Locker shattered and punched hole in diff.

[acatalon]

Locker shattered PICTURES

Any ideas on the availability of a differential unit complete and ready to install, My locker assy broke at the FFW in Houston off the starting line, thought it was the half shaft but when I looked under the car fluid was pouring on the ground. After jacking the Cobra up and investigating I found a hole about the size of a half dollar punched in the diff housing and the spider gears could clearly be seen laying on the bottom of the differential along with a bunch of schrapnel. :cuss: WE now have the exterior pictures further down in thread

 

[postban]

Sorry bout your misfortune. I am using an Eaton posi in my IRS, I believe there is also a Trutrac unit that fits if you are gonna upgrade.

Did you have a Billetflow brace on it? How does the cover look? Pics of the mess?

 

[acatalon]

I do have a billetflow irs brace, the cover is fine, the posi unit exploded on launch the pieces ie spider gears and the like blew a hole in the right side of the housing. Will get pictures once car is unloaded from trailer. Trying to get entire third member assy to replace the old one, easiest way todo it, plus level 2 1/2 shafts. I have been plagued with broken input shaft, (fixed withe 26 spline) then the new pressure plate was bad and caused two clutch disk to fuse (fixed with a new assy) then the pumpkin goes. Can't say that I hadn't seen this before, my brother had to change the Tranny, Clutch, 1/2 shafts and the posi unit aswell, failures came one after the other till all weak links were upgraded.

 

[goodquest]

ttt

 

[acatalon]

update...I found the entire IRS unit, got the whole assy minus brakes and springs unit has 1k miles, no track usage. I am trying to decide which is easier, entire swap or just the pumpkin? The housing for the locker assy gears run 700.oo without the rear cover. Then u need the guts and expert assy. Parts totaled over 1200.00 plus labor. So I think I am coming out better buying entire IRS, that way I will have spare 1/2 shafts for future use and a factory assymbled third member.

 

[Tide612]

dont buy another IRS take that 1200 and build yourself a REALLY NICE SOLID AXLE

 

[acatalon]

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[acatalon]

Heres the bottomURL=http://www.imageshack.us]

[/URL] The internals are completely shattered...the locker exploded on the launch and the resulting exterior cracks resulted..the brace held up for many launches and was NOT the cause of the mishap...the rear support is completely intact, the locker just went Kaboom! :fm:

 

[acatalon]

Here she is back together after a long night of reassembly..

 

[postban]

Well, Joe Lynch, MJ and Dougwg can be proud that their brace held. Talk about a selling point, the paper thin cover on the right side is fine to my view.

Glad you got it back together.

 

[393Bird]

You have a Traction Loc limited slip unit if it is what came in the car. You could upgrade to a Detroit Locker which is rated for at least 200 HP more. The traction Loc is better for a mostly daily driver and causal strip use since the DL does make a little noise at times, but for a car used regularly at the strip, the DL kicks butt. The same unit can be used inside the IRS unit, or a solid axle car with 31 spline shafts. Part number is 187c145a. The only thing stronger than a DL is a spool, and you do not want that on the street. The older Cobras with 28 spline units can use a DL also using # 187c147a. The brace will prevent flex of the housing, but if the internals brake, the same can happen in a solid axle application. I know guys running over 1,200 HP for many years through a DL with nothing other than a changing fluid each year. No problem with worn clutches in a limited slip unit, and car not launching straight.

Thought I would pass this on for you to at least consider. I went this route with my Thunderbird that has a IRS also, since I do not want to have it breaking, or have to rebuild it every 1-2 years.

 

[acatalon]

Thanks for info 393bird, I will probably do that soon, I couldnt pass up the deal to get a complete unit which also provided urathane bushings, Kenny Brown IRS brace, and a set of barely used halfshafts. The upgraded spool sounds like the way to go,I will do a gear swap at same time also. The origional housing is used by Jay Knott (Cobra Shootout Six speed irs winner of Strickley Performance) uses, but he has a spool installed.

 

[Bob Cosby]

If you car is mostly drag and not a lot of street, a Detroit Locker is a real good investment. However, if you drive it a lot on the street, I would recommend a Detroit Truetrac. It is not as bullet-proof as the locker, but is much, much nicer around town (just like stock), and is signficantly stronger than the stock traction lock. I ran one all last year in my 99 Cobra race car, and currently have one in my 04 Cobra.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[acatalon]

This is Ugly

 

[acatalon]

another ugly angle, notice the locker is just about non existant.