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Detroit Truetrac Limited Slip diff


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Hi, does anyone have any experience of detoit limited slip diffs. I'm thinking about fitting one to the rear of my '90, mainly for use in snow with a bit of greenlaning.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Regards, rocky.

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I had a Detroit locker in the rear of my series 3 hybrid with rangie axles and found it to be great. Gave good traction offroad and only when on tarmac and turning out of a sharp junction did I notice it "kickin in" but got used to this.

Never had any issues with it breaking or anything, even though I managed to break both halfshafts once(way too much heavy right foot with the V8 onboard!).

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I heard these (the rover axle type) has been discontinued due to the sheer amount of failures!

That's not correct. It is the Detroit lockers that have aquired a reutation for failures and problems claiming on the warranty, so I believe Ashcroft stopped supplying them.

The Truetrac limited slip diff as asked about above has a reputation for being very reliable.

I have one, and it's great. You won't know it's there. Fit and forget, for not much more than a refurbished stock diff. The smooth transfer of torque and design of the diff should make it much more reliable than the standard rover diff as well (certainly in the conditions that you have listed).

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Hi, does anyone have any experience of detoit limited slip diffs. I'm thinking about fitting one to the rear of my '90, mainly for use in snow with a bit of greenlaning.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Regards, rocky.

I fitted a Torque biasing rear diff into two of my previous Land Rovers, a Ninety and a Defender 90. On the whole, and whilst obviously not having the capability of a full locker, I found them to be transparent on the road, but you can feel them working their stuff on the loose stuff. The technique is to let it find the traction, keep a steady throttle and let the tyres find the grip. In extremis a quick tap on the brakes kicks it into action when one wheel is very lighty loaded or off the ground.

A limitation of an automatic diff side slope behaviour. A mate had a Detroit fitted to the back of his Ninety and it would always tend to slew round on soft grassy side slopes. Mine wouldn't do that in the same conditions.

Despite what noggy says - the design is reliable, robust and very kind to half shafts and transmission because it reduces shock loads. The diff core is also a better design that the Rover type.

I'd recommend one as an appropriate and useful upgrade.

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Yes, the reason behind the detroit is, because the 90 is fairly light on the rear end it would give more grip in snow conditions. It is easy to fit and doesn't require a compressor. As for an ARB in the front, the extra weight would increase the grip with both front wheels driving. If you think my idea is flawed, please advise. Rocky

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Yes, the reason behind the detroit is, because the 90 is fairly light on the rear end it would give more grip in snow conditions. It is easy to fit and doesn't require a compressor. As for an ARB in the front, the extra weight would increase the grip with both front wheels driving. If you think my idea is flawed, please advise. Rocky

Received wisdom would be to fit an ARB in the back and a Trutrac in the front. It's well documented elsewhere I'm sure, but the rear wheels generally do more tractive work, and you can't steer with a locked ARB on the front.

For snow, vehicle traction is not a problem, but available grip is. I'd stick a Trutrac in the back and invest in the biggest floatiest set of tyres you can get.

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i have truetracs front and rear on my 90 and they are great .

easy to drive with , no fancy oils reqd and no need to remember to switch anything off or on in order to use them .

driving and steering is fine and youd not really notice they are fitted .

as far as grip goes off road well they certainly made a lot of difference for me , i no longer spin any wheels on a dirt track in 1st gear if i put foot down , whereas previously it would spin with just open diffs .

in the mud i have not yet had any trouble, but i am also sensible in where i drive into , and so if its too much for me i will back out of trying to go through it .

i did test with mine in the snow recently , 2 people watching front and back wheels to see if all 4 wheels gripped and turned forwards at same time when i made it spin on purpose , all wheels turned drove/spanb forwards equally as i applied revs etc .

when you buy a truetrac , there is a front and rear version of them so you need to make sure you buy the right one for the axle to be used in .

easy to fit , all you do is swap the crownwheel over to the new diff , fit new side bearings and then set the backlash using a dial indicator and magnetic base, about .004-.007" thou backlash if i remember right .

check the backlash all way round in rotation , just in case you have the crownwheel slightly off true due to some debris etc under its face, then you can remove it and clean etc and check again , ie so you know its got the right backlash all way round and not just at one point of rotation .

youll need a new diff flange gasket when you fit new diff to axle housing .

make sure you buy the diff with the correct spline amount , ie 24spline for 94 and on defenders and 10 spline for previous approx , but make sure you take a halfshaft out of youre vehicle and count the amount of splines it has on the diff end of it , because even though you may have a later or earlier vehicle it could have been worked on by someone and axles swapped etc .

if you dont want to remove youre own diff and take it apart for any reason, you can buy used diffs on ebay etc for around £50 , then do all the work on that and swap it over when you have finished everything you need to do , just make sure you buy a diff with same spline amount ..

the truetrac diff is rated as one of the best diffs you can buy when it comes to quality of workmanship and strength , they are actually a work of art if you are mechanically inclined , and certainly ten times better than rover diffs for quality .

its not the truetrac that has suffered some problems, its the locker version, but that isnt because the locker is a bad diff, its more to do with the fact that the locker is not designed to be used in wheelbases of less than 100" and unforuntately many have been fitted in 90 inch landies etc , and their turning circle is too tight in a manner of speaking , which brings about early or premature failure of the locker internals .

with the truetrac you wont suffer any problems amnd you wont hear any funny noises either , they just work as it says on the box .

ashcroft transmissions http://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/part_5.html

devon 4x4 http://www.devon4x4.com/products_a/p29c54/0/true-trac-differential-24-spline.html

crowndifferentials http://www.crowndiffs.co.uk/diffs.html#det_true

if youre interested there is also a QUAIFE ATB diff which is similar to the truetrac but using more gears , but almost twice the price .

hope this is usefull although many other people have already answered youre questions .

cheers

ian

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