Eaton Detroit Tru-Trac. A look inside.

[Midlife Crises]

Theres the shot I was missing.

 

[skwerl]

Why did you take it apart? You let the magic out!

 

[Midlife Crises]

Replacing bearings and installing 4.10 gears. I am cleaning out all the “sparkles” including what’s in the differential. There are no springs, washers, spacers, bearings or clutches inside. Just 6 helical gears that work in pairs between the two spider gears that turn the axles. This is the 31 spline setup. I did find some galling on the inside surface of the spider gears and the same galling on the bottom of the bores the spiders ride in. No idea if this damage is normal ware bu I will contact Eaton before it goes back in.

 

[Pentalab]

"Made in Taiwan' wtf?

 

[Midlife Crises]

"Made in Taiwan' wtf?

Ya. That’s right up there with the Yukon gears I got that say Made in China on them.

 

[DiMora]

Once you let the magic out, there’s no going back.

Thanks for the pics; I have one too. Love it.

 

[Pentalab]

Just remember to use 75W-140 plane jane dino gear oil. (NO synthetic...and NO friction modifiers).
I installed a catch can on the pass side of the rear axle. Then you won't have gear oil puking all over the ground.

On a side note, I had the Eaton tru-trac and also the Whiteline watts link, both installed on the same day. That combo is unbeatable. Also a DSS-DS was installed. Ok, now the car actually works.

 

[Midlife Crises]

Looking at the Eaton site and several other threads I find exactly this kind of damage mentioned. Eaton claims it is from old, cheep or contaminated oil. They recommend 80-90 grade 5 nonsenthetic lube which is exactly what I have run and it hasn’t been in there long enough to be “old”. This leaves contamination. I have killed a couple sets of pinion bearings and ended up with an awful howl. At this point I have cleaned all the metal flake from the housing and parts. Stoned and polished the surfaces in the carrier and on the gears that were ruffed up and then mated them with grinding compound. This does not include any of the teeth. They all look smooth. I am putting it back together with a new set of Ford Performance 4.10 gears and Ford Performance install kit that includes the 2010 heave duty pinion bearings. Also just received a set of Strange axle bearings so all the rolling elements will be new.
Fingers crossed.

 

[Midlife Crises]

“KAPOW” “$*## SMACK ;; BOOM. rekafreken mouthbreathing fumblefloundering numbnuts! Installed the new ring gear with the bolts from the install kit. Check; Grabbed the bearings from the kit to set up the pinion and find the rolling elements, wrapped in plastic with no races. The kit is missing the races for the inside pinion bearing and the two carrier bearings. That’s another week waiting.
I got to figure out what deity I pissed off cause this is crazy.

 

[808muscle]

My trutrac has 500+ track passes. What a great item.

 

[Midlife Crises]

My trutrac has 500+ track passes. What a great item.

I think so too. I am sure the damage I have seen is from contamination. Most of the metal stoned off without much trouble. It was a different color than the base metal, mostly bright silver.
The parts I’ve been waiting for arrived Friday so yesterday I got the new 4.10s setup without the slightest trouble. Also pressed the replacement Strange bearings on the axles. Should get it buttoned up and back under the car today.

 

[GriffX]

I installed one with 3.72 gears. Great mod! I guess the clicking noise on coasting are the force free helical gears?

 

[808muscle]

I installed one with 3.72 gears. Great mod! I guess the clicking noise on coasting are the force free helical gears?

Yes it can clip clop like horse totally normal.

 

[Midlife Crises]

Put about 25 miles on the new gears and bearings this afternoon. Noticeable difference between 4.30s and the new 4.10 ratio. First gear is just a bit taller. Best of all they did not make a sound. No whine or clatter. Ran second and third gear hard once toward the end of the drive and the gears did not make a sound. Finally. I’ll give it another short drive tomorrow and a couple controlled launches and if it doesn’t complain it will be on the drag strip Sunday.

 

[GriffX]

I read you have the Tokico D-spec, I also. I don't finde a good setting, use 5,5 rev out, otherwise the high-speed compression is way to harsh/stiff. Does someone knows a good alternative?

 

[Midlife Crises]

Tokico D-spec

Using the D specs with Steeda Sport springs I find setting them at 5 turns out is good for most of the wagon trails we have around here. The rear gets harsh on rough roads for sure. My setting for the drags is 6 to 7 turns out on the front and full hard or one turn out on the rear. This year I have installed Steeda Competition springs so I don’t know if the settings will change.
I would have bought Koni adjustables but they were not available at that time.