Discussion
2nd hand diffs are a bit of a lottery. You may get one from a car that was broken due to a rotten body...or you may get one from a car broken because the diff was badgered.
If you go recon then you have two types of recon. Cheapest is the standard recon where the seals, bearings, etc are replaced and the other components examined and replaced in necessary. The problem with this is if the reconditioner considered the gears to be in servicable condition they will be re-used and not replaced.
The best recon boxes are those which explicitly have the gears replaced, which should remove the slight whine worn, but servicable gear diffs can suffer from. They do of course cost more.
If money is very tight, go 2nd hand and accept you might have to buy 3 to find a good one.
If money is OK, but you don't want to spend more than you need to, go standard recon (and fit a sports exhaust/manifold - the noise of that is great and easily covers any slight whine ^_^). If you have money to burn, go the whole hog.
On the whole Triumph diffs are solid old lumps of metal - you generally get through half shafts rather than the diff they are attached to.
If you go recon then you have two types of recon. Cheapest is the standard recon where the seals, bearings, etc are replaced and the other components examined and replaced in necessary. The problem with this is if the reconditioner considered the gears to be in servicable condition they will be re-used and not replaced.
The best recon boxes are those which explicitly have the gears replaced, which should remove the slight whine worn, but servicable gear diffs can suffer from. They do of course cost more.
If money is very tight, go 2nd hand and accept you might have to buy 3 to find a good one.
If money is OK, but you don't want to spend more than you need to, go standard recon (and fit a sports exhaust/manifold - the noise of that is great and easily covers any slight whine ^_^). If you have money to burn, go the whole hog.
On the whole Triumph diffs are solid old lumps of metal - you generally get through half shafts rather than the diff they are attached to.
All GT6 non overdrive diffs suffer from carrier fatigue, and Mk I and II overdrive ones have this fault as well. The Mk III overdrive diff is the same as a Spitfire IV.
The best ratio for an overdrive car is a 3.63 from a Spit 1500, a non overdrive car really needs the 3.27.
As fatigue is such a common failure with a GT6 diff it really isn't worthwhile fitting a secondhand one - even assuming you can find anything. Recon is by far the best way to go - just make sure it comes from Canley Classics.
The best ratio for an overdrive car is a 3.63 from a Spit 1500, a non overdrive car really needs the 3.27.
As fatigue is such a common failure with a GT6 diff it really isn't worthwhile fitting a secondhand one - even assuming you can find anything. Recon is by far the best way to go - just make sure it comes from Canley Classics.
I've read on the Club Triumph forum that you need to be careful with some 'reconditioned' diffs. Apparently there should be about 8-10 degrees of backlash, otherwise the gears are meshing too tightly, which will actually cause it to whine and wear out quicker. You should be able to easily turn it by hand.
arh - we could form a club as I've now broken mine on the GT6 (yesterday, Friday the 13th. Knew i should have stayed indoors).
Does anyone have any experience of limited slip diffs for a Triumph? I've just been looking at the Quaife site & they appear to be priced @ £460. This is about the same as a standard reconditioned unit (with new crown & pinion) from some of the regular Triumph suppliers? Seems to good to be true? Is the Quaife price purely for the internals? Would you then need to install the internals in a regular diff case?
Does anyone have any experience of limited slip diffs for a Triumph? I've just been looking at the Quaife site & they appear to be priced @ £460. This is about the same as a standard reconditioned unit (with new crown & pinion) from some of the regular Triumph suppliers? Seems to good to be true? Is the Quaife price purely for the internals? Would you then need to install the internals in a regular diff case?
slammedvanman said:
arh - we could form a club as I've now broken mine on the GT6 (yesterday, Friday the 13th. Knew i should have stayed indoors).
Does anyone have any experience of limited slip diffs for a Triumph? I've just been looking at the Quaife site & they appear to be priced @ £460. This is about the same as a standard reconditioned unit (with new crown & pinion) from some of the regular Triumph suppliers? Seems to good to be true? Is the Quaife price purely for the internals? Would you then need to install the internals in a regular diff case?
Does anyone have any experience of limited slip diffs for a Triumph? I've just been looking at the Quaife site & they appear to be priced @ £460. This is about the same as a standard reconditioned unit (with new crown & pinion) from some of the regular Triumph suppliers? Seems to good to be true? Is the Quaife price purely for the internals? Would you then need to install the internals in a regular diff case?
As far as I can recall (I broke a TR6 diff last year) the Quaife price is just for the gubbins inside.
arh said:
I bought a second hand spitfire diff in the end, just as an experiment to see if it made much difference having a different ratio. It is working fine, cost £50 and means 300 rpm less at 70 mph with no noticable loss of acceleration.
I considered second hand but don't want to have to do the job twice so think I'm going to bite the bullet. I spoke to Quaife, the LSD is exactly that, the diff part to which you need to add the crown & pinion (as I suspect I've lost a tooth) @ about £150. That's £610 in parts alone without getting someone to re-build it. Canley Classics offer a fully re-conditioned unit (new crown & pinion) for £350 so I will probably go for that
slammedvanman said:
arh said:
I bought a second hand spitfire diff in the end, just as an experiment to see if it made much difference having a different ratio. It is working fine, cost £50 and means 300 rpm less at 70 mph with no noticable loss of acceleration.
I considered second hand but don't want to have to do the job twice so think I'm going to bite the bullet. I spoke to Quaife, the LSD is exactly that, the diff part to which you need to add the crown & pinion (as I suspect I've lost a tooth) @ about £150. That's £610 in parts alone without getting someone to re-build it. Canley Classics offer a fully re-conditioned unit (new crown & pinion) for £350 so I will probably go for that
I was about to say it's an easy job (changing the diff) but tehen I remembered that while it is on a TR6, it isn't so in a Spit/GT6, what with springs and douughnuts etc.
yertis said:
I was about to say it's an easy job (changing the diff) but tehen I remembered that while it is on a TR6, it isn't so in a Spit/GT6, what with springs and douughnuts etc.
No Spit ever had doughnuts and not all GT6's have. Exchanging the transverse spring is a doddle on both. Although I've never worked on a TR6, I imagine changing the diff on a Spit/GT6 won't be much harder than on a TR6 - perhaps even easier.
tr3a said:
yertis said:
I was about to say it's an easy job (changing the diff) but tehen I remembered that while it is on a TR6, it isn't so in a Spit/GT6, what with springs and douughnuts etc.
No Spit ever had doughnuts and not all GT6's have. Exchanging the transverse spring is a doddle on both. Although I've never worked on a TR6, I imagine changing the diff on a Spit/GT6 won't be much harder than on a TR6 - perhaps even easier.
No I know that about Spits (ref doughnuts) but I couldn't remember which we were talking about. The point about the transverse sping is that IIRC it is bolted to the top of the diff, so you need to fiddle around with that side of things as well as the diff mounts and drive shafts. Also the diff hangs on some very long studs - helps greatly to have a deep socket to undo the nylocs.
All this GT6 / Spit talk makes me want another one.
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