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Author Topic:   Full spool or Detroit locker?
steve'66
Gearhead

Posts: 9533
From: Sonoma,CA,USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-04-2002 08:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for steve'66   Click Here to Email steve'66     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The 408w is coming and I don't think the trac-lock is up to the task. So I'm gonna install a spool or a detroit. But this car will still be an ocassional street car, around town only. It won't run on pump gas w/11.7-1 compression. So what would you do? Spool or detroit? How are spools on the street, just around town in good weather? Do they bark the tires on every turn or only under power?

SteveW

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kid vishus
Gearhead

Posts: 6590
From: middle of NC
Registered: Oct 2000

posted 04-04-2002 08:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for kid vishus   Click Here to Email kid vishus     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Well, truthfully, my locker barks the tires going around corners part of the time. When I bought it in '89, I bought the bestlocker I could find (aftermarket) and it cost me $325 then. It is a heavy duty piece, but it doesnt always unlock when cornering. (dont ask what brand it is, I was 19 when I bought it and I cant remember little stuff from that long ago).

So, in my opinion, if I were to do it over again, I ouwld have saved some money and just bought a spool (my locker doesnt unlock part of the time now, so what woulld be the difference)

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steve'66
Gearhead

Posts: 9533
From: Sonoma,CA,USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-04-2002 08:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for steve'66   Click Here to Email steve'66     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Rob,

I bet it's a ThorsenGlesson differential. I run detroit lockers in my jeeps and they only bark when you get on it and they lock. I've heard people say that spools are relatively quiet around corners when you're not "on it". I know they are a bitch to push in a turn, but not much more.

SteveW

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chips67
Gearhead

Posts: 663
From: louisville, ky, usa
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 04-04-2002 09:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for chips67   Click Here to Email chips67     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
if theres any chance the car will be a streeter down the road, detroit, then you are covered.

------------------
67 coupe, 650dp and rpm intake on 5.0 with afr 165 heads, 4 speed, 4.11's.....best so far is [email protected] in 1/8 mile with 1.79 60ft. time.

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gingerbreadman
Journeyman

Posts: 8
From: kamloops b.c. canada
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 04-04-2002 09:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for gingerbreadman   Click Here to Email gingerbreadman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
iv got a spool in mine......
only driven car for a couple weeks but i can tell its full lock up but like the previous reply sometimes the detroits dont even release...

if you want to have fun the spool is the way to go for sure...

i can break the rear end loose like nothing around corners but then if i go easy i have no problems

like you say your not going to be running pump gas so its not gonna be a raniy weather driver anyways. i say go for it and slap a spool in it

there is nothing worse than a burnout and one tire not grabbing as good as the other like a limited slip or traction lock will do...


just my thoughts

-gbm-

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JAAZZY
Gearhead

Posts: 836
From: Bay Area, CA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 04-04-2002 09:48 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for JAAZZY     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I ran a mini-spool for awhile. I didn't like it much for the street but then my car was a daily driver. Unless I slowed to a crawl around turns my tires always skipped. Our purposes are different though so it might be right for you.

What is the ultimate street/strip/roadcourse rear? Traction lock?

I have a traction lock rear now but it's probably just a matter of time before something in it breaks so I figure I'd get the info now for the 9" that will replace it.

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Larry Jennings
Gearhead

Posts: 540
From: Redwood City, Ca. USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-04-2002 10:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Larry Jennings   Click Here to Email Larry Jennings     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Rotating mass of a spool is less than the dirt rear as well as unsprung weight .

------------------
If at first you don't suceed, sky diving is not the sport for you.

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steve'66
Gearhead

Posts: 9533
From: Sonoma,CA,USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-04-2002 10:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for steve'66   Click Here to Email steve'66     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks everyone,

I'd like to hear Butch's (and others) thoughts of driving a spooled race car on the street though. I'm about to order it, but I'll wait 'til tomorrow.

Thanks again Larry, GBM, Rob, Chip, and Jas.

SteveW

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clevelandstyle
Gearhead

Posts: 1309
From: central Indiana
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 04-04-2002 11:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for clevelandstyle     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My Fairmont has a spool. It's livable on the street as long as it's just an occasional thing. I sometimes cringe when turning corners. I can just feel the rear binding. The sticky tires just don't like to slip.
My Mustang has a Detroit Locker. I love it. It is the best of both worlds. Great grip on the track and cornering on the street. I haven't noticed any problems with it not unlocking unless I am on the gas.

