Cal

iTrader: (1)

Yeah those seals press into the axle tubes to keep differential fluid off the sealed wheel bearings. If you are using standard taper bearings, you leave them out so the bearings will get oiled. Like you I found nothing about them in the instructions, but figured they went there. Unfortunatly I couldn't get the axles to slide in all the way because I have taper bearings! Why they even gave the seals I have no idea, so I had to yank them back out.

To fix the T-bolt problem, use the bolts off the stock rear and install them in the same way but you will have to clearance the flats on the housing to make room for the nuts. Only remove the material you have to because the metal is already thin here. If you do it just right, the nut will just barely go in with one side against the flat, and you won't even have to hold it with a wrench. I used a die-grinder with a fiberglass cut-off wheel. BTW, I strongly sugest this mod. Using the T-bolts is an accident waiting to happen, because you can never properly tighten the nuts, they just keep chewing metal off the backing plate. Here's a pic:
Flange Bolts

Here's a couple pics of how I tied down the brake lines; note that I removed the stock bracket:
Brake Lines
More Brake lines
I got a little carried away with the zip-ties! But at least nothing will fall off.

Here's a shot of how I clearanced the floor pan for that big-*** torque arm bracket:
Floor Clearance

And here's where I made clearance for the sway bar, used a die grinder:
Removed some of mount tube
I think I removed a little too much of the mount tube; but when the axle hangs down the bar will be much closer than it is here (weight on wheels in this pic)

I fabricated this bracket to suport the E-brake cable on one side:
Cable support
I'm not sure if this is really necessary, but I thought I could hear the cable whacking the floor pan, so I did this. I think what really caused the noise was the LCA bolt I never fully torqued!! Double check all your fasteners.

And here's the drain plug I welded in myself:
Drain Plug
Works well, but I'm not a good enough welder to do a 360 degree continuous bead while laying on my back, so I had to go back and touch up some pin-holes to stop the leaks. I off-set it so there would not be a loss of ground clearance and to protect the plug if it ever cases-out against something. I should have done this mod before installing the axle.

01firechicken

AWESOME pics! I did my drain plug yesterday and put the POR15 on it. I noticed that in all you pics the POR15 looks really good. I'm going to take your advice on all the mods, they make sense!How long have you have your 9in? Have you had it on any road courses or auto-Xs? Thanks again for all the info and pics!!!
Val

Cal

iTrader: (1)

Thanks . . . it's been on the car for 15 months now. That POR15 is sure killer paint! The only place it has ever come off is where I put the jack claw under the diff to raise the rear of the car. I did use their Metal Ready treatment a couple of times first; left it looking Cad-Plated. BTW, this axle makes a really cool sound when you let off the gas; kinda like a turbine spinning down (not really loud though.) No road courses or auto-x yet, but that's next on my list! I could have auto-x'ed this morning, but I'm still finishing up the header install. Before I got the 9 inch, I was also considering a 12 bolt, but wondered how it would do on hard cornering; so I talked to a friend of mine that used to run a circle track racer: he said if you want to see a lot of broken GM 10 bolts and 12 bolts, hang out at an oval track for a while! He said they shear the wheel flange off the end quite often. He recomended the 9 inch, but his race car had some kind quick change unit (big $$$.)

Oh yeah I think one thing I never mentioned so far is my housing came with a lot of loose welding spatter still inside. It took forever to clean it all up, but I just didn't want that crap going through the gears. Some of it was sorta stuck in place but seemed like it could break loose easy. It would probably be a good idea to put a magnet inside the housing somewhere, but I never did. You would definitely want a very positive way of attaching it; maybe JB Weld or better yet weld a stud in to hold it. Or maybe a magnetic drain plug. At the very least, change the oil after the first 200 miles.

Another thing in the instructions it says to add X quarts of limited slip additive; that should have read "pints" not "quarts!"

Eugenio_SS

iTrader: (2)

do they make Torsen diffs like the T2Rs for the 9" ?
If so, that would be interesting.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

Here's the posi units Moser offers:
http://www.moserengineering.com/mose...s.asp?CatID=24
It's pretty much just the Trac-Loc for a 9 inch. I don't think the Torsen design is very strong with all those little gears.

Eugenio_SS

iTrader: (2)

so the question is:
Does the Trac-Loc outperform or at least performs as well as a T2R ?
I mean being able to have an excellent limited slip without being clutch driven (ie, gear driven)

Cal

iTrader: (1)

The Trac-Loc is a clutch based posi, but it has worked very well for me under all types of conditions. It seems to be compatible with ASR as well. I gave it a good test on a slippery surface at 160 mph last month; a lot of people spin out on the salt flats with a posi, but I had no problems.

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

How are those aluminum centers holding up?

I have a 31 spline Moser 9" with a Tractech locker in a drag oriented setup.

01firechicken

I'd like to know more about the Aluminum centers also! I'm already thinking of another set of gears just for the road courses.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

When I asked about them, the Moser tech guy said there was no consessions with using their aluminum third member. He said it's a lot stronger than some of the other aluminum units out there. I guess it's more than just an aluminum copy of the iron one, this one was redesigned from aluminum and has through-bolts. It will cost ya about $150 more, but I figured it was worth it for the weight savings. You really think that way when you're laying on your back under the car trying to press that puppy up into the hosuing!