my 10 bolt has the spider gear setup inside and i always thought it was a limited slip, but recently i have read otherwise. is this rear of mine called an open rear? sometimes 1 wheel will spin other times both. some help.

 

if you are spinning both sometimes its a limited slip, an open end one will only burn one tire no matter what, jack it up and spin the tires to make sure

 

Not true. If you dump the clutch at high enough RPM you will get both tires to spin.

Anyway, both open diffs and limited slip diffs have spider gears. The spider gears are what is responsible for differentiating wheel speed around corners. They are what makes up the "differential" part of a differential. Rearends that don't have spider gears are usually spools are aren't really streetable. But as thirdgenlover suggested, you can jack up the rear so both tires are off the ground and spin one. If the other spins the oppsite way, then you have an open diff. If the both spin the same way: posi.

 

it will leave two marks

 

alright, when i jack the car, and spin 1 wheel the other spins the other way, so this means i have and open rear? i am kinda confused here. i know its not a posi because they usually have a clutch type diff not spider gears...

 

i should be a limited slip then, an open diff. is where you can spin one wheel and nothing happens to the other tire

 

 

if they turn in opposite directions, then its an open rear

 

If it looks like this inside, it's an open.

 

Open rearend; time for a lock-right or powertrax.

The beauty of these things is that you can pull them back out and use them on a different rear axle if you decide to change ratios or whatever.

Just be sure to upgrade to 28 spline axle shafts when you put it in...

 

i think you can still find the zexel units relatively cheap....

 

Speaking of powertrax, that's why I had to put my spider gears back in. This little tab broke off and jammed the one wheel open. Didn't have to drive far back home fortunately.

 

are the 28 spline axles the same diameter as the stock 26's or do i have to change all the bearings and seals?

 

I've just been using the lock right (truck style) locker and I haven't had that problem. The last thing I did was turn a driveshaft into a piece of torn licorice after some HD u-joints and new tires...

I wonder if the powertrax street model has "compromises" in it to quiet it down over the noisy ones that I use...

You can replace the 26 spline axles with the 28 spline axles if you change the side gears to match. You really should use the pinion gears and side gears as a set since they wear together.

It's not an issue if you use a lock-right because you chuck all of that stuff anyway. You might also think about aftermarket axle shafts while you're at it. Your puny little axle can last quite a long time with a locker and some good axles...