GEAR diff or BALL diff ?
 

GEAR diff or BALL diff ?
Which one is better ?
Under what conditions is one better or worse then the other ?

I've heard so many conflicting onions at the track last couple weeks...
"They finally figured out Gear diffs now, and all the pros use them"
"Ball diffs are less drag , you only want to use Gear diffs on carpet with mod motor"

I'm so confused....

Seems like preference to me...I like 2 gear diffs, but that may be the way I drive. I have had a fast guy tell me he's always faster with a spool and ball diff, but he said he's driving hard enough to pick tires up and the gear diffs unload on him. At the same time, one of the local fast guy's car looks like a 1/12 on rubber tires on asphalt and he has 2 gear diffs. ???:weird:???

You might just have to try it and see if you like it.

I do prefer the way my car drives with a ball diff but it only last a few races before it feels rough, probably the way I build/run it so I use a gear diff just because it's pretty much maintenance free.

If I could build a ball diff well that lasts I'd use that :p

I like the feel of a gear diff in the front, it's possible to adjust the viscosity of the oil which is impossible with a spool :P Try it out, everyone say different about what's the best choice :)

For me, a geardiff in the front have always been slower so far. The car is a lot easier to drive, and can hide poor handling. With my previous Xray, I made a (quite big) mistake during a routine clean of the car, making the handling very uneven. I couldn't feel a thing with the geardiff in the front, but when I tried putting in the spool again, I could immediately feel that something was wrong.

The next couple of days I will spent on testing the geardiff in the front on asphalt. All my tests so far have been on carpet.

Charles, testing at CAL, with less traction conditions, the gear diffs had less rear traction than the ball diffs did. It seems the gear diff marvel at high traction situations like carpet, but less grip tracks like P-Lot tracks, the ball diffs work much better in our testing.

So basically there is no advantage using a Gear diff on most asphalt surfaces... except maybe to make the car easier to drive , but not faster...

My feeling is that a gear diff in the back gives you more on power steering on high traction surfaces. On low traction the car can be loose or light up the inside wheel.

At the RROC this year the biggest single improvement I made to my car was installing a gear diff in the front. I used cleaning putty so it was very tight which I don't think you could duplicate with fluid. Hebert, Levanen and I used this setup. Not only was the car easier to drive, but it was faster. This took me from a guy just off the pace to a contender.

FYI easier to drive makes you faster even if the lap times are not faster. Fewer mistakes will be made and your overall time will improve.

Let's not forget a gear diff can be tuned using different oil weight.

http://www.spec-r.com/default/images...my_install.jpg

Geardiff for sure...

well I'm not sure it faster ,but it is quicker than the ball diff because the gear diff doesn't slip ;)

I ran with the gear diff in the front and sure make it's easy to drive but not faster than spool ..Some how the spool can break down the speed into the corner better than gear diff...( unless you put puddy in the front gear diff..)

I vote for Gear in the rear only..my 02 cent

There are definitely an advantages Charles. For one, you get much better turn in with a gear diff up front. You couldn't do that too easily with a Spool set up. And tuning plays a factor as well with the different oils, etc. Again, the disadvantage to the gear diff is running in less traction situations where you just can't STAB the throttle with our spinning out. It is different for everyone..i like running a gear diff up front but not in the rear. Reinhardt ran DOUBLE diffs at the Reedy race..but then again...he can run double spool and still lap me.

..he can run double spool and still lap me.[/QUOTE]

that's funny....:cool:

Can you give some details about what cleaning putty is and where I might be able to find some. I'm pretty dirty and might be able to use some cleaning putty. Seriously, I would love to try some in my diff.

This is the stuff he means and you can buy them at Kamikaze Hobbies.

http://www.tqhobbies.com/tqhobbies/i.../XCE103233.jpg

KAMIKAZE HOBBIES