I have 72 gs, which I am assuming is a Corporate GM 8.5 10 bolt with I believe 28 spline axles and I am spinning one wheel. I don't want to spend $450 plus on a posi plus install, and I don't quite want the uselessness of a spool/mini spool. I am looking in summit's catolog and I see power trax's lock right locking differential for $300 and it says its an easy install, or Detroit locker's E-Z locker. I am reading up on them and it says they are great for offroaders, but some muscle car and drag racers use them. I am looking for a differential that will lock up when I am going straight but allow me to atleast drive the thing once in a great while on the street. Does anyone know anything about the EZ locker or the Lock-right diffs, they seem like similar products with similar prices, I don't want an expensive posi, but if this does the job of locking the wheels and still allowing me to turn half way decently, just looking for someone's .02 cents. Thanks in advance. -Neel
Get the GM 410408 posi unit and get it installed.....shop here I deal with in FL does the swap for $200. You can find them on Ebay for $150-200 and they are rebuildable....I don't think the locker/powertrax set-ups are rebuildable. Or you can hit your local yards and find a posi unit....see the articles on the site below for more info.
I plan on doing the same thing you are thinking about. I've already bought the parts, but it will have to wait until i return to the states for an install and destructive testing. The only part that you 'should' have to worry about with these is the cross pin breaking. It is designed as a shear pin, to protect the rest of the unit. There are no wear items in it that would need rebuilding. It's a very easy install you can do in an afternoon in your driveway. If you upgrade to 30 spline shafts, you can even look at the aussie locker. All three are basically the same design. But some claim the aussie is quieter. In truth, the louder clicking noises some of them make when doing low speed turns is due to not checking clearances during the install. I have the Lock-Rite, the 72 8.5 10 bolt, and 3.73 gears. Should give me a huge advatage off the line compared to the open 2.56 I'm currently running. Just don't ever try to drive it in the snow and you'd be just fine. I know of several people that have them in daily driven 4x4's with 35"+ tires,
George, thanks for the great info, I just don't know if I want to go through the hassle of getting it installed, and the more money I spend is just cutting into the tire fund. I seriously and debating between this and a mini spool, I would be suprized if I put more than 100 miles on the car in the next year, it will be trailering it to the strip and everything, I just figure for the extra 150 bucks is this thing worth it over a spool, because it will allow me to turn without dying? 66 special, do you know of anybody using them in a car application or are the lockers just better for rock crawling and what not? Anybody have any insight on this. Oh by the way, this will be only sunny weather and mostly drag strip anyways.
Search for "powertrax" on turbobuicks.com and you'll see quite a few horror stories. They are junk, and break easily if you have any power at all. Contact "monzaz" on this board, he has some great deals on posis and gears. I found gears/posi that someone bought and never installed that came from him, and I'll be putting it in next week:TU:
They are not junk. If it really only gets driven 100 miles a year, I'd just put in a FULL spool, or weld the spiders. Then just deal with the tire scrub around corners. A mini spool will break long before a Lock-right or detroit ezlocker. ALso before dropping the coin on a posi, go full locker and get a detroit locker. not the ezlocker, but the tried and true full locker that has it's own carrier.I know of a couple of peope that run a locker behind a big block(chevy) and drive the car to work on a regular basis, prob about 5-10k miles per year. The only time you'd notice it's back there is if it is raining, or there is snow/sleet/ice on the road. Which i don't see as a problem since you mostly trailer it to the track. These style lockers you are looking, known as 'lunch box lockers', pretty much replace the spider gears. So the setup is only as strong as your ring and pinion/carrier were to begin with. It's also why it's so easy to install. you can do it in the driveway with the axle and gears still in the car. With a DOT tire that fits in a stock wheel well, I don't forsee the locker letting loose. The 28 spline shafts would be the weaker link. If your tubbed, upgraded shafts, and running slicks, well different story.
Well, I ended up going for a mini spool because of budget constraints....I ended up ordering the 28 spline mini spool for 8.5 10 bolts. I have the diff cover off, the spider gears out and I had every intention of taking the c clips off and they don't seem to be there....I called up summits tech line and they said that there are backing plates right behind the axle ends in the drums themselves, and i took the four bolts off of those and still nothing, I can't seem to get the axles out to put the spool in, I will post some pics tomorrow, but does anyone have any insight?
There's no c-clips on the Buick 8.5. Pull harder on the axle with the 4-bolt flange unbolted, the seal is a tight fit in the axle and the bearing is pretty tight in the tube as well. You may need a slide hammer with an axle flange adapter if it's in there tight enough.
wow, that stinks. So tell me this, the mini spool that I just bought, will it still fit? It is part number RMG-78-1028-1 from summit. And not only that, will the gasket I got for it work either? http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=RMG%2D78%2D1028%2D1&N=700+304869+4294791217+4294790783+4294901322+115&autoview=sku
If you reverse the drum and install the drum to the axle flange with the lug nuts, you can pull on the drum and the axle should come out. That looks like the right application for the 8.5. Are you driving this on the street? I wouldn't drive a spool on the street. I know some guys do, but there will be no differential rotation, both wheels will be forced to turn at the same speed. In a turn, that will force the tires to slip and scuff, and increase the stress to the axles. If you can't afford a posi, then you wait until you can. Just my .02
If you want to drive it just make sure you install both rear and front sway bars,it will make it much more driveble.Done that 15 years ago.BrunoD.
My powertrax has worked perfect since I installed it correctly, had a rear end guy do it first and he didn't line things up right so it broke a tang off. I got the new part and enlarged the directions to better see how to line things up which helped big time. I have since run the car at the track and done some major hole shots with no problems at all. It will break every time if not installed correctly and I bet most of the horror stories are because they were not installed right, but who would admit to that? Once the weather cools here I plan on using my drag tires and we will see how it holds up then. Steve
I wont be driving it on the street, just on a trailer to the strip, for a while atleast, the car is far away from street worthy for now, I just want to enjoy it until I can put the parts that I want to put into it. I figure for a couple hours for wrench time and a 90 buck part, this isn't a huge investment and it will allow me to actually run my car. oh by the way, i just rented a slide hammer from pep boys and I am hoping this does the job, and if it doesn't i will try that drum brake tip.
the slide hammer worked like a charm. I got the axle out, and the spool is in, now onto my next issue. the center of the spool, the two little square blocks, where the pin slides through, they are in there, but they move around, even after I tightened the axle up, and put the bolt in for the center pin, they are sliding up and down the center pin itself, I don't want to bolt this thing up, and have those things sliding around and having a terrible vibration. Does anybody know anything about this, did I forget to do something, the richmond directions werent very in depth. Cliff notes: Center blocks arent stationary in the center of the spool, they are sliding up and down the pin, is there a way to make them not stationary, or is it supposed to do that? Once again, if nobody knows what is that i speak of, I will snap some pics and post them up.
this peice, isnt it supposed to be stationary? It is sliding up and down the cross pin, and I can move it with my finger, shouldn't it not be able to move? Did I forget to do something?
