New Taylor Race Differential

[spoles]

Curious to see how testing has been going for anyone who purchased the new Taylor Race diff this year?

We were strongly considering it, but I was skeptical of the aluminum stub axles and also how narrow it is.

Have the splines and tripod housings held? And what are your axle lengths looking like compared to each other?

-Tom

[jlangholzj]

Our axle lengths are a-symmetric....right one's a little longer than the other. Havne't had any time to test it yet...but i mean c'mon! Its a taylor product......Don't think you're going to have to worry about quality.

[spoles]

How much longer is a little longer?

I was thinking of using the single sprocket version or whatever it's called but to line up the sprocket adapter with the transmission I would have had the right side axle 3-4 inches longer. I've seen that set up before and I know judges hate that.

And if you gun-drill your axles, what's the O.D. difference?

-Tom

[jlangholzj]

Originally posted by spoles:
How much longer is a little longer?

I was thinking of using the single sprocket version or whatever it's called but to line up the sprocket adapter with the transmission I would have had the right side axle 3-4 inches longer. I've seen that set up before and I know judges hate that.

And if you gun-drill your axles, what's the O.D. difference?

-Tom

I don't necessarily know if they "hate" it or not....but we made a decision and went with it based on the pro's/con's we could formulate. they're 3-4" longer in our geometry as well.

We've never touched the axles other than cutting grooves and drilling holes for the pins. Besides scotty's got the new style axles that are considerably larger ID than the old ones.

Could they be drilled out more? Maybe....am I willing to find that out at this time? Nope.

[spoles]

Anyone from Carnegie Mellon, I sent you a PM but feel free to reply here.

I saw the pic on your website did you swap out the aluminum stub axles with steel ones?

[cal_len1]

Correct me if i'm wrong Scotty, but the tulips on this one are steel because the aluminum ones were not ready for the release. If i remember correctly, for us one axle ended up being just under 3 in longer than the other.

We have had ours out testing a few times and it seems to work great. The only issue with the diff is that the seal on the endbells to the shaft is not terrific and it tends to seep fluid.

Callen Schmalz
SDSM&T FHR
Drivetrain Lead 2012-2013

[spoles]

Ah, that seems likely. Like I said before, I was skeptical of the design I saw at Lincoln last year. The steels ones I saw on Mellon's site looked like Taylor-machined ones.

Callen,
Is the seal O.D. a nice dimension; do you think it can be replaced by something on McMaster or similar site?

[cal_len1]

The design where the tulips are is much different than the old diff. On the small end of the Tulip it seats into a bearing inner race. Then below that, I don't remember if it was a seal or a bushing, but Scotty told me to put some silicon in there when the tulips were put on there for the final time. That seemed to help a bit, but it still does seep a bit of fluid. It is possible that I didn't get the surfaces clean enough so the silicon wont stick, but either way it is more of an annoyance than anything else.

Callen Schmalz
SDSM&T FHR
Drivetrain Lead 2012-2013

[spoles]

So what does the unit actually weigh now with steel stub axles instead of aluminum?

[cal_len1]

To be honest I didn't actually weigh it because I was in a hurry to get it on the car because we were behind. Unless someone else has weighed theirs and wants to chime in, I will let you know the next week when our car goes to paint.

Callen Schmalz
SDSM&T FHR
Drivetrain Lead 2012-2013