[Fot] Broken Diffs

[Robert Lang]

Hi,
I broke a diff at Thompson back in October and I finally did a post-mortem. Looks like a couple of bolts backed out and when the shit hit the fan, the 4 or 5 that were still holding on sheared off. In any case, lots of metal bits in there. Some of the big pieces bounced around in the diff and there's some gouges in the Tran-X center section. The question to the group is - assuming that I find no cracks in the center section, it it accepted practice to clean off the dings to prevent stress risers and re-use it or is this a "tosser".
Speaking of Tran-X, does anyone sell those now or are we limited to Quaife and GKN? I see that Rimmer lists both of those units. To be honest, I'm not a fan of Quaife because I have to run the rear a lot softer to prevent wheel spin in the tight stuff - that kills my times at places like Thompson and Palmer (like 1.5 to 2 seconds a lap.) Speaking of GKN, I know nothing about them other than "clutch type differential". Feel free to chime in if you have experience with those units.

Also, I am nearly 100% certain that I was using new lock washers and Red Loctite high strength thread compound, so the bolts backing out was a total surprise when I cracked the case open. I was assuming that the pinion head had sheared off based on how the car felt when the diff broke. It was BANG and done - box full of neutrals.
Off topic - looks like I'm not driving at ButtonWillow, I got a reply from Joe Siam that he has nothing available for that date. Oh well. Look like my budget is going to gears and stuff anyway... ;-)
c ya,Bob Lang
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