First I want to thank all you guys for your advice and encouragement.
I could NOT have done this without you. Literally.
In my case, there's really not a down side. It works perfectly. Note
here I'm talking about the Powertrax No-Slip, and NOT the Powertrax
Lock-Right. The No-Slip releases the inside wheel during turns, which
eliminates the problems (tire chirping, jerking, etc.) associated with
driving lockers on the street. When not turning, however, it locks up
absolutely rock solid.
Most of the time, I can't even tell it's back there. It does sort of
"clunk" a little bit, more felt than heard, sort of like a gear
shifting, when you accelerate out of a turn or from coasting, but it's
really not noticeable. The fact that I'm using 75W-140 synthetic gear
oil helps, too.
But it's great. The inside tire quietly disengages in a turn, and in
straight lines, it locks up steel-beam-solid, with full power to both
rear wheels. There's one place leaving my house where you stop at a
stop sign going up a VERY steep slope. When it's raining, it's almost
impossible to move out of that stop without spinning a rear wheel fast
enough to smoke the rubber. With THIS baby, though, my truck moved up
that hill, in a pouring rain, like it was being pulled with an
invisible cable. Wonderful. I can hardly wait to try a little mud.
I have heard of some people having problems with Powertraxes, or a lot
of noise or whatever, but they are in a small minority. Of course
you'd feel it more if you slammed the gas pedal to the floorboard
every time you went through a turn or something. But otherwise, if
it's installed correctly, it works. There's a 2-year warranty, by the
way, and it's approximately 3 times stronger than your rear axle
itself.
A couple of things. First, it's kinda scary installing it the first
time, especially if you've never been in a differential before.
Sometimes things don't line up the way they're supposed to, so you
push and pull on stuff or do it over and then it works. You have to
be a little creative, because it doesn't always work exactly the way
the instructions say. For example:
- I couldn't turn the case so the pinion shaft hole would line up. I
had to lever a big screwdriver against the pinion gear teeth to turn
it.
- When replacing the bolts in the differential cover and the pinion
shaft retaining bolt, there is NO mention of using Loctite, which is
absolutely vital.
- The "final test," where somebody holds one wheel and the other one
rotates freely in the opposite direction, didn't work right. The R
wheel would disengage while somebody held the L wheel, but not
vice-versa. I could NOT disengage the L wheel. In a panic, I called
Powertrax tech support, and they were nonchalant: they said it was
just a stiff synchro ring, no problem, just drive it a while to break
it in and loosen it up, don't worry about it.
- I had to remove the disk brake calipers so I could slide the axle
in and out a few inches, as is required. No big deal, just two bolts
holding on each caliper, and then I hung it from the axle to keep the
weight off the rubber hose. Easy. BUT.... I had NO idea that the
brakes would "close up" after I took them off the rotor!!!!! The
rotor was an inch thick, but the brakes had closed up to about 1/2 an
inch!!!
What I did was get a 1/2" ratchet wrench, then put a 12" socket
extension on it. Then I stuck the handle of the wrench between the
brake pads and twisted it using the extension as a lever. It forced
the pads far enough apart to get them back onto the rotor. It had me
worried for a while there... (-;
Since I went slowly, it was my first time, and I was being
meticulously careful, I spent two days on this. Now, though, I could
easily do it in less than an hour, and most of that would be spent
removing tires, brakes, the differential cover, etc., the actual
installation taking maybe 10 minutes.
These aren't designed in new cars because they can sometimes be tricky
to drive, especially on ice or snow. Since most streets slope
downwards to the outside, on ice the outside wheel can "pull" you down
to the curb if you're not careful. There's also the matter of
occasional clunks and thunks, which can bother some people.
The "limited slip" which is standard on almost all so-called "4 by 4s"
isn't a locker. If one wheel is spinning, it allows about 15%-20%
power to go to the other wheel. That's all. They are expensive, and
have numerous parts to wear out and break. Differentials are critical
parts, and MUST be reliable. Working on a differential is NOT
something you're going to do by the side of the road under a tire
jack. Trust me.
The Powertrax No-Slip releases the inside wheel during turns, but in a
straight line, it locks up solid, with full, 100% power going to both
wheel, spinning or not. That's why they call it a "locker." There is
NO slipping of any kind within the system.
The standard open differential is simple, cheap, quiet, lasts forever,
and they're what most people are used to. So that's why they are
pretty much the standard.
Total cost of this for me was about $460. The Powertrax No-Slip was
ordered from a web site for $386 + $20 shipping. Then I spent about
$50 on 3 quarts of Royal Purple 75W-140 gear oil, Valvoline premium
synthetic bearing grease, and some Permatex RTV Ultra Blue sealant.
Well, that's it. I'm thrilled and a little proud to have installed
this thing successfully. It DOES work; it works like the dickens, and
I have this nifty "Powertrax Extreme Traction Products" decal on the
back of my truck. (-;
I'll be heading out to my hunting lease in the next couple of weeks,
and some of the ranch roads should be pretty muddy from all the recent
rains. It'll be interesting to see how much it helps in those
conditions, especially with the new BF Goodrich T/A KO's.
Feel free to ask questions, if you have any. Otherwise, thanks again,
and adios.
Ron M.
Mark <
[email protected]> wrote in message news:<
[email protected]>...
> What's the down side to having Powertrax?
> Why don't vehicles have this designed in?
> How much did it cost you?
>
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
> >
> >
> >Ok, it's all done. It works FINE.
> >
> >Talked to Powertrax tech support, they said it was the synchronizer
> >ring; they're sometimes very tight when they're new, and won't
> >disengage. They will under the weight of the vehicle, but not when
> >you're just turning the wheels by hand. He said just drive it around
> >and it'll loosen up.
> >
> >So I drove the truck around. YAHOO! Beautiful. I can't really tell
> >it's back there. I backed down the boat ramp - it was raining, so it
> >was wet. I gave it some gas, and you could just FEEL both wheel
> >shoving the truck up that ramp.
> >
> >Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful
> >
> >Ron M.
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