rear differential broke- upgrade??

[fast?]

car broke down last saturday. took it to the dealer, service dept told me it was the clutch and would cost $1500 or more to fix it. i told them dont do the work and had a tow truck pick it up. called jon b for a new clutch. the good person he is told me where to get it in town at about the same price(after shipping and everything,as you all know his prices and knowledge are very good).

Picked up the part and had it installed at friends shop. start the car and nothing! same problem as before the new clutch install. put it in gear and let out the clutch and driveline spins.

that just pis**d me off. dealer tells me its the clutch but find its the differential. i know it should have been checked but when the dodge sevice dept. tell you its the clutch you would think since my viper is a dodge that they would know.

now im out $$$ from new clutch and install, and still have to fix the rear end. what upgraded rear will be good for drag racing and street use. i think if i fix the internals with stock parts it will only end up breaking again. man less than 9000 miles and i have to put a new rear diff already.

 

[JonB]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by trent:
,,,, called jon b for a new clutch. the good person he is told me where to get it in town at about the same price(after shipping and everything,as you all know his prices and knowledge are very good). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for the compliment.....my clutch was indeed $90 cheaper, but overnight FedEx to you was $80! So buying if faster, locally was best for you in this case.

Now about that rear end..................

You left out the part about SLICKS, and NOS !!!

 

[Marv S]

What year is your Viper? 2001 went to a a different Trac-LoK and larger, stronger 7/16" diameter ring gear retaining bolts.

Also, I was told the even stronger 2003 unit "will fit" but don't have details an what all is needed.

 

[Miles B]

Shouldn't the differential be covered by warranty?

Now, you may have to remove a few things... NOS, HD half shafts... they could claim (quite reasonably) that those mods are what made it fail

 

[jp]

It is probably the Differential Spider gears that have split in half. Call tom at Toms Differentials in LA, he will reharden a set of spider gears and put in two more discs in your differential...it will help fore some time. If you want to go all the way does Mark Wiliams have what you want...expensive thoug.

 

[pauls]

2003 is a CV setup. Don't think it's a bolt in. It's got to have different outer knuckles.

 

[fast?]

i have a 2001, oh ya i did have et streets on when it happened. talked to albert and he is running a stock differential and has 28000 miles on his to my 8000 miles and less than 20 passes 10 on et streets. he also told me he launches at 4000 or so and i launch at 3000.

jp do you have number or info on tom's differential?

 

[Tom Welch]

Trent,

Take a look at the halfshafts before you leap into more spending. A broken halfshaft will give the same result and they are hard to see sometimes if the car is not lifted up. U-joints/halfshafts are far more common breakages than rear ends. I have over 300 passses on my stock rear end and only recently freshened it, but it never quit working for me.

Tom
Http://btrviper.com

 

[fast?]

hi tom, i have the upraded half shafts from uni-trax.i will double check the half shafts but it seems to be the rear diff. My wife did tell me not to go to the track that day but as stubborn as i am i went. did she jinx me?j/k

 

[Paul Hawker]

Should call Unitrax in Anaheim. They have all the stronger, and trick cryogenically treated parts. You could ship your pumpkin to them, and tell them you run slicks and NOS. Not only can they install the stronger parts, they can set it up with maximum strength in mind. That may make it a little louder, but less breakage.
They have as much experience as anyone making strong rears for Vipers.

 

[treynor]

Trent -- FWIW, I had my SC car's diff rebuilt by UNITRAX with cryo gears, stronger clutch packs, etc. Short of going to a Quaiffe diff, that's arguably your best bet for street-strip application.

 

[fast?]

thanks paul and ben. will call them and find out my options.ben you can run an almost stock diff in your beast.

 

[Diablo Joe]

Please post how much Unitrax charges.Thanks,

Joe

 

[treynor]

&gt; ben you can run an almost stock diff in your beast?

Yes -- diff strength is a function of traction, not power. I'm running the same 11.5x26-16 ET streets as everyone else, and so a diff setup for that traction level works just fine for me. The problem, of course, is the car just spins the slicks all the way through 1st gear