jus installed gears and a locker on my stock rearend. the powertrax locker makes a lot of noise and seems to be a lot of play in the rear. Is this normal?

 

Without driving it myself I can't say for sure, but the Lock Right does have more free movement than other differentials. They also make noise, but I don't know how much noise yours is making.

 

i had one in my old 10 bolt and it was a noisy clunky POS. Never liked it

 

The best thing I ever did with my Powertrax unit was the day I removed it and sold it to some poor slob on fleabay. I fell for the idea that they're an easy shortcut to having a posi unit since all you do is replace the spider gear setup in your existing, open style carrier. That thing clicked, clacked, and sometimes locked up halfway through a turn, which resulted in a very loud BANG, and the whole car jerking sideways! I replaced it with a good old Eaton clutch style posi, and the rearend works perfect now. Spins both tires every time, smooth and quiet in operation! The Powertrax is a great way to get 100% traction to both axles, so they're nice at the dragstrip, but having one in a daily driver is annoying and miserable.

 

I've got one in my work truck that I drive 54 miles every day. I've put about 130,000 miles on it and I haven't had much trouble out of it. Yea it pops from time to time, but not much. It clicks a lot in a slow hard turn, but I don't notice it much. It causes the truck to pull to one side or the other when under power, but I've got use to it. I have a Detroit Locker in my Camaro too, so I'm use to the way that lockers act. The Eaton Posi is a much smoother way to go, but when I get off road I don't want any slipage in the differential.

 

ok, yeah it does all the things you guys mentioned. jus wanted to make sure this was normal. i have a detroit trutrac in my truck, its quiet and effective, looks like im gonna have to spend some money and do it right haha

 

Yeah they're great for an off-road vehicle. I won't argue with you there. When they're locked it's just like having a spool. What annoys me is these places that push them on guys that have street/strip cars that see more use on the street than anywhere else, and they tell unsuspecting buyers that they're as good or better than the traditional posi unit. And yeah, as far as wear goes, I can't fault them there either. I had mine in my 69 Camaro 12 bolt for 12 years, and when I removed it, there wasn't hardly a blemish on any of the teeth. That zytanium is pretty hard stuff. When you mentioned the slow, hard turns, picture cruising your beautiful 69 Camaro downtown on a Friday night. When turning around in a parking lot to head back up the local cruising street, your car is jerking, clicking, and occasionally banging. Everyone turns their head your direction and thinks your car is some POS that's falling apart! It's also exciting when it's raining and it catches a tooth funny and locks up halfway through a turn in an intersection, and you have the back end of the car try to come around. I'm ok with some noises. I run a gear drive in the same car and love the sound, but a jerky, ratchety rearend isn't my cup of tea. I remember a guy telling me he thought maybe my alternator or power steering pump was going bad when he heard my gear drive sitting at a red light. That was too funny!

 

Yeah a Truetrac would work out really well.