bmartin8

My rear end has been howling like crazy. I had it rebuilt with new bearings and such to fix it, but the howling came back. Took it back to the shop and it was discovered that something inside the carrier broke. There was a lot of rotational play in the drive shaft, but no side to side or up and down play. Upon further diagnoses we found that turning the the passenger side wheel would not turn the drivers side wheel ie: only one wheel was spinning when turned by hand, but both wheels would spin when the car was on the lift and being driven. He said that their are springs inside the carrier that engage the differential to spin both wheels and that one of those springs had broken and been ground up into a mushy metal and prolly tore up all the bearings again. The spider gears didnt look like they were chipped or anything. When turning the wheel you could feel a bit of resistance at certain points in the rotation.

It should be noted that I was driving around with a tore up trans for a long time and the car would pop violently out of first gear. I think the shock to the rear end when the car poped out of gear is the reason why the rear broke again.

Now, I am very limited with my knowledge of whats inside these rear ends. I had thought limited slip differentials were clutch driven. Basically, what I am trying to figure out is what went wrong inside the carrier and why. Does anyone have any diagrams or schematics of these "springs" or more info on how the carrier and differential work. Im sure its prolly much cheaper to find another 10 bolt rather than dumping more money into another carrier and rebuild of this one. Would simply replacing the carrier fix the problem or would I need to replace the bearings again as well?

If anyone has any info on this type of problem let me know, because it seems odd and I have not read anything about this type of rear end failure before.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

The carrier will surely have to be replaced. The posi's with the springs and clutches are common and usually refered to as the auburn style posi. Torsen makes an all gear driven posi that is in a lot of cars. Although its not the strongest posi in the world, I like its function and mine has given me zero problems so far. I think bearing replacement in your case is needed bc of the metal shavings that likely got circulated through the entire rear end. A thorough cleaning of the empty housing, new or used posi, and all new bearings should get you back to a like new condition.

bmartin8

Yeah thats what I was thinking. It sucks because I already spent 500 dollars on all new bearings back in may. A carrier alone cost almost that much and on top of a new bearing install I am looking at close to a grand. I think its wiser to just find a used 10 bolt for the time being untill I can invest my money into a 12 bolt or 9 inch.

I just wish I knew why it would break like that. I mean this happend like 2 weeks after the rubuild. But like I said my car was poping hard out of first gear and I guess thats all it took to send enough shock to the rear to break it. Am I correct?

xtreme2001

i have broken 2 auburn style carriers.they work fine for daily driving.but the howling you hear is the ring and pinion not set up properly.........thats why you had slack in the pinion gear(driveshaft).......the springs being broke in the carrier are there to hold tension on the cones(side gears).....the reason both wheels wouldntspin when spinning one wheel is the cones worn out and the spring tension is gone.......get a new differential carrier like the ones found in 98 up f bodies......i ran one of those in my third gen camaro......i'm running welded up spider gears in my open diff now in my forth gen since i see track duty all the time....you can save your money for a 9in or a 12 bolt,but be warned they do break also......

bmartin8

Yeah I think my best bet for the time being is to just swap rears with a used 10 bolt and wait till I can drop the money on the 12 bolt. The car doesnt see any track time whatsoever so hopefully a used 10 bolt will get me through till I can get a stronger rear.

RapidRick

iTrader: (11)

Up on a lift, when you spin the passenger side tire forward, the left side will spin the opposite way. This is still a Posi unit, just without beng under a load, the TORSEN'S clutchless build, makes the wheels turn this way.

Check It Out:

http://www.torsen.com/general/general_faq.htm#Can Torsen recommend an oil for my rear axle

http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f13/lsd-or-posi-380890/

www.torsen.com