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Powertrax No-slip Seat of the pants Impression.

5K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  ricqik 
#1 ·
I just had a Powertrax No-slip installed in the rear of my Tundra.
I was going to DYI, but glad i didn't.

Heres the story:
I took the truck down and handed them the parts. I get a call a few hours later and here is that conversation.

Shop: Mike?
Me: Yeah.
Shop:Dude you have an LSD in the back of your truck.
Me: So?
Shop: The carriers are different so the locker won't fit in the case.
Me: Ofa
Shop: I'll button this back up and get you a carrier.

So they found a carrier for like 93 bucks.

I took the truck down again and its all done:)

Impressions:

First thing I notice is when I put the truck in reverse is a huge clunk.
Like the kind of clunk your dad's 72 Ford F-150 with 350K miles makes:)
Nice. Glad I paid money for this noise.

Next, anytime I let off the gas and get back on it there is a "jolt" accompanied, so the key here is to feed in the throttle slowly and smoothly.

My favorite new feature is when you put the truck in park and it rolls forward 6 inches.:)

Next turning in parking garages, the tires tend to squeal just a bit moreso than I remember.

When this thing locks and unlocks it sounds like one of those clapper things at a boxing event. You know the 10 seconds left notification thingies.

I have gotten a few stares at grocery stores when I turn into a space and it unlocks. *CLACK*

So for those that are intolerant of driveline noise or sounds that make you feel like the rear end is gonna part it self out at anytime, don't get a locker.

Yes it was installed properly, and this is a trait in all of the mechanically locked vehicles I have ever been in. (ARB and E-Locker excluded).

Would I do it again? Yes. Does it rock to have three wheel drive? Yes!
Better than the LSD on dirt? Yes. On pavement? No Way.

Let me know if there are any other seat fo the pants questions you might have about it.

Mike

Sig goes here, but you don't care that I have TRD floor mats or a HiLift jack.
 
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#2 ·
Did you get the Lock Right locker or the Powertrax No-slip. From what you posted it sounds like you have the Lock Right. In any case, I have the Lock Right and "this one time at band camp..." LOL! One day at the grocery store parking lot, I came around a corner and a loud CLUNK then click, click, click... came from my rear axle. Man did heads turn. That was the first time that happened after the install and so far it hasn't happened again. Although my truck is undriveable right now but, that's a different story.

It's definitely a plus off road. In some spots on the trail that use to require 4WD, I was able to do in 2WD w/the locker. :tu:

Mike
 
#3 ·
Woohoo!

And man oh man, the donuts you can do in the snow, mud and dirt! :p

Yup, I get the clunk and clack as well. Apparently the additional "lash" is needed for the device to function properly. You are right about being able to smooth it out with throttle control. I was initially concerned that the rear tires would wear out faster due to the locker, but I bought my tires from America's Tire Company and I get a "free" rotation and balance so I take advantage of that every 3,000-3,500 miles and the tires still look great after 25,000 on them.

Herbicidal
 
#4 ·
I got the No-Slip. Found it used. apparently the guy didn't wanna deal with all the clunks and stuff:)

Now if I could figure out how to get an ARB in the front and not freak out the Auto locking hubs......:)

Mike
 
#6 ·
I don't have a 4wd and don't now much about lockers. I have a dumb question. What is the difference between the Toyota LSD and a locker?
/Mike
P.S. I have been reading the thread on ARB and Powertrax, interesting stuff. But I'm stuck on this simple question.
 
#7 ·
Okay. So in basic terms, a limited slip will transfer the power to both wheels with a certain percentage split. Most LSD's do about 35% which means the wheel with the most grip gets 35% of the power and the wheel with no traction gets 65%.

Lockers are devices that lock both wheels together so they both have equal traction while still allowing one wheel to turn faster than the other during a turn. However neither wheel can turn slower than the ring gear inside the diff.

Hope that makes sense.


Mike

longwoodklon said:
I don't have a 4wd and don't now much about lockers. I have a dumb question. What is the difference between the Toyota LSD and a locker?
/Mike
P.S. I have been reading the thread on ARB and Powertrax, interesting stuff. But I'm stuck on this simple question.
 
