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I haven't seen ring gear bolts snap off in 40 years. Referring to the other thread, that was caused by the ring gear bolts backing out and being sheared off when they hit the housing. Very common on 1976 diffs and a little less common on 1978. It's also a good reason why you should never use a ring gear spacer.
All oem carriers have casting defects where the sand molds were pressed together. This is where they always crack. Just grinding out the defect is sufficient to prevent cracking. Polishing just makes it a little smoother. Taking off too much metal creates new problems. The new eaton carriers have been redesigned in this area.
The two most common carriers are the 297 and the 117, 297 being more desirable. But there are also bad 297's since many molds were used for each. Polishing the ridge just to the right of the ring gear only weakens the carrier, nothing else. By the time you polished out every spec of sand casting, you would have a very weak unit. I do, however shot-peen the carrier and housing which relieves surface tension. And it makes it look pretty!
Mike
Thanks for the info Mike.
I see your point about the ring bolts backing out and then being sheared off. That is why I thought that higher strength bolts machined to a better tolerance like ARP bolts would help. I doubt that ARP bolts with cleaned threads and red loctite would not back out like the ones you mentioned. Like I said cheap insurance.
Your comment about polishing I also understand but I think that it also depends upon how much polishing and how much material you remove that actually affects the strength. Same goes for the make/brand of the posi. There are certainly stronger posi units out there...are there not? We all know that some have some very bad reputations. Just like the smaller units used in the earlier differentials. So I think there is more in play than just polishing or not polishing.
Txs again for your feedback.
Only pic I have of one during set-up.
Pauldana should still have all the pics of his build.
Mike
Thanks for the pic Mike....was this an earlier build when you only used one hd cap with 1/2 bolts? Or did the buyer wish to save money there but spend it on REM and CRYO?
We can go crazy can we not in all the added work. I guess each person needs to decide where to put the money. With the builder's guidance for sure.
I did this one a while ago. The car it's in runs constant low 11's. It is nearly identical to the one in Alan Rothmans car that runs 10.50, wheels up launches.
Pauldana's setup is more involved with cryo and REM but is used for a different type of racing. And a lot more hp.
All the torque load is applied to the left cap. Right side, very little. I make my own caps because the seats in the housing are very irregular. Tom makes a good cap but it is designed for the original seat. Crooked seat- crooked cap. Crooked seat + straight cap = crooked bearing alignment. First thing I do is true the seats and bores to the carrier centerline. Once I do this, Tom's cap no longer fits so either I rebore his cap or make my own. Trueing the seats also allows me to make a wider cap with a larger footprint. This is where the right side cap would benefit.
I will be posting pictures and desriptions of 3 builds I am currently doing. And the entire process of converting Ridetech arms for use with 1480 flanges. One of the builds is a 12 bolt and it will be showing the proper method of clearancing the housing for the ring gear and carrier without using the "drop and gouge" method.
Also expect to see a preview of new parts that will soon be available.
If I had my choice I would put a 12 bolt in every hp build. But ratio's and budget are always the limiting factor.
Mike
I did this one a while ago. The car it's in runs constant low 11's. It is nearly identical to the one in Alan Rothmans car that runs 10.50, wheels up launches.
Pauldana's setup is more involved with cryo and REM but is used for a different type of racing. And a lot more hp.
All the torque load is applied to the left cap. Right side, very little. I make my own caps because the seats in the housing are very irregular. Tom makes a good cap but it is designed for the original seat. Crooked seat- crooked cap. Crooked seat + straight cap = crooked bearing alignment. First thing I do is true the seats and bores to the carrier centerline. Once I do this, Tom's cap no longer fits so either I rebore his cap or make my own. Trueing the seats also allows me to make a wider cap with a larger footprint. This is where the right side cap would benefit.
I will be posting pictures and desriptions of 3 builds I am currently doing. And the entire process of converting Ridetech arms for use with 1480 flanges. One of the builds is a 12 bolt and it will be showing the proper method of clearancing the housing for the ring gear and carrier without using the "drop and gouge" method.
Also expect to see a preview of new parts that will soon be available.
If I had my choice I would put a 12 bolt in every hp build. But ratio's and budget are always the limiting factor.
Mike
All of that is great info Mike. Thanks for posting.
You know that Gary R. built my Super 10 recently and was very detailed with the picks of the work done to achieve that.
I notice that your builds do not have the edges of the differential housing smoothed out. When you pointed out that in the posi that the winodw is polished so as not to create weak spots for cracks, would not these nicks along the housing edge also create the same weakness? I am interested in your take on this.
Do you also use only solid sleeves between the pinion bearings?
I see that you use the builder kit grade 8 bolts and lock washers which Gary opposes using. So interested in seeing what you refer to as improvements/more to what Gary does.
Thanks
And not to **** anyone off...but how is it you act as a vendor here by showing parts in development for sale along with your examples of work done for hire for others but are not listed as a vendor?
Isn't that what happened that had Gary's posting privileges rescinded? He did not see the logic of paying vendor fees when he was giving away so much information for free.