------------------
Ben
Grabber Green '70 Mach I 351C 4V
Robbin Egg Blue '79 Fairmont 351C 4V

[This message has been edited by clevelandstyle (edited 04-04-2002).]

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Butch Jennings
Gearhead

Posts: 633
From: No. California
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-05-2002 10:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Butch Jennings   Click Here to Email Butch Jennings     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

Hi Steve,

I've driven mine on the street a lot over the years, though not lately. Bottom line, to me anyway, is if you plan on driving it like a regular car (regardless of how often) then stay away from the spool.

By regular car I mean, you won't want to take a corner with any kind of speed bacause the front end will want to keep going straight. I always drove mine like I was at the track on the return road observing the 15 mile an hour speed limit. If I did find a nice straight open piece of real estate, then I'd nail it and have some fun but other than that I drove it like it was broken.

When I first got the car I ran around with it with a set of 3.89's on a mini spool and had the stock (rebuilt) 390 GT engine in it. I would drive it to Fremont and back and it would run 13.70's, it was a fun car but the mini spool got to be a pain in the a@@ in no time.

In the last 10 years the car has only been street driven to the local car shows and rarely over 30 miles per hour, under those conditions the spool isn't any more trouble than the front springs and shocks or the loose convertor.

Mine would never "bark" the tires unless I was atempting a U-turn or I applied a little throttle while still in the turn, more than a very little throttle would be big trouble...lol.

Sorry to be so long winded.

------------------
Butch
460 powered 1967 Comet Cyclone
10.271 @ 130.069
Butcher's Home Page
"Friends don't let friends drive Chevys"

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n2oMike
Gearhead

Posts: 2831
From: Spencer, WV
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 04-05-2002 12:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for n2oMike   Click Here to Email n2oMike     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I ran a spool in the mustang for a couple years. It puts incredible stresses on the chassis every time the car is forced around a turn... The front tires try and turn the car, but the rear wheels only go STRAIGHT. To make them turn, they have to skid. This puts unreal stress on the axles, the axle housing, the leaf springs, and the chassis. Repeated street use with a spool with twist the springs and rear chassis out whack. One of my rear shackes got to where it pointed back further than the other... and the car wouldn't take off at the track without spinning the tires and bouncing off the launch pad. After a trip to the frame machine, the rear shackles are now lined up properly. Hopefully it will launch right.

It was also really hard on tires. For a while I used tube type M&H Racemasters. The sidewalls got twisted all to hell around turns... and on a couple of occasions, they pinched holes in the tubes (which sucked). They also didn't last very long. Switching to a Detroit Locker made the car MUCH more managable on the street. It's also stood up to repeated dragstrip launches on the bottle. The only problem, was once when shifting into 3rd gear, it must have become unlocked somehow, because jolted sideways and the rearend started weaving back and forth. I stayed in it, but almost let out. The guy giving out the timeslips made a comment about the car getting squirrly mid track... I probably should have let out of it.

I drive the car a LOT on the street. It sees quite a bit more street than strip time, so the DL will stay. If a car didn't see much street time at all, I'd probably get a full spool. Of course my car is a nitrous 4-speed, so it is bound to get squirrly from time to time. You'd probably be fine at the track with either the DL or the spool, but I wouldn't use a limited slip (traction lock) in a drag application. They are too unreliable.

Good Luck!

------------------
Mike Burch
66 mustang real street
302 4-speed 289 heads
10.63 @ 129.3
http://www.geocities.com/carbedstangs/cmml_mburch.html
http://www.fortunecity.com/silverstone/healey/367
http://www.mustangworks.com/cgi-bin/moi-display.cgi?220

[This message has been edited by n2oMike (edited 04-05-2002).]

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Ron
Gearhead

Posts: 137
From: Newcastle, Wa.
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 04-05-2002 02:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ron     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just pulled the spool out of mine, its miserable to drive on the street, wants to plow forward and you gotta "conan" the steering wheel in order to turn a corner and the thing is squeelin around the whole corner.

I went with the new 35 spline detroit locker setup, much nicer!

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steve'66
Gearhead

Posts: 9533
From: Sonoma,CA,USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-05-2002 05:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for steve'66   Click Here to Email steve'66     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks everyone,

We're gonna go ahead and try a full spool. Melissa likes her '95 Mustang so she doesn't feel the need to drive this one on the street like she used to.
I'll hang on to the trac-loc in case it becomes a street car again.

SteveW

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