Quaiffe explosion
- Thread starter treesnake
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ROCKET62
Has Left the Room!
OK - so what's the story behind the story?
You finally get all of the bugs worked out of that TT MONSTER?
You finally get all of the bugs worked out of that TT MONSTER?
mjorgensen Woodhouse
Enthusiast
Those are ring bolts, I still bet there was a ring and pinion failure that caused this and not the actual Quaife. The Quaife has a warranty, but if the failure was caused by the gear set then Quaife cannot be responsable for that.
F
FrgMstr
Guest
I like to open my diffs up a little wider so I can see inside better.
No, not my Viper, but still fun to see. There were pieces of metal laying 5 feet away from both sides of the truck.
And warranty did cover it.
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No, not my Viper, but still fun to see. There were pieces of metal laying 5 feet away from both sides of the truck.
And warranty did cover it. This is going to be interesting, I've never seen an aftermarket company actually back a product, my experience has always been finger pointing. It was the installers fault, no it was the products fault, no it was the OEM's fault, no it's ultimately your fault because you bought it. I hope it works out, please keep us posted.
ACR steve
Enthusiast
I just had to send my Quaiffe from my race car back to England because the US repair company couldn’t even get it open ( after having it for 3 weeks +). I would not have much faith or confidence in the US service company. You may want to call England and send it directly to them.
The good news is they are warranting mine the bad news its taking so long I had to find another limited slip to put in so I can race.
The good news is they are warranting mine the bad news its taking so long I had to find another limited slip to put in so I can race.
ACR steve
Enthusiast
sorry it posted twice
I like to open my diffs up a little wider so I can see inside better.
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No, not my Viper, but still fun to see. There were pieces of metal laying 5 feet away from both sides of the truck.
Makes for easy fluid changes!
Hey SS "brutha'"
I was coming down the back straight at Autobahn last Monday in my track car. Went from 4th to third to take the sweeper and....BANG
Unfortnately I have broken enough driveline stuff to know to get off the track ASAP. Brand new Motul diff. oil everywhere.
The TT SS.... Well, hopefully we finally found the "Gremlin". Turns out I had a hairline crack in the 4/7 coil pack.
The car wasn't running very good and seemed to be getting progressively worse. Checked the plugs and #4 and #7 weren't firing. Fixed the coil pack but still wouldn't run. After some testing, 4 and 7 still weren't firing.
Soooo, I sent the AEM ECU back to AEM. (For 5th time....) They say the same as always, "5-7 days" for repair.
But....this time I got a call from AEM. They told me that the circuit boards for the Viper ECUs were on
back order and it would be 6-8 weeks....
I had a brand new AEM for my drag car. I sent it to John Reed to reprogram the ECU for a Gen 3. I got it back literally two days ago. I hope to be installing the new ECU Friday night and driving it for the first time this year on Saturday.
I Hope....
They are indeed ring gear bolts....
Unfortunately, that has been my experience also. I bought a completely assembled diff. to try and avoid the fingerpointing.
Unitrax installed the Quaiffe and gear set. It will be interesting to see who, if any one, accepts responsibility.
It appears that the ring gear bolts backed out.
I agree. This will probably take some time. Already installed the new diff. and will be back on track at Autobahn this Monday.....
Hey SS "brutha'"
I was coming down the back straight at Autobahn last Monday in my track car. Went from 4th to third to take the sweeper and....BANG
Unfortnately I have broken enough driveline stuff to know to get off the track ASAP. Brand new Motul diff. oil everywhere.
The TT SS.... Well, hopefully we finally found the "Gremlin". Turns out I had a hairline crack in the 4/7 coil pack.
The car wasn't running very good and seemed to be getting progressively worse. Checked the plugs and #4 and #7 weren't firing. Fixed the coil pack but still wouldn't run. After some testing, 4 and 7 still weren't firing.
Soooo, I sent the AEM ECU back to AEM. (For 5th time....) They say the same as always, "5-7 days" for repair.
But....this time I got a call from AEM. They told me that the circuit boards for the Viper ECUs were on
back order and it would be 6-8 weeks....
I had a brand new AEM for my drag car. I sent it to John Reed to reprogram the ECU for a Gen 3. I got it back literally two days ago. I hope to be installing the new ECU Friday night and driving it for the first time this year on Saturday.
I Hope....
They are indeed ring gear bolts....
Unfortunately, that has been my experience also. I bought a completely assembled diff. to try and avoid the fingerpointing.
Unitrax installed the Quaiffe and gear set. It will be interesting to see who, if any one, accepts responsibility.
It appears that the ring gear bolts backed out.
I agree. This will probably take some time. Already installed the new diff. and will be back on track at Autobahn this Monday.....
Make sure they drill and wire tie the ring gear bolts. When Unitrax did mine they also retapped the ring gear bolts from 3/8 to 7/16.
351carlo
Enthusiast
Yep, glad it was caught... the pictures very obviously show a ring gear bolt sticking through the case, probably had nothing to do with the Quaife unit itself.
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Have had a few issues with Quaife as well. While they seem very good on the street, they run really hot at the track and require frequent gear oil changes.
Haven't "grenaded" one yet but have had sticking and drive-ability issues on the track. There's nothing like the feeling of changing two lanes (up towards the wall) on the oval at 135 mph plus due to the diff not working correctly.....
Good luck. Hope all works out well for you.
Dan
Haven't "grenaded" one yet but have had sticking and drive-ability issues on the track. There's nothing like the feeling of changing two lanes (up towards the wall) on the oval at 135 mph plus due to the diff not working correctly.....
