Differential Question

[tonster]

Alright i searched and could not seem to find an answer, here it is i recently purchased i used gs-t the guy supposedly put a quaife differential, well when after driving it a while i realized a car with a diff should handle a little bit different, well i didnt really notice anything between my beater and gs-t when pulling in turns....so i put the car up in the air to find out if i really have a differential and just wondering if both wheels are to spin when you spin one, or is just the one supposed to spin that you are spinning

 

[Dauntless]

Try jacking just one front tire off the ground. If the tire spins freely with the tranny in neutral, the car has an open diff. If the tire can't be spun, or only with with CONSIDERABLE effort, it probably has an LSD.

 

[tonster]

thanks...

 

[ACM]

Try jacking just one front tire off the ground. If the tire spins freely with the tranny in neutral, the car has an open diff. If the tire can't be spun, or only with with CONSIDERABLE effort, it probably has an LSD.

That's not the case with a Quaife, it will appear like an open diff under these conditions. This is a true test for something like a clutch LSD (Kaaz, Cusco etc) but not a helical LSD.

I'm not sure exactly how one would test statically, but the effect can be most certainly felt in agressive cornering - getting hard into the throttle mid-turn causes the nose to turn in with a Quaife, as opposed to washing out with an open diff.

A better, safer test would be a drag-style launch - get the wheels spinning, then check the marks - one long skid mark means an open diff, two similar marks indicates an LSD.

Charles

 

[tonster]

i also give you my regards

 

[Dauntless]

Hmm, perhaps the DSM Quaife is set up differently to other istallations. I know that the Quaife as installed in Hewland NST gearboxes is much stiffer than the Salisbury (clutch-type LSD) in a Staffs, which is noticably stiffer than the open diff in a Hewland Mk9.

In any case, the burnout test sounds fun!