Alright, it looks like my spider gears are gone in my rear end. They are all in one piece but sounds very rough.

I think if I have to replace them I will put a posi system in. Now I've been looking at the Auburn Pro series and the Detroit EZ locker. Everyone seems to have their opinion as to which one is the best. Some say the Auburn will only last 3 years, others say that the EZ locker is just not the way to go. Spoke with one guy and they sell Auburns but they rebuild the Ford Posi for the 9inch rear end, 31 spline.

Does anyone have any experience with different posi systems?

Thanks,
Darryl
80 Bronco

 

I had an 83 Bronco-460 automatic which I had for 12 years and swapped rear differential components several times!
8.8" rear
3:55 to 4:10's
Original Limited slip (Trac-loc)
to Auburn
to Detroit locker
to Auburn
The original LS differential, one spider gear welded itself to the pinion cross shaft.
This required cutting the cross shaft with a torch to remove axles, pull carrier, remove ring gear and throw carrier in scrap pile.
Enter Auburn
This rear worked excellent for a year or so but turned itself into an open differential from abuse (1 wheel tire spins)
Enter Detroit locker
This differential is educational (an eye-opener)
In a short wheelbase vehicle, under power around corners it wants to go straight!
Around corners it only drives with the inside wheel making it real easy to spin.
It will spin until it's speed matches up with the outside wheel then it will lock! (this really impresses cops directing traffic at construction sites or accidents)
I twisted 2 sets of axles and sheared off 1 set!
The occasional clunks and bangs it emmited while turning around will scare your passengers!
On the flip side you can almost plow snow or four wheel in 2 wheel drive due to evenly matched wheel speed.
After owning one of these you will understand perfectly how spider gears work .
It will be a love/hate relationship if it is street driven!
I got sick of slide-hammering out twisted or broken axles and re-installed an Auburn
I now understand why Ford never coupled an 8.8 rear with a 460
I also have an F-350 with front and rear Power-Lock differentials.
Excellent differential for the rear, not for the front.
Your best bet would be to call a big name gear and differential vendor and speak with them about the pros and cons of all your options
Good luck!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 8 Lugs
[B]I had an 83 Bronco-460 automatic which I had for 12 years and swapped rear differential components several times!
8.8" rear
3:55 to 4:10's
Original Limited slip (Trac-loc)

I have a 1995 with trac lock. Everything I have read say this is a posi. Ford dealer said Trac lock is fords name for there posi.

 

I put a powertrax lock right in the 9" with my 300-6. put in through hell (well, as much hell as a 300-6 with 4bbl and a heavy foot. probably more than a 302 could), and it still held together. kinda noisy, took a little bit to get used to it, but its not as rough as a detroit locker.

for posi's, i'd probably go with an EATON posi. they have carbon fiber clutch packs which hold on a heck of a lot better than normal posi's.

as 8lugs said, don't put an auto-locker in the front. At least if you don't go 4wheeling 95% of the time.

 

I have experience with the Ford traction lock in a 9 inch, and I agree with the others, it works fine till it gets older and the going gets tough, then it slips just like an open rear. Never had experience with any of the others, but from what the other guys are saying, sounds like the locker that you can turn on and off with air is the ticket. I think they are expensive though. Doesn't the new H2 come with the air lock rear?

 

arbs are definately the way to go. I am getting them front and back on my f-250, that is, when i get a spare $3000 for gear changes, arbs, etc etc..

 

Well turns out my pinion yoke stripped on the differential. Then I found out I had a 4 gear Traction Lok in my diff so I had that overhauled. Hope it works well.

 

I posted this a couple of years ago to another BBS, but it has some good info that might interest you:

An automotive differential is a mechanism for dividing the engine's power between 2 shafts, most often between the 2 axleshafts within an axle. It involves a "carrier" which contains 4 bevel gears; 2 facing each other on a shaft perpendicular to the carrier's axis (spider gears), and 1 on each axleshaft concentric with the carrier's rotation. When the vehicle is rolling straight, the spider gears don't rotate on the cross-shaft, but merely convey power from the carrier (which is driven by the ring & pinion gears) to the axle gears which ultimately turn the tires. During a turn, the spider gears spin (opposite each other) to allow one axle to turn faster than the other. The problem is that the spider gears can spin fast enough to allow ALL the power to go to ONE axleshaft, leaving the other NOT TURNING AT ALL. This is an "open" differential and is used on almost all production vehicles; front, rear, or all-wheel drive. Some 4WD vehicles are manufactured with open diffs.

The easiest solution to the wheelspin allowed by an open diff is to eliminate all differentiation by either replacing the carrier & its contents with a solid piece of metal called a "spool", or by making the carrier & its contents solid by welding everything together (a "Lincoln Locker" named for the brand of welding machine), or by replacing only the contents of the carrier with a "mini-spool". But this produces unpredictable behavior on-road.

A better solution is to limit how fast the spider gears can turn by braking the axle gears - "limited slip". This involves simple springs pushing on friction materials inside the carrier, but sometimes requires additives to the oil. They also wear constantly, so they require service to continue to function. Also, they can be easily overwhelmed by wear, engine power, or driveline torque (big tires or a heavy vehicle). Some brands of LSD's are Ford's Trac-Loc, GM's Positraction, Dana's Hydra-Lok, and Auburn, and each uses a specific carrier different from the open diff's.

An even better solution is "torque biasing" in which a mechanism varies the braking effect to send the torque to the tire with traction. This type uses even more unusual carriers. GM's Gov-Lock uses an extremely complex & delicate arrangement of clock springs, counterweights, and clutches to do an effective job. The Tractech True-Trac uses a much simpler, more robust, & more elegant arrangement of helical gears, but still suffers from wear. Zexel's TorSen claims not to suffer from wear, but is only available for the Ford 8.8", the Ford 9", the GM 8.5" (10 bolt ), and the GM 7.5".

A solution that virtually eliminates wear is the Tractech Detroit Locker, which uses toothed rings held in engagement by heavy springs to transmit power from the ring gear to the axleshafts. They replace the stock carrier, but require no modification to the axle housing. There is no differentiation (in the pure sense) since they act as a spool, but the differential effect is still achieved when the rings disengage under extreme driveline torque, momentarily allowing one axle to freewheel to relieve the torque. There are many copies of this design marketed under many names, and there are also "mini" versions which replace only the contents of the carrier but are considered far weaker. Here's a step-by-step install of a mini-locker. While VERY dependable (except minis) & effective, these show the same unpredictability as a spool when driven on ice. Some also produce an audible popping during normal on-road operation.

The type that started this thread is the "selectable locker" which gives the driver direct & immediate control to change from an open diff to a spool. A few older 4WD's came with this feature, but now it is only available from the aftermarket. ARB sells the most popular which uses an air diaphragm in a proprietary carrier to apply force to the clutches that lock the diff. While effective & convenient, it is expensive to buy, expensive to install, and requires an on-board air source which is also expensive. It requires some drilling of the axle housing for the air line to be routed thru, and some owners have found air leaks to be a problem. The Eaton promises simplicity over the ARB since it uses electromagnets to lock the diff, but the price has not yet been published and they have no history to judge their quality.

This is an excellent illustrated & animated tutorial on the functioning of differentials, and the rest of the web site is a WEALTH of information & links.
This is another article comparing types of diffs.

 

so a ford trak lok for the 8.8 and a trak lok for the d44 is the best bet for a truck thats driven on road at all.

-Randy