Chevy & GMC Vans

Ok i am probably a ways of from doing this but looking into it any way. It was suggested that I go with a powertrax no slip during duscussions on another thread so i looked into the prices.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/year ... s=Rank|Asc

i do admit that the powertrax installation looks easy but.... the eaton posi unit is less than a hundred dollars more.

Would it be more beneficial to go that route (with the option of regearing as well???)??? or...

what are your thoughts.

i believe there was a conversation on here about the easton posi on here before that stated it had clutches in it that will wear out eventually and the are not rebuildable, also that it required proper knowledge to set it up properly to insure longest lifespan. The powertrax has no clutches and is gear based shouldn't wear out under normal use and maintenance (oil changes)
I'm sure the people with personally experience will respond shortly to correct me if i'm wrong and more info I don't have any experience with either so don't know much about them

It all comes down to how much you wanna spend. If you can afford to pay a shop to setup a new carrier, I HIGHLY recommend going with a Detroit TrueTrac posi. I have used these personally and they are flawless on the street. They have no clutches to wear out and are all mechanical. Again, you would need to do a professional setup or you WILL trash your gears and bearings in short time.

The powertrax lockers just replace the spider gears and require NO setup. You can install these in a few hours with basic hand tools.

The powertrax lockers just replace the spider gears and require NO setup. You can install these in a few hours with basic hand tools.

That is what i was thinking about..

the price for the parts isn't much different but setting up is very...

hmmm...

I've always been very interested in the Detroit TruTrac. I love the simplicity of it. It uses physics principles of the torsen (worm) gear, rather than lots of complicated moving parts and clutches. Yet it should still allows full locking, differentiation in turns, and holds traction throughout the turn, which as Lifted said, makes it good on and offroad.

Do you have it installed in your van? Can you tell us more about your experience with it, especially offroad?

I had it in the front axle of the SPB and the van was a BEAST in the snow. The front end pulled straight when locked in (manual hubs due to the Dana 44 solid axle) and never slid weird or pulled one way or the other. My current truck, 2003 Ram 2500, has the same style limited slip made by AAM and it performs perfectly with no weird handling issues.

From what I've seen, there's a bit of delay before the TruTrac locks due to lash in the gears. How does the lag compare to the G80?

No lag in either the SPB or my truck. The G80 has a very noticeable lag.

I followed the link to the Truetrac Site and it looks like a variant of torsen unit, almost a direct copy of the Quaife units.
I have a Quaife in my SAAB 99 Turbo race car and it works very well however, if one wheel loses all traction, power will be sent to that wheel (eg., it's in the air). There must be some resistance in the system for the gears to bind correctly. That's the reason the Rally guys use clutch pack LSDs, they still work w/ one tire in the air...

john

But you can just apply a bit of brake to help that right?

Yup. That also works somewhat when you don't have an LSD...

That said, when I'm racing for time up a mountain, I don't want to be hitting my brakes

john

Great A'Tuin wrote:That said, when I'm racing for time up a mountain, I don't want to be hitting my brakes

This is true for a race car...this application is for a RWD Astro...not exactly gonna be racing up pikes peak!