Good luck. Hope all works out well for you.
Dan
I would DEFINITELY send that diff back! It sounds like you have some issues with internal gear heat treatment, and the surfaces are failing. Send it back before you end up eating the whole diff instead.
I asked someone who has installed and maintained differentials, including quaifes, to look at this thread. Here is what he said:
"I think someone did not own a tube of locktite and the bolts backed out. That's not a carrier failure. The bolts should not have come out even if the diff did blow up."
"I think someone did not own a tube of locktite and the bolts backed out. That's not a carrier failure. The bolts should not have come out even if the diff did blow up."
KNG SNKE
Enthusiast
If we only had rep here! LOL
I agree. That's why I bought a complete diff. from Unitrax. I was told the ring gear bolts were wired???
I'm hoping that since Unitrax is the US distributor, and representative for Quaiffe, that should prevent the "finger pointing".
The opinion of just about everyone that has viewed the photos is that the bolts backed out... If so, hopefully Unitrax will step up and take responsibility. We'll see...
No they arent, Taylor Race Engineering is {at last check}. That is why Unitrax is pushing the Giken these days instead of the Quaife, they dont make any money w/Quaife anymore.
*edit* It appears a new company is now the USA distributor, Taylor is not listed, and they seem to be liquidating their Quaife stock. Looks like yet another possible USA distributor move...?
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I see that the US dist. is now.. MOTOVICITY DISTRIBUTION.
So would that mean that everyone that bought a Quaiffe from Taylor is now out of luck?
I was told when I bought this diff that Unitrax was the Quaiffe distributor.... at that time..
Guess I'll find out....
I see that the US dist. is now.. MOTOVICITY DISTRIBUTION.
So would that mean that everyone that bought a Quaiffe from Taylor is now out of luck?
I was told when I bought this diff that Unitrax was the Quaiffe distributor.... at that time..
Guess I'll find out....
I would imagine that Quaife handles the warranty, not the distributor, so you will probably need to go through the current distributor [Motovicity] or perhaps even just direct w/Quaife.
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Don't believe that Unitrax was ever the National Distributor for Quaife.
I do know that they've had more than a few issues with teh Quaife itself in racing applications, hence the warranty changed from "everything including racing" to a limited warranty.
Still don't understand just how the Quaife biases it's torque as if you get a rear wheel off of the ground, the wheel off of the ground simply spins and the car will not move, i.e. no power is transmitted to the wheel on the ground. Try going up a steep driveway with a Quaife at an angle and you'll see what I mean.
If the Quaife diff can completely disengage one wheel when it's on the ground and supply power to the wheel that's off of the ground, could it do this on the track with an unloaded or lightly loaded wheel (after the diff has some wear on it)? This could cause the car to turn uncontrollably.
My next diff in a track car will be a limited slip type, an OS Giken.
Good luck,
Dan
I do know that they've had more than a few issues with teh Quaife itself in racing applications, hence the warranty changed from "everything including racing" to a limited warranty.
Still don't understand just how the Quaife biases it's torque as if you get a rear wheel off of the ground, the wheel off of the ground simply spins and the car will not move, i.e. no power is transmitted to the wheel on the ground. Try going up a steep driveway with a Quaife at an angle and you'll see what I mean.
If the Quaife diff can completely disengage one wheel when it's on the ground and supply power to the wheel that's off of the ground, could it do this on the track with an unloaded or lightly loaded wheel (after the diff has some wear on it)? This could cause the car to turn uncontrollably.
My next diff in a track car will be a limited slip type, an OS Giken.
Good luck,
Dan
It is because, by design, the gear type Quaife requires SOME torque be applied to both wheels in order to keep the gears "locked". While a "slip situation" will almost always enough torque for the diff to bias correctly, a completely unloaded wheel [such as one off the ground] will not. It has to do with design, and they have their ups and downs. A Quaife will stop functioning if you lift a wheel, making it a downside compared to a Slip type, however, it also has upsides compared to a slip type. Slip types use extra power in the corners as part of their slip action, where Quaife would function as an open carrier. Also, Quaife has the ability to bias power to the outer wheel, helping push through turns. Slip types do not do this. All in all, its a toss up, they both have their ups and downs.
To answer your question, no, not even a worn Quaife should have the ability to bias power like you are referring to. They dont "wear" and "loosen up" like you are thinking.
TrackAire
Enthusiast
I'm not sure what would be worse, a Quaife explosion or a ***** explosion
Best of luck getting your diff fixed, hopefully under some sort of warranty.
Cheers,
George
Best of luck getting your diff fixed, hopefully under some sort of warranty.
Cheers,
George
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Hey Daniel,
Unfortunately, a couple of our local guys including myself have had this type of experience with Quaife diffs. The bearings and gears do wear and the Quaife's ability to bias power does change over time and with varying conditions. As you said above, "almost always".
Dan
I would encourage you guys to dig deeper into the cause. The design type alone, should not be impacted by wear beyond initial surface polishing. There are no clutches or anything of the type to "wear out", they simply function on a gear engagement level. In fact, it should be most "slippery" when gear finish is polished, which would likely be shortly after new, and then continue as the same or degrade over time as the surfaces scar. I suspect something else is wearing in your case, or something is moving and allowing gear lash to change.
However, my opinion still stands on the answer to the question: No, not even a worn-out Quaife would have the ability to bias all the power to one wheel while accelerating, as to force the car into a wall. In the event the diff did "free wheel" line an Open Diff, it would be the inside that spins, not the outside, and in a turn is the only time you could unload enough to do this- not in a straight line.
