hey guys i am wondering out of the above i should get. i heard limited slip is best because you will have good handling and not be trying to spin out on you. and i heard that the lockers are no good because they mess your handling up, same goes for mini spools or welding spider gears. i'm going to be ordering somethign within the next few weeks so which one should i get and why? am i correct about the handling? the last guy i talked to said if you get a limited slip differential and you burn out alot you will burn the clutches out real easy and he suggested a mini spool. what should i get

 

Mini spool as not recommended for any pavement use. They're designed for dirt track racing. Lockers will give you the most positive traction but are normally noisy going around corners. Posi is the most common and cheapest. If properly maintained, they'll last for many years.

 

On the subject of a mini-spool being used on pavement, aside from the drivability issues (tire chirps while turning, etc), would running a mini-spool on the street prematurely wear the axles? Maybe eventually cause them to break?

 

preperly maintained meaning how? would you go wtih a locker or the auburn limited slip differential

 

Changing the fluid and adding posi additive at recommended intervals. I also would vote for a posi and not a locker for a street driven car. I had an auburn unit and it worked great.

 

All the non regularly changed fluids in the car should be changed every 2-3 years. The majority of car owners never change diff oil, tranny oil, antifreeze, brake fluid unless something happens and they have to change it as part of the repairs.

Use the additive in a posi

My truck still has the factory govlock in it. Not the best system but a GM 14 bolt diff posi isn't cheap and the govlock works fine for what I need it for. My race car has a full spool.

 

ok awesome thanksf or the opinions i'll be getting the auburn limited slip differential then

 

I went with the power trax lock right locker.. I was ify about it when I ordered it... Now after putting it in... I'm SOOO GlAD I WENT WITH A LOCKER.

with a limited slip unit you got to know how to set up a rear end, if not then you have to pay somebody $150-300 to just install the limit slip unit for you.

The locker... If you can half way read and turn a wrench, you can have it all in and done with in an hour.

Locker hurts handling??? That's BS. I can drive my car harder and deeper into a turn now with a locker than I ever could before with an open rear.

There is 1 thing you have to watch out for though. Changing throttle opening real fast in a turn.

You can go to wide open around a turn with a locker if you build up to wide open.

If your in a turn, then floor the throttle, the rear end of car will "wiggle", Nothing bad enough to cause you to lose it, just alittle twitch. Same if your let off the throttle real fast in a turn.

Clunking, banging and clicking...... I never hear it, or know it's there untill I make a very slow speed, tight turn. Like parking in a parking space, or low speed U turn. Then it clicks some. Sounds like a baseball card in your bike wheel's spokes as a kid.
Now funny sounds, clicking, or clunking while driving.

Traction is un real!!!!

There's a reason why posi/limited slip is called limited slip. It's limited. It will send the most torque to the wheel with the least traction... Hmmm like that's gonna help out alot when you got some real power, and street tires.

A locker will send the same torque to both wheels no mater what under heavy load.
As you go around a turn at norm. speeds the locker will un lock and let one wheel free wheel so it dont drag that tire. The old lockers from 20-30 years ago, you could tell every time when they un locked and locked back.
This powertrax lock right... You cant tell it at all

Now as for spools, mini spools, welded spider gears.... NO NO NO. Non of them is for street use. They will not let one tire free wheel durning a turn. They fully lock both axles together (same as a locker) but they stay locked all the time. (locker don't)

 

Yeah so if they are completely locked, one tire will sort of catch up to the other while making turns and cause the tire to chirp. But other than scary noises, why are they such a no-no on the street?

 

hehe, my Powertrax locker as of lastnight:

 

They put alot of extra load on the tire that "drags", this can cause an axle to break while in a turn.

Also being they never unlock, if you aint use to it, you can get into trouble real fast.

If you turn too sharp, or too fast, an axle can break

 

mw66nova... DAMN! What happened. Was that the no slip, or lock right? I'm guessing no slip.

I only seen 8 lockers broke. 1 was a lockright on a 1100 hp drag car after close to 2 years of use, 3 was no slips on about 450-500 hp cars, and 1 was a lockright on a jacked up rock crawler truck, the 3 other was EZ lockers on mud/rock off road trucks

 

that's a lockright.....my 305 broke that...


i was running my new m/t et street radials for the first time lastnight. the track was poorly prepped though, and the first 10ft. out, i spun HARD. the tires hooked up though and THAT was the end result.

the things been around for about 5 years. first 3 years where alot of drag racing and no street miles, and the last 2years was about 20K street miles with bi-monthly trips to the track.

 

Not getting in a pissing match about handling but you contradict yourself with a big "don't change the throttle in a turn". If you're pushing it to the limit you have to work the gas along with the steering wheel. I had a lock right unit in my old chevelle, and yes it worked great for going straight but if you let off the gas in a turn it turned the car in more, and if you hit the gas it pushed the car and required more steering input. I could steer the car with the gas pedal in a turn, no joke. I autocrossed it and it sounded like someone was beating up my rear with a 5lb sledge hammer. I put a 4:11 detroit locker in the 9" in my camaro and drove it about 150 miles before it came right back out. The car WOULD NOT turn accelerating through a set of s-turns I've driven hundreds of times. Change to a conventional posi...guess what, no problems.

 

Lo-tec... What we both said is ture.. I said the same thing as what you just did.

To clear it up... It don't hurt street handling IMO, but your right, if your doing auto X, road coruse track racing then no you wouldnt a locker.

But... In a street ride, I feel the locker helps handling, you can drive into the turn harder, and/or exit harder. Now if you was racing, you would work the throttle to get you in and out of the turn as the fastest time possbly... Thats where the locker would hurt you.

On sprinted street driving, who really works the throttle that hard in a turn on the street? I know I never have, nor never will.

I'm at say 60mph, see a curve up ahead, speed up to about 75mph, enter turn, keep at the same speed through turn, at center of turn work up slowly to a higher speed, and exit the turn at about 95mph, slow it back down to norm. speed and go on, where ever I was headed

 

well, after yesterday, unless Richmond gives me a new locker (hey, i emailed them at least), don't see me running one of there lockers again.