Limited-Slip Differential

[sharkey]

the inserts are easy to install. all ya gotta do is pull the diff pin out, clamp the blocks together in a vise and safty wire them together (if it comes with the install kit, that makes it easy) slide it in, reistall the diff pin and remove the install tools.

the EP diff is a bit more involved. i beleive you need to use new diff bearings with them. you also need to swap the ring gear over from the old diff to the new one.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

>i have installed several of those inserts and im not impressed with them. >basicly all they do is put pressure on the side gears to press them against >the carrier.

Yeah - I was looking at the insert-type unit and I have my doubts about the durability of using the thrust washers and spider gear faces as friction surfaces. My car is a daily driver but I have a very lead foot.
Seems a like a rice boy wannabe product. Look at the cars on their website as well as no technical information or close-up drawings of an installed unit.
The EP diff is a real plate-type limited-slip. Jeff contacted me on Sunday and gave me an explanation that he would convert my existing FD to a limited-slip or sell me a core to convert. Their site never implied it was composed of 100% new compnents.
I think I will go this route because this is a proven technology with replacable wear parts; AND the manufacturer is a specialist in GM, AND their shop is near where I live. Not to mention the quick e-mail reply.
Since mine is a 440T4 auto the whole tranny has to come apart to install it. The FD is literally the first part to go in the case... I want something that is not going to shell out on me in the middle of no-where at 2 in the morning...
Thanks for the information!

[Rhedalert]

how much is the EP differential going for?

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

The price was 499 + shipping + core. They are having a $100 discount this week.

[3400-95-Modified]

Thats his winter sale, I bought my last year... I had one in a 4t60e, unfortunately I have already cooked it... He currently has it now to be rebuilt.

[tijuana_no]

Thats his winter sale, I bought my last year... I had one in a 4t60e, unfortunately I have already cooked it... He currently has it now to be rebuilt.

how did you cooked it ,i mean is something common or you just overworked the hell out of it .i also have a 4t60e and looking into that ,is it something well worth
buying for $500.since you burn your perghaps you are a good person to ask the ups and downs and performance.

[3400-95-Modified]

I dont know how I did it... He tried to blame it on my nitrous, but its a 100 shot on a stock motor, I put down 206whp and there are more cars out there putting down more power than that and not having problems... I also started with synthetic fluid and that made it slip quite a bit so that could have started some damage, I then switched over to Type F fluid, and with that I trashed the 1-2 roller sprag, (it was probably just a cheap part) cooked the drive gear thrust washer and stretched my chain and burnt the LSD....

Needless to say I have replaced the drive gear, the drive gear bearing housing along with a new thrust washer, replaced the sprag with a borg warner unit, and switched back to Dextron III fluid. I dont know what caused the problem or started it but I made the clutches nice and shiny... thats what he said at least. I also grooved the spider gears from the center plate.

I guess he is trying something different this time with mine but I sent him a e-mail at the begining of the week and never got a responce so I don't know whats up. Good thing I have 2 3.33 open spares lying around...

[gpse3400]

I once removed my phantom grip to change to stiffer springs and the wear I saw was light radial grooving. Nothing major. The thrustwashers, side gears, and carrier had so light radial wear nothing major at all. I know my insert is a tight fit.

[torq455]

I've heard that Collin wore his LSD out too. It was then suggested to go with the race version. Which, if I can, I will do. That is, when I put my 4T60 in.

[3400-95-Modified]

Mine was the race version...

[torq455]

geez! what you been doing, burnouts?!

[tijuana_no]

stay on them it will be intresting to know what else they have to say ,see if they ever had this problem before .

[3400-95-Modified]

He said I was the first to cook it like that... and the first to have problems getting the axle, out... I broke 3 retaining clips inside the diff, first time was an axle making a pop noise, I had to open the diff cover after getting it off to fish out the peices of the clip, the second time was when all those parts failed inside, third time was after the trans rebuild I had a leaking axle seal so when I had to replace the seal I had to pull the diff cover to get the clip out again, and then to get the diff out to send back to him to check it, I broke my fourth clip... turns out the clip goes far enough in to expand on the face of the spider making it impossible for it to recompress and retract into the spider during removal, stock it would only go in to were it clips into a recessed area inside the spider where the splines are, it would never pass the face of the gear or fully expand really.

This happened because he machines the face of the gear to fit the plate and springs in there, he said this time he was going to do it differently which would include not having to machine the face of the spiders... so I'm curious on what he is going to try and if it may be a revision to his automatic units.

His 5-speed units use a different setup because it doesn't have to have a "open" side to put a clip on an axle during assy. So no 5-speed guys have had any issues I guess. If you have one or have worked on an auto you know what clip I mean.

I may call him today since I hear he was having trouble with his ISP and that may be why I didn't get a responce yet.

And yes burnouts consisted of warming up the tires at the drag strip... other than that it was just dialy driving... with the ocasional tire spin but definately not hammering on it every day.

[treeZ24]

this isnt true. colin actually cooked the lsd, although he got one of his friends to remachine the pieces needed.

i deleted my emails explaining the pieces which were gone but it had something to do with the diff carrier almost being destroyed etc etc...

if anyone wants to know for certain i will ask him.

here's the response (thanks colin)

The first EP diff I had was the street version. I cooked the clutches at the track. Upgraded to the "Race" version which is what you have in there now. The thing that broke was the differential spider gear pin. The pin sheared straight in half. (nothing to do with EP's diffs, as the diff is just a stocker modified) Curtis has sheared diff pins in the past too, However his exited the case when it did so. Which is normally what happens, I don't know why my diff pin never spit out the side of the trans, which is why I never realized there was anything wrong with it.

I had to use a new complete diff case (as I had to cut the old case inhalf to get the side gears and the important clutches and the spring block plate out of the old one) then had to send out the old modified EP side gears and have a new set of side gears cut/modified to the exact same spec as the EP modified ones. Put it all back together the same as EP does.

When I had it apart, I had been in contact with Jeff in the past before due to my original EP street version biting the biscuit, He had me take measurements of the burnt up old Street clutches at the time and told me what the clutch thickness should be at. So When I had your diff apart I measured up the race clutches, they were at the time the same thickness still that EP had quoted me on for clutch thickness..... IIRC it was .080 inch.