Traction loc questions

Shakin66 said:

I have just recently finished the issue with my car that has kept me off the road and have a question about the locker in my 9". I took a traction loc (clutch type) to my mechanic several years ago to install my 3:70 gears onto and I think I ended up with more of a detroit (ratcheting type). If I steer the car it clunks fairly hard and if I spin the tires it leaves two equal length marks. I guess the question is this...I know that with an open diff. if you jack up the rear of the car and spin one tire forward the other tire goes in reverse right? Well mine go exactly the same speed in the same direction but that still doesnt tell me what type of locker I have. Any ideas other than lowering one side and turning the other....I have broken bones in my hand so thats out. While turning the wheels its smooth and tight.

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If you took the guy a factory Traction-Lok differential and he installed something else, then only the installer would know what's in the rear end housing --short of pulling the 3rd member out and physically looking at it youyrself to see what's there.

If he DID install the factory Traction-Lok you took to him, then it sounds like there was no Friction Modifer put into the gear oil at the time the 3rd member was put back in. If this is what's wrong (assuming the clutch discs are not worn too much), the simple fix is to get a 4 oz. bottle of friction modifer from the Ford dealer and pour it into the rear end.

After this, drive the car in 5 tight right hand circles, then 5 left hand circles (to get the modifier worked in between the clutch discs). If the popping doesn't go away soon after this, then it's time to pull the 3rd member out to see what the differential is and what's going on with it.

1. http://www.ultrastang.com/Rearinfo.asp?Page_ID=1

2. http://www.ultrastang.com/Rearinfo.asp?Page_ID=2

3. http://www.ultrastang.com/Rearinfo.asp?Page_ID=9

My guess is the clutch packs are shimmed a bit too tight. That is what I did to mine, although intentionally. I shimmed mine up tight so at the track, when I am in the water, they will turn both. I had trouble with this alot. They will definately wear much faster like this, but I have had mine in there for around 3 years and they haven't wore out yet. Matter of fact, they still ratchet a bit yet. Either that or they did not put friction modifier in, like ultra said.

Mine actually does the same thing but only after i had about 1500 miles on it, it doesnt ratchet most of the time, but after i do a brake lock, which doesn't always spin em both and makes me angry, then it ratchets for 5-10 miles then its better again.

The diff in my F150 started acting up last year, was acting like a tight locker where I could feel/hear the inside tire scrubbing then releasing several times on a tight turn on dry pavement. These units (looks like a 12-inch LOL) are not lockers but some sort of LSD. I thought it might be coming apart and took it in under warranty. The tech said it was too loose not too tight. Apparently there was a TSB out for the fix on them.

I know it is not the same thing (by a long shot), I just wanted to say that a loose diff can act like one that is too tight. Completely counterintuitive to what I thought I understood about LSDs, then again maybe the FoMoCo tech was just lying.