T-lok rebuild advice

[98BABCobra]

I'm going to be having 4.10s put in my 98 in the near future (next month or two), and I'm planning to most likely rebuild the T-LOK while everything is taken apart. It still feels ok, and leaves two solid strips of rubber when I spin the tires, but the car has 161,xxx miles, so I figure, why not.

My question is, what is everyone's take on the alternative stack for the clutch and steel discs? Worth it? Pros, cons? FYI, this is my DD, with occasional weekend drag strip. Thanks in advance.

 

[Noreast]

Rebuild the track lok. Do it once do it right, no need to pay labor twice when it could have been avoided the first time !

 

[97cobra1]

contact tousley on here, i did my rear end last year with 4.10s rebuilt the trac lok and the rear itself and ordered an frpp cover with the drain plug etc all for like 500ish bucks.

and i believe the 8.8 rebuild kits through frpp are all parts out of the new gt500's

 

[97cobra1]

i had to order 1 extra part that was like 4-6 bucks because they trac lok rebuild is for a 31 spline so youhave to order the 28 spline s spring.

 

[98BABCobra]

Thanks for the replies, but no one has answered my question yet.

What is your take on the alternative stack on the friction and steel packs in the tlok? Worth it? Pros, cons?

 

[SVT Rob]

If you do the different friction stacking, I've heard that you might have to a little grinding on the axle ends to get the center pin back into place. I've had one car that had it done, and I loved it. I plan on doing both of my cars this way.

Here's the one I followed, many years ago:

Here's what I've found is the best way to rebuild your diff:

Change the side gear pack config from C-S-S-C-S-S-C to C-S-C-S-C-S-C, where C is a clutch plate and S is the steel plate. Check your existing clutches for any spots where the clutch material is coming off and dont reuse those. I try to reuse at least 2 clutches and add 2 new ones per side but I use all new steel plates. Using all new clutches and steels will be a VERY tight diff and it will act like a locker around corners and chatter till it wears in. My diff did just that cuz I had 3 new clutches per side. In a straight line it HOOKS tho! Ok, back to it..... Use a shim so the total thickness of one side stack w.o the gear is about .675" as measured with a set of calipers. You should be able to get the spider gears back in at that thickness. If not, go down .005" on the shim on one side and try again. If ya still cant get em in, go down another .005" on the shim on the other side. You can tap the side gears to get em to rotate to draw in the spider gears back into place. Be sure the shims are still on the backs of the spider gears.

Once ya have the gears back in and the carrier pin goes back in, remove the pin and insert the axles and put the C-clips on. Then with the axles pushed out, try to insert the carrier pin. If it hits the ends of the axles (and it probably will) you will need to grind the ends of the axles in order to get the carrier pin back in and also to get some axle end play which you need. I just use an angle grinder and take off little by little till they just fit and there is a hint of axle play. Dont take too much off else you'll have too much axle end play.

Now ya need to get that damn S spring back in. Best way I've found is use Vise grips to compress it on one corner and then put it into the diff on an angle and slowly tap it back in and into the proper position using the gear teeth as wedges to get it to compress and go back in. This is the most time consuming part of the rebuild, IMO. I just put a 31 spline Trac-Loc in Robin's car and the spring on it is about 1/4" to 3/8" wider then the stock Mustang spring. This is the spring people say to put in with your 28 spline diff but I say stick with the stock one and just up the clutches like I said. The extra spring pressure isnt needed with the extra clutches, IMO.

I did Robin's diff like this about 3 yrs ago and when I just removed it, it was still in great shape and still spinning both wheels with no 1 wheel peel at all. She was getting 1.6X 60 foots at the track too.

This is the rebuild method I learned from Michael Senroy when he worked at Houston Performance. This is a typical rebuild for autocrossers and works just as well for street or strip use.

Doug