nitrous_fed_03gt

how much power can the clutches in the rear diff handle until your burning out with one tire fire? my cluthches are past go and im trying to figure out if i should just put new ford clutches in, or get a mini spool. this is strictly a street car. will never see the track. not a daily driver. just sick of not hooking on the street until i reach 55 mph. thanks

stdyhand

It is not hard to replace those clutches. I did mine when I rebuilt the rest of the rear end, but the clutches only took about 15 minutes. In fact it took longer to drain the oil from the rear end than it did to actually rebuild the trac-lok.

You might be able to do it without pulling the carrier, but it would be a lot easier to do with the carrier out. Just don't forget which shim goes on the sides. If yours is stock you should have two shims, one on each side and one is thicker than the other. Don't mix them up. Pull that large S-spring out, then your spider gears. Pull all the clutches out together and in order. The new set of clutches should come in the correct order already. Just soak them in some gear oil+modifier for about 15 mins. Then reassemble and fill with oil.

It's not hard but it is messy and the gear oil stinks something aweful. Wear an old pair of clothes.

tohoopty

^^^ you must not have read the question very well

AdderMk2

Do not put a mini spool in your "street car". Trac-lok rear ends are being run in 10 second cars... After being rebuilt, itll handle what you throw at it for a long time.

stdyhand

I decided to go over it in case the process had him in doubt. His post did lead me to think he had his doubts about the current condition. It might have been for nothing if he already knew. Either way I didn't have anything better to do when I posted it. I was actually waiting for the sun to come up so I could get outside and get some work done before it got too hot.

nitrous_fed_03gt

lol. i was thinking to myself, what the hell

nitrous_fed_03gt

thank you sir

Jfsram

The clutches actually do not see ANY power. A good hooking 10 sec car that firmly plants both tires equally will work the clutches less than a stock 4 cylinder would on a gravel road.

It may not directly answer your question but it's not power level that determines differential choices.

A good start with a 500hp Mustang that is killing one tire would be a fresh set of clutches.

wydopnthrtl

In the situation you describe, it really comes down to how you drive it. You specificly said this is a street car which to me implys that your not always starting from a complete stop and then going dead straight.

Rebuilding something that is already good won't do anything for you. Start by testing the L.S. you have by jacking one rear tire off the ground, put it in neutral, parking brake off, and use a TQ wrench to see if the LS you have is in spec or not. (I don't know the spec for a 8.8 off hand.. I'd guess it's in the neighborhood of 25ft lbs)

IMO something like a detroit tru trac would be perfect for you. (I had one once) But, If you want to stick with the ford L.S.? I'd reassembly it on the tight side of the spec (Thicker shims) and use royal purple fluid. RP will to some measure help it to slip less. (I've used this multiple times on different ford LS diffs.. and it does help)