Traction-Lok Rebuild/Upgrade

UPDATE: Traction-Lok Rebuild/Upgrade

***UPDATE: I went ahead and rebuilt the diff with the +1 clutch "mod". Ended up not needing any shims, even with the .025 shim in place, it was too much.

In dis-assembling it, I did find a single clutch where one of the little "ears" which keep them from rotating with the side gears was broken, so it's a good thing that I rebuilt it, if only to fix that problem.

Because I have the 3.73 it made re-installing the "S-spring" difficult, so I left it out!

I filled it with 3 full quarts of 85-140 Dino oil for the 500 mile break in of the clutches.

When I go back in, if I feel I need to, I may re-install the "S-spring".

For sure though I'll be replacing the pinion seal, installing a Trick Flow diff cover/girdle, and filling it with 75-140 synth oil.

Impressions:
Overall, it feels pretty much like it did before the rebuild/upgrade. I can notice a slightly more positive "lock-up" of the diff when downshifting at freeway speeds, but it's only a slightly exaggerated version of what it did before.

This tells me one of the following.

1) My stock setup was still working pretty well

2) The S-spring is really required to enhance the function of the diff

I'll likely go with a more serious gear based LSD later on, but for now, I'm happy with the ~$40 dollar fix/upgrade.

/***UPDATE


I recently discovered my wheel bearing/seals are leaking, so it's time to replace them. See this thread. I figured while I was in there, it may be a good time to see about rebuilding/upgrading my traction-lok limited slip.

I think I'd like to upgrade it as well, by adding some friction disks. As I understand it, this should increase the longevity of the system, as well as give me a bit better traction.

I've found a couple articles like this one and this other one which completely describe, or at least mention the proceedure for rebuilding and adding clutches.

Has anyone here done this before? I've done a fair amount of searching, and cannot seem to find a write-up.

Both of the above articles show the carrier being rebuilt on the bench, but I'm considering doing this with the carrier still in the axle, so I don't have to worry about re-setting backlash and such. Not sure if this is possible or not though!

Any info, thoughts?

As with my bearing replacement, I'll probably do a writeup for this as well.

Here's another link for ya. http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/rebuild_tractionlock.htm

I have never heard of anyone actually doing one, but I say go for it! I would love to hear the results!

One downside to adding more discs is that there is more potential for the discs to be worn out during turns. This is I guess the same effect as using stiffer springs to pre-load the discs.

Who rebuilds a trac-loc??? PITCH IT!!! Ditch the crappy Trac-Loc for a real limited slip diff like a Torsen or a Detroit TruTrac. No matter how many clutches or how heavy a spring you use, the Trac-Loc does not LIMIT slip. Once the torque difference between one side and the other has exceeded the limit of the clutches, that wheel will spin until the cows come home.

Gear-based limited-slips like the Torsen or TruTrac will, in fact, limit the slip to some maximum ratio (determined by the pitch of the gears and the weight of the gear oil). It may still allow slippage of one wheel, but only up to a finite level. Even after one wheel slips, the other will drive you out of the hole, which is more than can be said of the Trac-Loc.

Just my .02

-Joe

gijoecam said:

Who rebuilds a trac-loc??? PITCH IT!!! Ditch the crappy Trac-Loc for a real limited slip diff like a Torsen or a Detroit TruTrac. No matter how many clutches or how heavy a spring you use, the Trac-Loc does not LIMIT slip. Once the torque difference between one side and the other has exceeded the limit of the clutches, that wheel will spin until the cows come home.

Gear-based limited-slips like the Torsen or TruTrac will, in fact, limit the slip to some maximum ratio (determined by the pitch of the gears and the weight of the gear oil). It may still allow slippage of one wheel, but only up to a finite level. Even after one wheel slips, the other will drive you out of the hole, which is more than can be said of the Trac-Loc.

Just my .02

-Joe

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've considered this but...

My truck is a 2wd, and I intend to only use it on the street, so true traction for wheeling isn't my goal. Plus, this is becoming a bit of a side project to some other repairs that I'm required to do. Rebuilding the trac-loc while I'm in there will only cost me another $60 or so, and might give me some better performance for a while, and I'll have an experience to share here.

Likely, I'll go with a mechanical LSD sometime down the road, but it's just not in the cards right now.

Thanks for your feedback though!

***UPDATE: I went ahead and rebuilt the diff with the +1 clutch "mod". Ended up not needing any shims, even with the .025 shim in place, it was too much.

In dis-assembling it, I did find a single clutch where one of the little "ears" which keep them from rotating with the side gears was broken, so it's a good thing that I rebuilt it, if only to fix that problem.

Because I have the 3.73 it made re-installing the "S-spring" difficult, so I left it out!

I filled it with 3 full quarts of 85-140 Dino oil for the 500 mile break in of the clutches.

When I go back in, if I feel I need to, I may re-install the "S-spring".

For sure though I'll be replacing the pinion seal, installing a Trick Flow diff cover/girdle, and filling it with 75-140 synth oil.

Impressions:
Overall, it feels pretty much like it did before the rebuild/upgrade. I can notice a slightly more positive "lock-up" of the diff when downshifting at freeway speeds, but it's only a slightly exaggerated version of what it did before.

This tells me one of the following.

1) My stock setup was still working pretty well

2) The S-spring is really required to enhance the function of the diff

I'll likely go with a more serious gear based LSD later on, but for now, I'm happy with the ~$40 dollar fix/upgrade.

/***UPDATE