exactly what breaks?
exactly what breaks? I'm realtively new to the forums, and I hear of many people breaking the stock 10 bolt rear end when drag racing (even with slight, or no mods).
This might be a dumb question, but what exactly is it that breaks on the rear end?
This might be a dumb question, but what exactly is it that breaks on the rear end?
It could be just about anything. Varies greatly.
Sometimes the pinion gear breaks, sometimes the ring gear shreds teeth, sometimes just the posi blows.
The pumpkin itself can get out of whack (ie, changes shape) under extreme stress, and the geometry of it is never right after that and it will break gears left and right after that due to misalignment. This is also common when 12-bolts break.
Dang glass 10-bolts.
Sometimes the pinion gear breaks, sometimes the ring gear shreds teeth, sometimes just the posi blows.
The pumpkin itself can get out of whack (ie, changes shape) under extreme stress, and the geometry of it is never right after that and it will break gears left and right after that due to misalignment. This is also common when 12-bolts break.
Dang glass 10-bolts.
The ones around here I've seen explode have primarily been posi-related...there have been a few that shredded the ring and pinion. Never personally seen an axle break, but I know that happens as well.
Like these guys have already said, many things can break in them: posi, ring/pinion gears, and axles due to the torsional stress. In my case, I broke the spider gears in my posi, which is what I've also noticed quite a few people do. Good news is, as long as you don't FUBAR your housing, you can replace the internals relatively cheap and save some cash if you know how to install them yourself. Bad news is, you've still got to be careful when launching your car on a sticky tire because those new parts aren't any stronger.
Bolts on my posi unit backed out where the gear installer did not use lock-tite or just did not torque the bolts to spec ... not sure which. I drove it as hard as you can beat on a rearend and the posi never broke for 40,000 miles.
I think it has a lot to do with whether or not the gears were set up right to begin with. Not speaking to my problem of the bolts backing out (above), but, I'm talking here about the adjustments and the overall setup of the rearend as a whole working unit. Anything over about 380 RWHP on an A4 or 330 RWHP on an M6 it's probably not gonna' last long at all. Some people are lucky and living on borrowed time ... just my .02 cents worth.
I think it has a lot to do with whether or not the gears were set up right to begin with. Not speaking to my problem of the bolts backing out (above), but, I'm talking here about the adjustments and the overall setup of the rearend as a whole working unit. Anything over about 380 RWHP on an A4 or 330 RWHP on an M6 it's probably not gonna' last long at all. Some people are lucky and living on borrowed time ... just my .02 cents worth.
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Not really...it is just physically too small. I've priced out the options, and for a few hundred more (and usually some more work, but usually minor), you can have a 12-bolt or 9".
Agree with the above ... mine has a HD Eaton posi and factory 3.73's and I worry now about breaking/spinning and axle or stripping the ring gear ... 12-bolt for most cars ... 9" only if it's a pure dragstrip car ... IMHO.