#9 ·
ricqik said:
I'm about ready to get the no-slip. Some more questions. Do I need any new parts like seals, also mentioned below is carrier, what's that about, bearings, washers, whatever else.
If you are doing a no slip, you have to have an open differential not the LSD to install the powertrax unit. the carrier that was refered to earlier was needed because nv_tundra had a LSD originaly and needed to swap the lsd for an open dif. I also just noticed your ride is a 2000 tundra which should not be a problem because i dont think the LSD was available on that year.
 
#10 ·
The good news? The clicks, clanks and clunks deminish with time and only occaisionally rear their head after 20 or so K miles...it does take time for the system to "break in", if you will. The better news? You have great 3WD! Even better if you're locked up front too! :D :tu:

From personal experience, you made a great choice...plus it more or less forces you to become a better driver...the least it will do is cause you to listen and respond to your vehicle more appropriately :eek:
 
#11 ·
I started yesterday on my powertrax install. It's all done, just letting the gasket silicon cure and today I'll be adding the oil and do some final tq down. When I drained the fluid a tooth chip came out. I fear it could be from the ring gear or pinion gear. Once drained and pumpkin is out I took a magnet and got the rest of the tooth chips and chunks. Turns out to be from the spider gears. The spider gears chipped exactly opposite from each other in the same number of tooths slots. Total of 4 tooths chipped per gear. 3 on one side and 1 on the other side. It looked like a defect because of the same exact and number of broken tooths per spider gear.

But anyways.
Whats the tq for the 10 nuts that hold the pumpkin in? While the truck is still on jack stands, are the wheels supposed to spin the same direction once the powertrax is installed or does it still spin in opposite like an open diff? Mine is spinning in the same direction.
 
#12 ·
All done and the first thing I did was tow my boat. The first couple turns resulted in some pretty scary clicks and clacks like parking on a steep hill and shifting out of park. After awhile the noise calmed down. On my way back home from fishing no more noises. I feel and listen very carefully on every curve and could feel when it engaged and disengaged. When it engaged on curves you can definately feel the truck try to straighten out like mentioned before a slight understeer. Let off and you get a slight oversteer. One important thing I felt and notice is the unit engages every time throttle is applied and disengage when you let off and when you first start the truck after it's been sitting for awhile and the rpm is still surging above 1k rpm and you put it in gear, the unit will engage because of the add tq the engine is running. I floored it acouple of time around corners and it just takes off with the inside rear tire just barely barking because it has to spin at the same rate as the outer wheel. It true you really gotta adjust you driving, not that I didn't believe those who's done them before, I just want to experience it first hand. When I filled the differential it took 4 qts.
 
#13 ·
No Slip

From rixqik:

"One important thing I felt and notice is the unit engages every time throttle is applied and disengage when you let off and when you first start the truck after it's been sitting for awhile and the rpm is still surging above 1k rpm and you put it in gear, the unit will engage because of the add tq the engine is running."

What you are feeling is the back lash built into the unit, not it engaging or disengaging, or at least I think this is right. They build extra back lash into the unit. When you get off and right back on the gas you will feel a little bump. It is kinda like a bad u-joint or something. This is normal for this locker. After you drive it more you will get use to it and "feather" the gas to stop this "play" from being so obvious. Makes you a better driver and is good for the rest of the drive line also.

Glad you got it in, I think you will like it.

Mike
 
#14 ·
I can feel the backlash too, but this was definately the no-slip engaging. It's noticable to me anyways because of the way it pushes the truck slightly right or left, never did that before the no-slip install. I also know it engaged because of the slight clunk when I let off.

Today we got plenty of rain so I decided to test it out. I floored it a couple of time from stand still and when it engages and take off my rear end shutters and hops some with the rear sliding to whatever side slopes down. Felt just like axle rap but with a more rapid shutter. Feels almost like it engaging and disangaging in fractions of a second. This definately is gonna be some pretty interesting stuff to get used to. Seems to also be alittle too agressive for everyday city commute and better for dirt to offroad use. Just for kicks, before I started draining the differential fluid but after I had the truck on the stands I floored it acouple of times just to see how quick it got up to 110mph while the wheels were suspended. Boy it got up there in a blink of an eye. Can you say 1/4mile in 5seconds.

When my truck was still on jackstands and the no-slip installed, was both wheels supposed to spin in the same direction?
 
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