Anyone used this Limited Slip Add on ???

[blkcorvair]

Hey I stumbled on this a time ago and never really looked back at it. Price seems real good. Almost too good. Anyone try these before?

https://www.importperformanceparts.net/imports/phantomgrip-alfa.html

 

[Deleted member 3577]

Worse than terrible...

From all accounts I've heard.

Tran-X is the top rated for the Midget. (clutch type)
Quaife is second. (mechanical)

Both are REALLY expensive.

 

[blkcorvair]

Worse than terrible...

From all accounts I've heard.

Tran-X is the top rated for the Midget. (clutch type)
Quaife is second. (mechanical)

Both are REALLY expensive.

Exactly why I thought to good to be true. Thanks!

 

[dougie]

You usually get what you pay for when dealing with race parts. We only use the Quaife with our Big Healeys. They are race proven and I have never heard of any failures with them.

Dougie

 

[aeronca65t]

For what it's worth, I've been running an open diff for years.

The only place it slows me down is at Pocono South and that's a crappy track anyway.

Spridgets are low-powered and pretty well balanced. At the amateur level, I don't think a limited slip is that big a deal in these cars.

 

[Hap Waldrop]

I used Quaifes, TranEx and locked rear diff in my racing Spridgets over the years, FWIW, none of the high dollar LSD made me any faster or made the Spridget handle any better, so thses days I just run locked diffs. Hey it was good enough for Mark Donohue

 

[Hedgehog]

I'm with Hap on this. Weld the spider gears and go racing. That's all I've done for more than 15 years and I have had no problems.

 

[Michael Oritt]

What is the best way of welding them up? I have a few where there are several separate welds to the spiders and one with massive amounts of metal almost forming a ball around the whole center section.

 

[Deleted member 3577]

If yer a demo derby guy...
Ya just throw in a bunch of BB's

I've heard about filling it up with lead.
(These two approaches only work with spider gears enclosed in the housing)

Otherwise you have to be very careful about cleanliness.
Oil impregnation, in the metal, spoils the weld.
Grind off some material.
Preheat the heck out of it with a torch.
And blast it with a spark box.
(Turn her up until it sounds like firing a 50 cal. machine gun)

 

[billspohn]

I've run every which way, open diff, locked (welded) diff and Quaiffe.

I disagree with what some people are saying about the locked diff being as good as anything, and also about an open diff being just as good/fast as an LSD.

It all depends on the track. If the track you run at has no tight S curves you can probably get away with running a locker. If you want to run at Portland, with the chicane they use for vintage, you are gong to plow like a bastard and the other cars will drive around you on the inside as you push to the outside of the turns.

If you have no tight turns that unload one wheel when you are coming onto an important straight, you can probably get away without losing much time with an open diff. If you ever ran Westwood BC, where they had a hairpin downhill turn into an uphill drag race, anyone with an open diff would still be sitting there spinning their inside wheel while the guys with an LSD (or locker) accelerated past them.

So while what you guys are saying may hold true on your local tracks, the solution many people want is the best one that works under the widest possible set of circumstances possible.

I think that is the LSD and that's what I wound up with and stuck to after many years of experimentation. Maybe only 2% of your corners would ever cause you to lose any time with a locker, and 20% with an open diff. Each driver has to do his own caclulation of whether the tracks at which he races warrant the significant expense of an LSD.

 

[blkcorvair]

As for welding them up, Ive seen jap car racers actually weld bolts accross the spider gears.

 

[Monkeywrench]

I've run every which way, open diff, locked (welded) diff and Quaiffe.

I disagree with what some people are saying about the locked diff being as good as anything, and also about an open diff being just as good/fast as an LSD.

It all depends on the track. If the track you run at has no tight S curves you can probably get away with running a locker. If you want to run at Portland, with the chicane they use for vintage, you are gong to plow like a bastard and the other cars will drive around you on the inside as you push to the outside of the turns.

If you have no tight turns that unload one wheel when you are coming onto an important straight, you can probably get away without losing much time with an open diff. If you ever ran Westwood BC, where they had a hairpin downhill turn into an uphill drag race, anyone with an open diff would still be sitting there spinning their inside wheel while the guys with an LSD (or locker) accelerated past them.

So while what you guys are saying may hold true on your local tracks, the solution many people want is the best one that works under the widest possible set of circumstances possible.

I think that is the LSD and that's what I wound up with and stuck to after many years of experimentation. Maybe only 2% of your corners would ever cause you to lose any time with a locker, and 20% with an open diff. Each driver has to do his own caclulation of whether the tracks at which he races warrant the significant expense of an LSD.

+1

If you weld the rear end your car will be tighten up and will require a different set-up. It really depends on your driving style and the type of car (Mark Donahue was driving high hp, low grip cars, and other drivers complained his cars were too tight for them). It might be worth to drive a someone elses car before going ahead and welding it. Do the same with a Quafe equipped car as well.

 

[Deleted member 3577]

It really depends on your driving style and the type of car

It's gonna want to go straight at turn in.
You kinda have to throw it into the corner in order to get it to rotate.
You might have to go with a more aggressive caster angle also.

There is also the issue of your really bad Spridget axles.
(Made from old British coat hangers)
Ask Nial

 

[Monkeywrench]

It really depends on your driving style and the type of car

It's gonna want to go straight at turn in.
You kinda have to throw it into the corner in order to get it to rotate.
You might have go with a more aggressive caster angle also.

Yup, which might not exactly be the fastest way around the track in a lower horsepower car

 

[Deleted member 3577]

Yup, which might not exactly be the fastest way around the track in a lower horsepower car

I like to call my technique..."Yank & Stomp"

Not exactly the kind of finesse driving I like to do with the Tran-X (Elva)

 

[dougie]

PIR turn #2 chicane, with LSD. Look mom...............no plow!

Dougie