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To lock, or to limit the slip?

I saw some 10 year old posts on the honda forums of people saying their axle shafts got stuck in the diff and that wavetrac supposedly fixed the issue. The only other negative thing I read were some porsche racing forums where they said the diff doesn't lock up well on trailing throttle and under heavy braking. The porsche 911 is a completely different beast though and this was in the context of track racing. The autocross guys were saying the wavetrac is great. I seriously doubt the wavetrac will be limiting me in any way
 
Makes me want to look into a Torsen diff for my Ford 8.8 before it goes on the car.

I put the 2004 Cobra clutch packs and Z spring in my 8.8, works pretty well. I just posted in the autocross thread in showroom. You can get the kit from Summit/Jegs , directions with the kit call for 2 pints of Ford additive. I got a whole handful of 3oz bottles from the dealer but I don't think I put in the whole 2 pints. That stuff stinks like crazy too, someone told me it has whale oil, not sure if that's true or not.

https://lmr.com/item/M4700C/Mustang-88-Traction-Lok-Rebuild-Kit-with-Carbon-Discs
 
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I haven't sold a ton of wavetracs over the years but I do offer them and think they are a good product when used for their intended purpose and understanding the pro's and con's of them.

At the end of the day, they are a high quality torsen diff with an extra trick. The trick does work but in extreme applications, you can still have a 0 load situation.

For a street car, IMO, its the way to go. Theres no maintenance, they are quiet, easy on the fluids.

For a race car, a clutch type is better suited to work in an extremely range of conditions including ****ty suspension setup but they can be loud, need frequent fluid changes, and require to be torn into and refreshed every now and then.

In a race car, the wavetrac helps point a magnifying glass at your setup problems and if you can work through sorting them... you will end up with a faster and better car.

Clutch diffs are nice because they can be a great bandaid to a poorly setup suspension.

If your car is lifting a rear inner wheel in a corner because the roll axis inclination angle is too steep or you have binding in your suspension due to bad bushings, an oversized rear sway bar, or both... The wavetrac wont perform as well as a clutch diff will.
 
Thanks for the input Ben.

As for lifting the rear inner wheel, I'm not sure how much of a problem it is for my car at speed. Doing fast u-turns on the street, my car will definitely unload the rear inner wheel enough that I can't put any power down until I begin straightening up the wheel. Softening the rear bar would definitely help me here, but I'm also really enjoying how the car is handling with the 21mm rear bar.

So let's take the fast u-turn case: in the middle of the turn when my rear inner wheel is unloaded, can I stab the throttle and get the rear end to kick around for a fun little power slide on exit?

It seems to me that in this scenario, the wave device will engage and allow me to have my fun whereas a plain torsen won't be able to do much until I begin straightening the wheel.
 
Thanks for the input Ben.

As for lifting the rear inner wheel, I'm not sure how much of a problem it is for my car at speed. Doing fast u-turns on the street, my car will definitely unload the rear inner wheel enough that I can't put any power down until I begin straightening up the wheel. Softening the rear bar would definitely help me here, but I'm also really enjoying how the car is handling with the 21mm rear bar.

So let's take the fast u-turn case: in the middle of the turn when my rear inner wheel is unloaded, can I stab the throttle and get the rear end to kick around for a fun little power slide on exit?

It seems to me that in this scenario, the wave device will engage and allow me to have my fun whereas a plain torsen won't be able to do much until I begin straightening the wheel.

It will be very difficult to get to a situation when you are going fast and hard enough on public roads that you will surpass the abilities of the wavetrac. As long as you don't have major setup issues it shouldn't be a problem from my experience.
 
Not to hijack this thread... but, I'm in the same realm of choosing a LSD for the Volstang. I chose the TrueTracc over the WaveTrac because it has a better track record of reliabilty. The Wave may be "better" overall, but durability and reliability is more important IMHO... we are Volvo owners, are we not? ;) Plus, ripping apart a diff is beyond my capabilities at the moment.

I have a question for the diff experts. There are two types of TrueTrac offered. 3.73 and up, and the 3.54 and down.

Would it be stupid to use a 3.73 TrueTrac with a 3.31 gear? Whats the difference in the pre-load?
 
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Not to hijack this thread... but, I'm in the same realm of choosing a LSD for the Volstang. I chose the TrueTrac... now, there is two types offered. 3.73 and up, and the 3.54 and down.

Would it be stupid to use a 3.73 TrueTrac with a 3.31 gear? Whats the difference in the pre-load?

I believe that is going to be bolt pattern rather that preload. The 3.54 and down using a smaller diameter or different offset carrier to fit the ring gear, and 3.73 and up using slightly different carrier.
 
