I was thinking of putting a minispool in my rearend but then people said I was going to be breaking axles left and right, any opinions?

 

i wouldn't do it in a 7.5" 10 bolt, cause they're only available for the 26spline axles. they say they're only good for dirt track cars for a reason. what happens is the inside tire wants to travel at the same speed as the outside tire and it puts a TON of stress on the axles, which is why a spooled car will "hop" around turns. they're a no-no for the street. i have one in my car and i tell ya what, i hate driving the car around town as far as practicality sake goes. (i still love the looks though!) mine likely won't break anytime soon though cause i have 31 splines inside a full spooled 9"

 

mw66nova is right putting a spool in a 7.5 10 bolt isn't a good idea, thats just asking for trouble. I put a spool in my 12 bolt last year and I like it. Spools are annoying on the street with radials but with E/T streets it isn't bad at all.

 

With a 10 bolt it isn't made to handle the stress at all.

With something like a 9" with 35 spline axles a full spool not a minispool isn't really noticeable in my camaro with ET streets on there. Now with street tires with a stiff radial it'll want to shimmy around turns.

 

I plan on putting it in a 9" not my 10 bolt. I dont even want to invest money into the 10 bolt because I know it'll break.

 

Since you are talking about a 9", with driving on slicks it'll be fine since the sidewall has some give. On drag radials it'll want to hop and breaking an axle "could" be a possibility.

 

I was planning on ET streets. The car isnt going to be driven on the streets much though, just on the weekends and to shows.

 

I have been driving my car with a spool and drag radials for the past 7 years with no issues. I agree with your statement that it "could" be an issue 100% though! My car very rarely hops when turning,although some of my friends cars hop alot around turns with radials and a spool.

 

Same opinion here, and i've seen the aftermath of mini spools with cheap buddies that have tried them on their street strip cars, it snaps the axles, typically right at the point they enter the mini spool. BUT these were stock 9" axels, not aftermarket ones since like i said, they were cheap. If your going throug the trouble, a full spool is not much more so IMO it's not really even a choice, go with the full spool.

I've driven the snot outta mine on the street for the past 5 years and the confindence knowing BOTH tires will always be hooking at the track as opposed to a posi suddenly going out when money is on the line is well worth it IMO. Drawbacks I noticed right away...car wants to push badly going through a sharp 90* turn, first road trip that took me by suprise since i was'nt used to or prepared for it. Trying to push the car around, if there ae any turns you have to make...have a bunch of buddies around, or a jack to get the rear end off the ground...these spools make the cars very stiff to try and push...we've towed my car from my grandpa's house to my mothers house to store when i lost an engine, and even with no engine/tranny in the car when it came time to turn into the driveway, it stopped his 17hp lawn tractor in it's tracks.

Once you get used to the new attitude the car has, it's a very worth while upgrade imo for a car that's mainly used at the drag strip as a tool to win cash, and the little headache of oversteer on the street is a worth while trade off.

 

Thank you for the input guys. I asked a few other places and all I got was crap from people and pictures of stuff gone wrong. People who never tried it but talking bad about it. I am willing to sacrafice a little on the street to be better at the track.

 

Whats the diffrence between a spool and a locker?

 

lockers are tougher to drive on the street IMO in cars. When they engage/disengage sometimes the car will want to change lanes on its own, this is my experience from my buddies trans am that I drove. They clunk very loudly going around turns, as long as you're off the gas pedal it'll disengage but if you're applying torque to the locker then it'll stay locked around the turn just like a spool. I'd rather have a spool if chosing between the two.

 

Everyone on another site keeps telling me locker over a spool so I was curious what it did. Is it really worth going to a locker for "safety" reasons?

 

So long as you go with aftermarket axels, in the 31 spline range, your going to be fine unless your going to make this car an almost daily driver, if your going to drive it alot daily, or most days of the week, going with a fresh posi unit would be your best bet, they will last a long time before clutches start getting worn and the posi stops working, the spools are alot cheaper than a locker, and there is never a doubt that both tires are getting the same power, ever...you'll notice alot of guys with posi, depending on how tight the turn from staging into the burnout box is, actually back straight up and then pull back ahead, this is done to be sure the posi locks itself back up since it tends to stay unlocked from the turn into water box and you'll get a one wheel peel for lack of better terms.

Base on price, and overall function I'd lean more towards a full spool (steel) for a car that is usesd for any type of serious racing when money is on the line, but if your a go to the track for fun to clean out the cob webs kinda guy, defiantely stick with a run of the mill posi unit (new) and you'll get yrs of service from it.

We run a detroit locker (purchased new) in the S10 I run also, and i personally can tell you that we've had a few times only one tire was turning....so take that for what it's worth

 

I say go with the spool also much lighter than any posi or locker and always works. Like every one else stated use good axels 31 count or higher. With all that said I can tell you I have owned a detroit locker for around 12 years in my car and it has NEVER FAILED !! I have been 9.70s with it I also have the stock case. But I will be putting a spool and a good case in very soon. The detroit is very heavy unit and to me if you are trying to go fast the last thing you want is dead weight especially rotating weight.

 

A mini spool with stock axles is dangerous and you WILL break axles. If you can find a mini spool to fit some decent axles, then it'll add a little cushion, but if you launch hard enough (slicks or a manual tranny) you will destroy that 10 bolt pretty quick.

Driving a spooled rearend on the street takes some getting used to, but it's not bad at all once you get the hang of it. I locker can be tough to drive on the street because of the inconsistant "locking" when you are going around a curve.

 

I have a 7.5 with a 31 spline count that I have a mini spool in now. Got it from Summitt.

 

7.5 with 31 spline? I find that hard to believe. It will be 26 or 28 spline. What's the Summit part number?

 

I havent seen a minispool for a 31 spline either... I'm curious on a part number.

I have a 9" thats going in and plan on ordering the spool and 4.30's soon.

 

I am sorry I meant to say a 28 splnd not the 31. Part # MGR-MS75-28 which does make it a 28 spline 7.5 it was late when I posted it. I only paid 89.95 for it. We plan on only using the car for drag racing anyways.

 

I rode with a mini spool in my 9" for many years, street/strip, 10s/9's
until recently it broke center pin last year, it had started by elongating the hole in the mini giving enough room then it broke. But it lasted a good 10-11 years like that. But full spool is much lighter and easier not to mention safer.

 

I just got both a locker and spool from Moser and the locker maybe 5 or 6 lbs more.
My vote is for the locker.

Jerry