so im doing my traction lock rebuild prolly tomorrow, i have heard if you set it up cscscsc instead of csscssc you get more traction. is this true? does it change the shim thickness needed? should i do it or is stock setup more reliable?
90Red, there are a ton of articles on doing it. one needs to do some precise measuring if doing gears if one wants to know they are dialed in right.
also, Joe, some use an F-150 spring when doing the rebuild. if the disks are packed tight, it can be a bear to get it all back together with the heavier spring.
You have to reuse one of your old friction discs on each side. Pick the best ones. Use the thickest shim you can from the kit that will still allow you to get the spiders back in. It's as reliable as the original configuration, and better for traction. Getting the f150 spring in after doing this is REALLY tough. I couldn't do it, and ended up using my old spring instead. Good luck. I wouldn't say that the job is that hard, it's just a bit tedious, and you may need some help. Someone to turn the axles to get the spiders back in or someone to push in or pull out on the axles to get the clips on or off. Easy work for a wife/girlfriend or anybody with two hands who is willing to put up with the smell. Oh, and that smell! Yum!! Wear old clothes and burn them when you're done. Rubber gloves are a good idea. I didn't use them though.
yeah i tryed to put it together today with the stock set up and i could not get the damn s sping in as much as i tryed it wouldnt go. the shim size is the same as the stock mine was .065 and .060 maybe i need to take some shim out??? ill try it. as for the other set up maybe ill measure it out with a micrometer and try that instead. i dont know how you get the larger S spring in that would be a bear.
Don't shim it back to get the spring in there. If your spiders will just barely go back in, you've shimmed it perfectly. The spring will go in. Use a 2x4 and pry against the sway bar as you whack the board with a hammer. Wear some eye protection. That thing can fly out of there pretty fast!
I left mine out and I still get both wheels turning. If I understand correctly, the force on the clutches is some large amount of force due to the engine's torque and a small amount due to the spring.
It will work either way, as long as it's packed pretty tight
well i got the micrometer out today and measured the splined steel spacers they were .005 to big so i took .020 out on each side, got a pair of needle nose vise grips and taped the spring in with a peice of brass. i was going to do the extra clutch discs but 3 were missing both tabs 1 was missing 1 tab and 2 were intact but had no clutch material left, so i'd say those mickey thomson ET Drags really did a number on my traction lock. oh well it have them both spinning in no time.