need a new diff

Hi all,
i recently converted my van from 253 on straight gas to injected 5.0l & T700. thats all done and legal now. BUT i went to the drags the other night can,t get better than 15.4 @ 87mph. plus i don't think the Salisbury 3.08 LSD is long for this world. it is no longer limited slip i guess it was to much for it.
my question is do i go 9inch ford (that would match my bonnet), or i was thinking of a borg warner with 4 pinion lsd. but they seem hard to come by and about the same price as a 9inch.
any advise would be appreciated ( i would like to runs 14's)

cheers richo

Hey Richo,four pin borgwarner is fitted to vl,vn,vp,vr and vs Commodores which all share similar track width to Q, J,X,Z . We run one in our 383 hx. Although it's not abused it's given us no trouble in 20,000 kms. These are readily available in Melbourne the last ones we purchased were fifty bucks each. After having them fully rebuilt with 31 spline axles they still come in under $2200.00. They are also less unsprung weight than salsbury and a lot lighter than a nine inch.
Van On Joe.

Can't advise you on the diff but if you want to get rid of the gears i'd be interested.

Cheers

Glad to see you have been busy richo
Bet your happy with the new power train ...
15.4 @ 87mph isn't bad,My daughters friend is running consistent 14.2s with an Ls powered kingswood.
All I can say about a diff is think about what your going to do with it street cruz,street/drags and are you going to put some serious power into it.
Just remember each diff has "For" &"against"
Holden diffs centres have never been flash & the truetrac's have helped them a hell of a lot
Ford 9" as Joe said is a lot heavier but a lot more components are available for them..
Down side is the ford factory Lsd clutch pac's wear out quick and the Lsd hats can also break easy.

Hopefully we'll see you on a run in early April.....

there is a swap meet at Clarendan this weekend i might go out and sniff about see what is available.
at this stage a 9inch is an easier option, there are a lot around and plenty of spares.
i want to be doing 14s by the end of the year so i need to get a move on.

i have to say the move from gas to unleaded was a great move it took a while to get sorted but well worth it.

i just bought a 9inch diff all the way from sunny Woolgoolga, it will need a ratio change (going to a 3.5) and a LSD centre but i have a start.

Don't waste your dollars on a factory LSd SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!
The factory ford Lsd have clutch packs (similar to motorcycle clutch) that wear out extremely quick when accelerating hard (drag racing)


The other problem is the hats that hold the Lsd together .There are two styles of hats ,the first is the XY style that has holes between thee mounting bolts ,These crack between the holes.
The second is the better of the two factory ones available but this one too has a problem of cracking around the bearing mount, the fix for some is a billet steel hat but these have the same problem but at higher horsepower levels.


Red lines ....is XY style hat
Blue line .....billet style hat
In my opinion look at a truetrac's or a Detroit locker it will be a thousand times better in the long run

i am currently looking on ebay, there is a ford superstreet diff , its all alloy and has a choice of ratios and a torqueworm? LSD. $1,500 delivered. that's hard to beat. i only have a 165 kw engine.

on another note i went to northern road wreckers for a pair of brake backing plates and hand brake cables, for the HX he wanted $150.00, i waked away, i don't think there that hard to get or that rare yet.

cheers

There's a bloke opposite the old rta site at Rose st Liverpool
that makes up cables to your specs and is very well priced,a mate had his made for his disc brake rear end in his FJ ute.
But sorry don't know his name...

I have decided to use the brakes from my current diff, i was hoping to have the complete diff set up & ready to go. i fitted the new 9inch housing,it looks like the tail shaft will need about 15mm taken out. on another note i removed the bottom leaf from the spring pack (the big thick heavy one)

Make sure you check the tail shaft length with
all four wheels on the ground as the length will change ....

I am heading of today to get the shaft shortend, it was already a tight fit not enough taken out when the T700 went in. but it needs another 19mm removed. the diff came with a short and long yoke the short was already fitted.

ok so i got 15mm taken out of the tail shaft so now it fits cost $200.00 for a cut & balance, this tail shaft now owes me over $500.00 after the first cut & balance and new uni's when the new trans went in.
anyway i had an issue with the axles, when i put them in i cracked the retaining plate when i tightend up the bolts( it was dark and using a led light. lesson 1 learned ) so i had to use my old axles i made a shim about 1mm thick that goes between the housing and brake backing plate and all is well.
that's when i realised the tail shaft is not centre to the car drive-line. the diff has axles the same length don't know if this is normal for a 9 inch or not. Anyway i filled it up with oil and went for a drive, it all seems ok nothing funny so far. 3.00-1 ratio is no good the sooner i get a 3.55-1 and LSD the better.then back to the drags and see if i can improve on my times. the next weekest link is the engine.

cheers

Well Richo
I hate to say it but it looks like you got what you payed for
The axles one should be longer than the other as the hemisphere is off set.
Sounds like they have done a dodgey and shortened one side only ,your old axles shouldn't fit being Holden ones

the good news is that the van is mobile!! which is good because i paid up for this years all Holden Day a few months ago to make sure i have the van going. it won't get a real test untill i get the centre i want which is a 3.5-1 LSD and go back to the drags.

cheers

What ratio do you have now and is it just an open center.  ?
How many splines ?

for now i am running a 3.0-1 open centre 28 spline. i will start looking around soon for a 28 spline 3.5-1 LSD.

If you can pick up a 3.55:1 open center you can get
a true track fitted to that for around a grand or even less for a Detroit locker in a 9 inch.
I may even take your 3:1 of your hands depending on the timing and price..

richo wrote:i just  bought a 9inch diff all the way from sunny Woolgoolga, it will need a ratio change (going to a 3.5) and a LSD centre but i have a start.

Was it from a guy with a light blue WB Van?
If so, he just bought my 2.78 salisbury to store in a container.

the guy i bought the diff of had a light blue van,i think his name was Wayne, at the moment it all seems to be going fine no noises. the car gave me a fright though, took of down the street like a mug lair and the van carked it. had to push it home.after checking fuses and fault codes & finding nothing wrong grabbed the trusty timing light, turns out the coil died. so i,m back on the road.

Is this the same one?

it looks like the same van, it was in his shed when i picked up the 9inch, he had a fair bit of property.