mguidry629

iTrader: (6)

Some may remember my last thread, but basically I have a worn out Auburn 3 series. I have a good 2 seriers Auburn out of a parts car. After discussing with you guys, I decided I was going to get a 2 series ring and pinion and call it a day.

Before I could do that, I found a local craigslist ad. Selling a Torsen 3 series carrier with 3.42 ring and pinion. He has is listed for $200. So I call him to see if I can buy the carrier only. He says he will sell the carrier for $150 and give me the gears.

So here are my choices: spend $200 on brand new ring and pinion (prob 3.73) to fit the series 2 carrier or spend $150 and throw the Torsen unit in there with my 3.23 setup. I've never changed out a pinion gear before, so that's why I'm thinking the easiest thing would be to put my ring on the Torsen unit and be done with it.

I searched the threads yesterday for a couple hours reading about Torsen vs Auburn and it seems there's a conflicting opinions of both.

What would you do?

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

both Auburns and Torsens break/fail,Auburn spiders break and Torsen gears and assembly bolts break. It's a 'throw of the dice'.
Easiest,yes,would be the Torsen with your ring gear,but 'lash' would still have to be set/adjusted.
If you go the Torsen route,measure the 'lash' on the set now so you can set it to that value with the Torsen.

mguidry629

iTrader: (6)

I will definitely set the lash either way I go. I forgot to mention (if it matters) that the Auburn parts diff has about 130k miles on it, but when we pulled the cover, there wasn't a lot of metal on the magnet. They may have changed the oil and cleaned it recently though. According to the seller, they pulled the Torsen out of his friends 96 SS with about 30k miles on it. He may have meant a later model SS cuz I thought the torsen only came on 99-02. Regardless, he swears it's low miles.

I don't have to go the easier route, I just thought it was worth mentioning. I'm just hoping to get opinions on what others would do in this situation. If I'm buying the used Torsen, I'll probably jump on it this evening and hopefully have it in for the weekend.

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

130,000 is good life out of an Auburn considering it's metal to metal wear when differential is functioning,I pulled mine out at 110,000 and it had a little life left,maybe 10,000 more miles.
Typically,when Torsens do fail,they break(catastrophically),but don't wear out.
$150 is a normal average price for a used Torsen,at least you're not getting ripped on it.

ace3166

Just from experience, I wouldn't do either. The Torsen units are junk in my opinion. The Auburn units are better, but with 130k,it's at the end of its life.

mguidry629

iTrader: (6)

Just for the sake of arguement, let's just say you can't do neither or both, but you have to pick one. I appreciate the honesty though.

When a Torsen breaks, does it usually take anything else with it?

And at least with the 130k mile Auburn, when the clutches wear out I'll still be able to spin one tire and drive the car (which is where I am now). So if I bought 3.73 gears to go with the old Auburn, at least I'd be upgrading the rear end and would have posi until it decided to wear out. And when it does wear out, I'll still be better than I am now. Right?

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

IF,IF,IF a Torsen OR Auburn breaks,the broken pieces CAN take out/make worthless everything,depending upon how long the rearend is forced to operate afer a failure.