Re: Santa came early!
An update for the Gear Heads in the forum:
Had the Eaton and gears installed by a local 1/4 mile car builder. The price was very good for my area, quoted me "$300 for basic gear install, plus any parts I break..." Sounded fair to me. LOL!
Ended up the shop installed the Truetrac and gears, took it for a ride, and didn't like the sound. So he pull it all apart, pointed out the wear pattern could be better, removed the pinion, re-shimmed, checked lash, etc and out on the road again. This is like doing the job two times over. I was seeing $$$$ flashing before my eyes as a 3 hour job turned into all day. In the end, the extra labor was only an additional $80 charge. Can you believe it?
Anyway, the gears make a little noise in the 35-50 mph range when steady cruising. Accelerating and coasting are quiet. Been driving very gingerly during the break in period. Today got the car out on the highway and cruised 60-70 mph for 40 miles to the office. Gears are very quiet at highway speed, if they make any noise, it can't be heard over the normal sounds of the car. After arriving at work, I noticed that low speed driving is quieter too. I couldn't resist a little heavy throttle test. A quick blip of the gas from standing start (not WOT) broke both tires free and holding about 3/4 throttle, left 30+ feet of rubber.
Don't forget this is only a V6. Not a bad feat.
The Eaton Truetrac works great. This past weekend I pulled off the side of the road so the passenger wheels were in 6" of snow/slush on top of soft earth. Gently pulled away and the passenger side tire spun for a second or two then the Truetrac locked and away I drove. Simple as that. No reving, no wildly spinning tires, no snow and mud thrown all over the car. I was amazed, as no clutch style posi ever performed like that for me before. T
hink about that the next time you are pulling your boat up a wet ramp and the posi is worn, not grabbing, and spinning one tire. Time for a Eaton all gear posi.
Driving in the rain was great. The car was able to pull away from stop signs making a right turn without spinning the inside tire. Pulling into highway traffic from a parking lot would have been really dangerous with the open rear, but with the Truetrac the car just grabbed and scooted into traffic with just moderate throttle.
Firebirds are a lot like pickup trucks when it comes to a light rear end. I know the Ford Trac-Loc in my Town Car was worn out after about 80K. So if your pickup tow machine is showing wear in the posi, check this out: The Eaton all gear differential will not wear out. No clutches to burn or slip. I got mine for about $375 from Summitracing.com and paid no shipping. Do an internet search and find their 10% discount code.
So, all in all, things are well. I really worried about the install, because if the installer messed up, there goes $500 out the window, plus labor. So it pays to deal with a shop that can change a rear with their eyes closed.
Mark.
