Quaife Differential question

[Viper 24]

I am experiencing a very strange pull to the left under hard acceleration. Feels like the posi is not balanced between the two wheels, the right wheel is pushing harder than the left and sending the car hard left. Has anyone experienced this issue and know what are possible fixes?

The Quaife was just installed as part of a complete overhaul of the car and motor. I live in CO and had Dan Cragin build a high altitude motor - awesome numbers from the dyno today in Denver, CO: 901.4 rwhp / 792.1 rwtq.

Please shoot me any thoughts, would like to get this differential issue resolved before I end up in the ditch.

jm

 

[ILLSMOQ]

before I put the quaife in, once in a while my car would change lanes during full throttle freeway pulls....scary. After the quaife...no problems. maybe you need an alignment or your tire pressue is off....or something is loose under the car.

 

[RobZilla]

Alignment would be the first check. Just as the above reply says, check tire pressure also. If you still have a problem then dive back into the diff.

 

[SnakeEye]

quaife is not your problem... maybe an '03 diff was installed by accident. lol
+1 check the allignment.

 

[Grant]

For another datapoint, my '08 ACR is completely stock (save Woodhouse motor mounts and a MGW shifter). I've never felt a car track as straight as this one does during wheelspin (and I've experienced a LOT of wheelspin). Its amazing... The rear doesn't step out; most of the time it doesn't even budge. The only indication of wheelspin is spin and sometimes (unfortunately) hop.

I think I'd like to see some DAQ showing the Quaife to be a measurable improvement over the stock '08 diff before I'd consider putting one in.

 

[VAViper]

Under hard acceleration the 08's rear end is extremely smooth. It's far more predictable than I anticipating. I'm not sure what changes were made from previous years, but so far I'm happy.

 

[fastlane8]

Feels like the posi is not balanced between the two wheels!
jm

No Posi! Torque Bias!

 

[Viper 24]

Got a four wheel alignment after getting the ACR pilots installed. Ride height, tire pressure and alignment was all set before the car was shipped back to CO.

The car tracks fine at normal speeds, goes hard left under acceleration. This definitely feels like a problem with the diff.

Doesn't sound like this is common among 08 Vipers -

jm

 

[Bobpantax]

Does the symptom arise when you accelerate hard from a stand still? Is it present in all gears on hard acceleration? Have you noticed any new noises? I am assuming the symptom arose after the quaife was installed - correct?

 

[Viper 24]

No, not as noticeable from a standstill. Although I get a lot of wheel spin in 1st & 2nd gear under hard acceleration which will prevent the car from going left. I really notice in the higher gears, third and fourth, where the car hooks up and accelerates hard. I really hae to work ******* the wheel to keep the car straight when accelerating. And yes, this issue came about after the Quaife install.

 

[viperbilliam]

I'm assuming you took up this issue with your Quaife vendor and got an unsatisfactory answer. It sounds to me you have an installation issue. It should NOT be doing what you are describing because that is what the Quaife is supposed to prevent. I know because I can feel the Quaife at work when I accelerate hard; I have no fear of doing so whereas in pre-Quaife times I did.

 

[Grant]

I had a similar problem crop up in my Supra after it was corner weighted by someone who really didn't know what they were doing. Sometimes the right rear would be the only wheel that spun, then sometimes the diff would lock and put power to both wheels. However, I don't think a Viper (even if its cross weights were terrible) would experience something like this as long as its diff was working correctly.

The car ended up in a tree, heh...

 

[Shandon]

Maybe see if Unitrax or TAYLOR RACE ENGINEERING INC. Can help you or tell you if thats a sign of a malfuntioning unit? Both install and retrofit the quaife units into the stock housing for everyone in the USA.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Have you checked the shock settings in the rear? if you have on that is too stiff on compression and the other is real soft the weight will transfer unevenly and you could possibly getting traction differences even with the Quaife, this would be true also if you have a sway bar loose or broken which I would hope you could hear.

As others have stated also I would suspect the toe in the rear also. The difference in toe could also be caused by the above thought.

Good luck.

 

[Viper X]

Really sounds more like a rear toe "alignment" issue than a diff issue. You may have some serious bump steer in your suspension's set up. Tires, maybe - check condition and inflation.....

On bad alignments, bump steer and and loose sway bars, I have experienced all three and they will produce what you are experiencing. You will spin if you don't get it corrected.

I currently have three Vipers, all three with Quaife diffs and they all go very, very straight under hard acceleration. I can feel the Quaife biasing the torque to help the car go straight. I track one of my Vipers and another one has 925 rwhp, so I know the feeling you are speaking of - it can be scary and was before the quaife.

I'd advise you to get a good suspension guy to check out your alignment. Call Archer Racing for specs.

Both DC and Unitrax are very good at helping with this.

Good luck,

Dan