Quaife ATB in Ford diff?

[Neil Backwith]

Hi all.  Years ago I ran a supersprint with a quaife ATB in the sierra diff.  Quiet, smooth and effective.  Now I have just returned to the fold with a Roadsport 150 (3000m).  It has the Ford open diff but is noisy as hell, clunky, lots of backlash/shunt/chatter (at lower speeds/revs).

Would fitting a Quaife ATB solve any/all of these problems?  Is there a better solution?

[OldAndrewE]

No experience of these and I am sure those who have will correct me if I am wrong but it sounds to me as if a lot of your issues will be solved by getting what you have set up correctly.  I don't think a standard Ford diff should be that bad

[Tazio]

Yes it can be,  best prices for the ATB are Burtons, then get Phill/Ollie at Road and Race to fit it, and they'll sort out any other issues the diff may have.

[ECR]

THE Neil Backwith ?

[Amos91]

I've got a Ford diff with a Quaife and there is plenty of backlash etc exactly as you describe. 

[cwej2]

I've actually just replaced the Quaife ATB from my CSR with a Tracsport, so the Quaife and its Ford casing will be up for grabs soon (when I get the car back from Premier Power) if you're interested. It was silent and smooth in the CSR.

[DerekH]

What's the ratio please?

DerekH

[cwej2]

Hi Derek. Its a 3.6 (I have now changed to a 3.9)

[East Kent AR]

Hello Neil

Welcome back and so pleased you have bought another one. Hope Lizzy is well too.

We stayed with Crispin last week. He has moved to near Pershore, although you probably may know that.

Regards from Kent

 

Piers and Imelda

[DerekH]

That's what my friend is looking for. 
How much?

DerekH

[Dan R]

PM sent.  

[p.mole1]

I think a lot of the noise issues are caused by either a poorly set up diff or contact between the diff and the frame. You need to be careful when centering the diff and using the packing washers so that you do not get any metal to metal contact. My original diff was quiet as a church mouse so when I changed my engine and fitted a different ratio diff I was a bit concerned I would end up with noise.

I fitted a Quaiff diff myself but you need a few tools, a dial gauge, engineers blue, torque wrench, dremel, wife's oven and freezer also the tool for removing the output shaft bearing covers. This was the most difficult job as the were siezed solid.

No matter how many times I tried I could not get the Quaiff diff back in the housing, you need a Dremel to grind away part of the casing to allow the now larger Quiaff diff to be re-fitted. Pre- loading the diff bearings was a leap of faith as the Ford manual is a bit vague about pre-load, but centering and back lash was straight forward.

If you check on the blog site, I uploaded some photo's if that helps   

[p.mole1]

I could have sworn I posted some photos but I can't find them

[p.mole1]

Ok It wasn't engineers blue it was some sort of yellow paint for tooth contact patch. The reason I went for Quaiff rather than a LSD were 1 Burtons were selling them for an absolute bargin and 2 as I would be using the car on the road I did want the issue of constant maintenance and noise.

If you have been to a track day just listen to the front wheel drive cars with a LSD fitted they sound awful banging and knocking.

If you intend to do any form of motorsport or serious track days and you have a very powerful car you don't really have an option you need a LSD.

You don't need one for the road  and to be quite honest I did loads of track days on an open diff without any problems. It was only when I got the engine to over 190bhp I found it was loosing traction on the inside wheel and the Quaiff has rectified that.

Has it made me any quicker, probably not is the car more fun? a little bit better for a fraction of the time.

The thing about track days are the are non competitive and they are just for fun, although you wouldn't think it once most people have ignored the briefing then set off in competition  cars and drive as if they are in a race