I'd like to hear your take on that.
Thanks again.
Obviously you have some very satisfied customers here.
Hi Dennis,
1. I am not selling or promoting anything. I offer no links to contact me.
2. I do not post the pictures of my work. Other people post pictures of what I did for them.
3. I help people here with all corvette problems, not just rearends and steering boxes. I use my 42 years of experience of working on Corvettes to help people find their problems, not waste money, and above all not get injured.
4. I refer people to supporting vendors here. Check it out.
5. I don't not criticize people or vendors here. (Except for one person who is now long gone). (Not Gary).
I have never once said Gary does not do good work. But when I have a better way of doing something, I talk about it. I don't do this on the side, this is what I do every day for a living. And have been for 42 years.
Why don't I grind the edges of the housing? Because there is no reason to. Has anyone ever seen a cracked housing? If the car is being judged you will lose points. If you look close I do go over the surface with a flat file to remove any raised metal. I do not use a grinder on a machined surface.
Solid pinion shims. Depends on the person. If it is a race car that gets frequent teardowns and inspections....yes. If they want one....yes. For a street car or weekend warrior.....it's a waste of money. Even Dana got away from using shims and went to crush sleeves. Crush sleeves don't fail. 0.002 shims do.
I have been asked to post a lot of pictures and I will for jobs I am doing right now. Not to show off my work but to show, in detail, proper setup procedures and inherent problems with used and new parts. A few people will be surprised and a few will be upset. A few people in Florida will be very upset.
Everyone seems to forget that several years ago I donated time, money, and parts to a magazine corvette build. I invested over 4K myself in the project and I am still reaping the rewards from it. Don't blame me because I seized an opportunity and someone didn't and is now bitter about it.
I could go on and on but I'll stop here. I'll leave with one parting thought. Sometimes people pay way too much money for unnecessary work when someone else can do it better for a lot less money.
Mike
Let me give an example of what I do. Here are two pictures of the same part made and sold by different companies. Both vendors here.
Part A
Part B
Part A is a well made item.
Part B is poorly made and will collapse when trying to install it.
Part B costs more money than part A
Part B will rust, part A will not.
This is the knowledge and experience I share with everyone.
Anytime you want to give me a call and get into a lengthy conversion it will be my pleasure. I talk to everyone. A few thousand people here have my number.
Mike
Why would you spend the extra money for a 17 spline when the 30 spline is the exact same price?
Because Tom saw like the guy above, that some want to be able to put their car back to stock appearance! So a Super 10 can be built 17 spline in either snap ring or c-clip!
Heck no for me, I have a 30 spline Super 10 now and the 1350 kit, and am planning a change to the 12 volt 30 spline I have owned forever with 1480 stuff, but telescoping shafts! I just found my perfect Series 4 case out of a wrecked low mileage 1972 LT-1 car (4.11), and I have 12 bolt 3.73 gears! So I will have 30 spline on two of our four cars!
I
Last edited by TCracingCA; 09-25-2017 at 01:26 PM.
I found Mike (Tracdogg) on here by talking to some of the many high hp guys here. Couldn't find one that didn't rave about his work. So I told Mike that I wanted the strongest 10 bolt on planet earth. Would have gone 12 bolt but wanted to use a Richmond 4+1 or Gforce if I kill that, so I needed 3.08 gears. I already had the 30 spline axles and the 1480 halfshafts and flanges from another vendor that built my differential. Unfortunately it was munching itself in under 2000 miles.
I will be posting a build thread when I receive everything from Mike. I can guarantee that I will put the torture test to his build lol! I will say I have learned that I would never purchase one of these builds unless Mike or Gary did it hands down. Learned my lesson and it was a very expensive one. I have paid twice for this build!
I found Mike (Tracdogg) on here by talking to some of the many high hp guys here. Couldn't find one that didn't rave about his work. So I told Mike that I wanted the strongest 10 bolt on planet earth. Would have gone 12 bolt but wanted to use a Richmond 4+1 or Gforce if I kill that, so I needed 3.08 gears. I already had the 30 spline axles and the 1480 halfshafts and flanges from another vendor that built my differential. Unfortunately it was munching itself in under 2000 miles.
I will be posting a build thread when I receive everything from Mike. I can guarantee that I will put the torture test to his build lol! I will say I have learned that I would never purchase one of these builds unless Mike or Gary did it hands down. Learned my lesson and it was a very expensive one. I have paid twice for this build!
Hey Bill....
Glad to hear you are in the final turn on this. I will be very interested to see that 1480 setup in the Ridetech.
I would think that Ridetech would be also.
So true what you say about using a pro vs some vendor who may or may not know what is going on in the back room.
I am thinking 427 SBC in mine to keep up with your monster....lol
Those trailing arms look beefy. Can't wait to get em on.
Those are some serious TAs.......looking forward to seeing them up close. Will you have them powder coated again? You could use my oven if you want Bill....
09-21-2017, 11:54 PM
Interested to see...
