No-Slip in 8.25 - C-clip fit problems?

[NN4S]

This is directed at anyone who's ever put a Powertrax No-Slip in an 8.25 with Trac-Lok case & 29 spline axles. I just finished up putting the new gears & locker in (thanks to Rawbrown for the great tech help!) after many setbacks with wrong parts and waiting for needed tools. Tonight I was finishing up with the locker install when I ran into a problem I haven't seen mentioned: the C-clips for the 29 spline axles wouldn't fit into the recess for them in the syncro spacer. Not only would they not fit, the passenger side has to be put in through a slot that required the C-clip be reshaped to fit through. :tear:

Has anyone else experienced this problem? The first locker that was sent to me had a 29 spline coupler (side gear) and a 27 spline one; the replacement had the correct couplers but all four of the paddle spacers were too small for the C-clips. Nothing a little time on the grinder couldn't fix, but definitely something that needs mention to benefit anyone considering one of these lockers... :doh:

 

[Kejtar]

Grind them just a tad That's what I had to do and I know couple others had to do it too.

 

[NN4S]

Grind them just a tad That's what I had to do and I know couple others had to do it too.

That's what I did; had to grind a bit more off the passenger side than the other but it's in and back on the road! You haven't had any trouble with the passenger side slipping out of the slot once in service? It looks like the pinion mate shaft will keep it from happening, but inquiring minds wanna know...

What little I've driven it so far, there's been none of the ratcheting & popping that the Lockrite exhibits. It behaves about the same as the Trac-lok did except for a little more backlash in the drivetrain. Not that there's any hard clunking or anything, just a little more delay between throttle & rear wheels with a soft "thunk" as the springs take up the slack. I think I'm gonna like it! arty:

 

[Kejtar]

That's what I did; had to grind a bit more off the passenger side than the other but it's in and back on the road! You haven't had any trouble with the passenger side slipping out of the slot once in service? It looks like the pinion mate shaft will keep it from happening, but inquiring minds wanna know...

What little I've driven it so far, there's been none of the ratcheting & popping that the Lockrite exhibits. It behaves about the same as the Trac-lok did except for a little more backlash in the drivetrain. Not that there's any hard clunking or anything, just a little more delay between throttle & rear wheels with a soft "thunk" as the springs take up the slack. I think I'm gonna like it! arty:

I don't think I ever heard of anyone having the c-clip falling out on the passenger side. And in regards to the behaviour, wait till you hit the trail: way better then the trac lok

 

[Danno]

I thought that they had FINALLY fixed the problem with the C-clips not fitting. :wow: I have installed three of these things and they all had to be slightly ground off to fit. No big deal really. My No-Slip broke three times. The last time the company went broke and was bought out by Richmond Gear as I recall. Of course they had no record of my unit. $$ down the porcelain fixture. I really liked the way it worked especially off road. I wasn't very happy with the robustness of the unit (lack there of). I had quite a long conversation with Moab Off Road about these type of units. They are VERY easy to install and if they had the reliability problem fixed they would be great. You have to grind off just enough to fit the clip into the groove in the unit. Do this BEFORE trying to install as it will be much easier. Trying to remove the C-clip can also be a bitch once it is installed. Sometimes spraying WD-40 up in there will help to dilute the diff oil and release it enough to fall out. I've never heard of any C-clips dropping out at least if you use the newer carrier pin. HTH, Danno

 

[Kejtar]

My No-Slip broke three times....I wasn't very happy with the robustness of the unit (lack there of).

How did it break??

 

[Danno]

Hi there Remi!
the unit has these rings with some little tabs that stick out and engage the unit itself. The No-Slip is different in that the rings with the tabs will rotate about 1/4 of a circle. That is what gives the No-Slip it's more easy road manners. You look at the design before installation and you will discover that ALL the torque going thru the axles is dependant on these little "tabs" staying in place. I eyeballed them real well before the original installation and, from an engineering standpoint, they seemed awfully small to be handling all that torque. If there was a way to keep all the parts in very close proximity together ...well then it wouldn't be so bad. Get ANY kind of wear and the spaces between will open up and then the tabs will start popping out of gear, so to speak. I was really disappointed cuz I reallly liked how it handled. Especially when the company went bust and lost my unit. I believe that the newer Aussie locker is about the same design. Oh well, I'm not dissing the No-Slip but pointing out my experiences with it. After the third breakage I went with OxTraxx and ARB. Kaching,kaching. gulp!

 

[Kejtar]

Cool, thanks for the info: now I will know what to look for on mine (just in case)

Hi there Remi!
the unit has these rings with some little tabs that stick out and engage the unit itself. The No-Slip is different in that the rings with the tabs will rotate about 1/4 of a circle. That is what gives the No-Slip it's more easy road manners. You look at the design before installation and you will discover that ALL the torque going thru the axles is dependant on these little "tabs" staying in place. I eyeballed them real well before the original installation and, from an engineering standpoint, they seemed awfully small to be handling all that torque. If there was a way to keep all the parts in very close proximity together ...well then it wouldn't be so bad. Get ANY kind of wear and the spaces between will open up and then the tabs will start popping out of gear, so to speak. I was really disappointed cuz I reallly liked how it handled. Especially when the company went bust and lost my unit. I believe that the newer Aussie locker is about the same design. Oh well, I'm not dissing the No-Slip but pointing out my experiences with it. After the third breakage I went with OxTraxx and ARB. Kaching,kaching. gulp!

 

[NN4S]

Yep, alway's good to know what to watch for! I guess the original design was fine with the 27 spline axles since the C-clips are smaller & they didn't see any reason to change it since anyone likely to be installing a locker is just going to look at the problem & do a little grinding to get around it. I just hadn't seen it mentioned anywhere else & wanted to make sure that it wasn't just my unit that needed the clips trimmed... Thanks!