Not to hijack this thread... but, I'm in the same realm of choosing a LSD for the Volstang. I chose the TrueTrac... now, there is two types offered. 3.73 and up, and the 3.54 and down.

Would it be stupid to use a 3.73 TrueTrac with a 3.31 gear? Whats the difference in the pre-load?

Volvo only used the 3.73 and up center section.
Go with the 912A588 part number, as it's a higher preload diff meant for a rear axle application.
 
It will be very difficult to get to a situation when you are going fast and hard enough on public roads that you will surpass the abilities of the wavetrac. As long as you don't have major setup issues it shouldn't be a problem from my experience.


Yeah that's what I was imagining. Are the wavetracs still going to be on sale when they come back in stock?


I just picked up some of your studs and nuts and I'm still trying to decide on wheel spacers. I want to space out the front a bit because I have maybe 2 or 3 mm of clearance between the tire and the strut housing at the moment. I think a mild 15 or 16.5 mm spacing will buy me some room without being in danger of rubbing on the wheel arches. The question is, do I want to add the same amount of spacing to the rear, or bump it up to 25 or 32 mm?


What would be the effect of increasing rear track width relative to the front? I guess it should soften the roll stiffness slightly, but I'm not sure what other effects it will have.
 
Not to hijack this thread... but, I'm in the same realm of choosing a LSD for the Volstang. I chose the TrueTracc over the WaveTrac because it has a better track record of reliabilty. The Wave may be "better" overall, but durability and reliability is more important IMHO... we are Volvo owners, are we not? ;) Plus, ripping apart a diff is beyond my capabilities at the moment.

I have a question for the diff experts. There are two types of TrueTrac offered. 3.73 and up, and the 3.54 and down.

Would it be stupid to use a 3.73 TrueTrac with a 3.31 gear? Whats the difference in the pre-load?

Wavetrac has a lifetime warranty. Not sure what Truetrac offers if anything.
 
Wavetrac has a lifetime warranty. Not sure what Truetrac offers if anything.

Not much of one, if any. Shop mate had one in his Tacoma, and it wore the diff case out in probably 30k miles. No warranty or support of any kind from Eaton, they said it was all normal wear and tear... OK guys, there's over 3mm of play inside the diff, enough that he thought his wheel bearings were shot on the truck.
 
Yeah that's what I was imagining. Are the wavetracs still going to be on sale when they come back in stock?


I just picked up some of your studs and nuts and I'm still trying to decide on wheel spacers. I want to space out the front a bit because I have maybe 2 or 3 mm of clearance between the tire and the strut housing at the moment. I think a mild 15 or 16.5 mm spacing will buy me some room without being in danger of rubbing on the wheel arches. The question is, do I want to add the same amount of spacing to the rear, or bump it up to 25 or 32 mm?


What would be the effect of increasing rear track width relative to the front? I guess it should soften the roll stiffness slightly, but I'm not sure what other effects it will have.

I have not been notified of any price adjustments from wavetrac

If you have 3mm of clearance, its probably fine. if you want to space it out then go for it.

If it were me I would add spacers evenly unless you are trying to tune the grip balance. Too much oversteer? Make the rear wider. Too much understeer? Space the front more.
 
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No, they are a clutch unit that is simply spring loaded. IOW, they don?t lock harder with more power applied to them the way most clutch limited slip units do.

Take a look here. There is a disassembled G 80 and you can see the clutch plates in the picture.

http://www.turbobricks.com/mods.php?content=art0027
Very cool. But weird. Thank you.
And it?s odd that it has the same code as a GM.

Volvo only used the 3.73 and up center section.
Go with the 912A588 part number, as it's a higher preload diff meant for a rear axle application.
That is correct. The older high-preload was 411 suffix. The 588 is a harder case, better carrier bolt set up.
 
^yeah, not exactly, but might save your axle splines a little compared to the welded/spool & be a nice fuse/failure point or make the car tolerable to move around the driveway/yard if you have to push it dead/similar? :lol:

IDK what the service life of the clutches on an "always locked" G80 is/how well it works compared to a spool/how soon it's likely to scatter under duress as a hacked/molested turd polished thing, but it strikes me as less miserable to move around the yard/less horrible on your suspension bushings for DD use at the very least?

Lasted OK for me with 200hp for wet/snow weather fun/modded it in a weird way (still disengaged above x-MPH (30mph or so with vanagon sized tires on 245), but skinny vanagon tires/early 240 steelies/not that likely to 'splode it/not sure I'd call it a "performance" application/anecdotal. :lol:
Thought it was pretty predictable, but my driver skills aren't "all that" / rarely a hot shoe at any motorsport event to the extent apples-apples comparisons are possible.
 
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