyway!
Now don't get me wrong! There were some things done to the CD4E for the 4 wheel application, but that was it. All it consisted of was working the "Rotary Couple Device" into it for the rear drive axle to exit into the differential case. All that was worked out by Dana though. As far as internals..., it seems that everything is the same.
I was really hoping to find something here! I will still look around though. There are a ton of aftermarket suppliers that I have yet to check and perform cross-references to so there may be some hope left.
The engines on the other hand, well that is another topic all together!