Any Cobras built with open diff?

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by Morris

I’ve used many different Differentials over the course of time......the welded up diff was great for autocross.....the limited slip requires a lot of maintenance to keep it working properly......the Salisbury Diff was the same way but the ramps not the diff allowed you the control how much drive you got on both rear tires.....and finally we are using the Quaiffe diff in the KMP259 and it works the best as it allows the rear wheels to unlock and turn in at the appropriate moment.....then as you accelerate towards the apex, the rear wheel drive the vehicle but not so much to push you away from the apex.....by the time you push the throttle down to the floor the Quaiffe diff locks up and drives the vehicle past the apex to the exit of the turn.......even in a straight line the car will jump a bit to one side or another....but then it catches and pulls straight forward......it is better to drive smoothly around the corners......and the Quaiffe verses the open, Welded, LSD, or Salisbury is by far better then the others.

For those of you who might not remember (or were not alive then) the torque biasing diff was invented for F-1. It was the original intellectual property of a crafty Brit named Quaife. The differential took on his name and the Quaife design. The Quaife torque biasing diffs were only available from Quaife until his patent ran out. Today there are umpteen different firms that produce a "Quaife design" differential, the largest firm being Eaton.

The design uses a myriad of pinions and driving / driven gearing to do it's magic. As Morris has already said the torque biasing design works better than the alternatives available today.

Here is a link to the Eaton TruTrac website, click here => Eaton TruTrac where they describe their version of the differential. There is also a video under the Performance section of their web page that gives a better explanation and illustration of the technology.

As I suggested, there are many providers of the torque biasing differential available today. Probably the premier provider is a company named Wavetrac. They have actually done some additional design engineering to improve the operation of the differential. Eaton uses six pinions in the design of their unit and Wavetrac uses 12 pinions in addition to a very innovative patented design enhancement to address a special situation that only occurs on torque biased diffs, where there can be a loss of drive during zero or near-zero axle-load conditions. In addition to the stronger, enhanced design, Wavetrac is the only manufacturer that offers a transferrable lifetime warranty on their unit — no matter where you use it including on a race tracK. Here is the link to their site => Wavetrac Torque Biasing Diff

The Wavetrac units use 9310 nickel steel for the internals like Pro-Series 9" Ford ring and pinions. The cases are either forged steel or CNC manufactured billet steel. It is a very nice differential — with a transferrable lifetime warranty. The clarity in the wording of their warranty provides a level of comfort that warranty wording usually does not.

This is how they phrase it:

"Autotech Driveline warrants each new Wavetrac® Differential against defects in manufacture, material, workmanship, and wear-out when used in the vehicle application for which it was originally designed, on any motor vehicle, under any and all operating conditions, including racing, (emphasis mine) for as long as the original purchaser or any subsequent purchaser owns the differential."

Rather all inclusive ...


Ed