The sub-frame arrived that I will use to mount the Mark VIII IRS unit.
I am still waiting on the housings to arrive. Unless something exciting happens, or we find out some new discovery on fitting an LSD to a gen II housing, I'll wait to post again until I make some good forward progress fitting the Mark VIII to the sub-frame.

 

Yer a mad man Joe. But if you pull this off....

 

I can't believe it HAS to be this difficult to fit a LSD. The car DOES really need it though. I fishtailed, more liked herked and jerked, a bit the other day in the wet with the wife on board and she didn't like it too much. I should experiment more with the traction control off I suppose.

 

It certainly does need it, but it DOES NOT have to be this difficult... just expensive...

Yup, the quaife is (mostly) a bolt-in affair, just have to pay to play.

 

What about the old saying "if you want to play like a sport you have to pay like one". It does seem like a lot of work.

 

Quaife all the way.

 

I took a big gulp and about had a heart attack when I started adding up how much I've spent so far, and how much more I will have to spend to finish building up my replacement sub-frame suspension assembly for my 2000 S-type LS3 conversion project. When all is assembled into the car, I am sure it will cost well over $5K in parts alone. Plus I feel like I have been purchasing parts at the lowest prices I can find.

The Quaife looks like a deal to me these days and a lot less work to put in my STR.

 

I'd 10-4 that Joe. Quaife it.

 

OK but as I understand it it's not quite a bolt in job so even if I want to purchase the parts I my local "read end specialist" might not be able to handle this.

As it happens I do have someone I've been using for about 15 years who's also an amateur racer. He did a conversion for my Q45 with a kit I bought so he might be able to do this but otherwise, do I have to send my rear end to the UK?

 

Hence why I said "mostly" a bolt-in affair, about the closest we will get to one on the STR without a doubt,

From what I understand, the interior casting of the case needs some minor clearancing/grinding to clear the diff,

I haven't done it myself, but from what I've read about it, this probably entails using a die grinder or milling machine to remove some material from the inside of the case,

I think a shop capable of doing a proper rear-end install and setup shouldn't be challenged by a bit of grinding to clearance things a bit,

Haven't done it myself though, but I can picture what's involved, so don't hold me to it.

 

Seth, Is this something our friend Eric at DTS could help with? We sent that rear diff to them maybe we could take up another pool to purchase a Quaife rear end and have Eric work on installing it on our test mule?

At least then we would know what we are looking at effort and price wise, plus we may still be able to gain some discounting if we got 5 or so guys to commit...

Just a thought...

 

It's an idea Chris. We'd either need a bunch of us or a few donate approx. $400 each? I'll call Eric and see if there is anything left to our test mule differential.

 

Left a message with Eric (DTS).

 

If that's the case and it DOES NOT involve precise milling and machining then that is great news.

Do we have verification of that?

So yes I think my guy could easily do this. He repairs all kinds of transmissions for a living and modifies the same and diffs for racing applications.

I'm not saying he'd be the cheapest or even the best but if we find out that it's a modification that works well (the very biggest unknown in all of this) then I'd just drop the car off for a couple of days have him do it and try it out.

I'd just like to know how it performs before committing.

I'm certain we all would because this is going to be about $4K or more installed?

I wonder if it's reversible in case the results are less than?

I'm not thinking about any ratio changes at all.

I don't think he's into the electronics enough to get involved with something like that but I've never asked.

 

Someone on here was sure that former member Mafioso had put a Quaife unit in his STR. Then it had a failure. Would like to know more about his situation.
Think he is long gone now, must of got tired of throwing money at his car.

 

$4k seems a bit steep,

What's the going price on a quaife... I figured it was about $1,400-2,000 for one, no?

Install/setup including machining shouldn't run more than a $1k imo,

I can't imagine anything less than a nigh-and-day difference over stock open diff with the quaife unit installed,

You certainly need to ask yourself how you drive and use the car in order to justify that kind of cost and upgrade,

For some (sedate) STR owners, an LSD upgrade would be of little perceptible benefit, while others, such as myself, who like to hoon around a little bit and cause unnecessary wear on the rear tires, the LSD is a highly desirable upgrade,

The question of course is cost,

The reason so many of us were on board for a possible DTS solution, was because a more conventional trac-loc for instance, would be around $1,000 installed, that's serious value,

With the cost of the quaife considered, it certainly turns a few of us off, me included.

If its as you say, a $4k proposition, I rather hold out and spend $5-6k for an avos twin-screw kit.

I just bought my first big ticket item for the STR, a set of forgestars, so I think I am done for this year at least, 2014 might be the year of twin-screw, so I just don't see myself budgeting in a quaife until at least 2015, assuming I even keep the STR that long,

I still have another car that is my long-term track toy that gets majority of my modding time and dollars, so STR is getting the mild and restrained approach.

 

We know it works because it has been done by TL Jaguar and the article published in Jaguar World Magazine.

 

That's nice but having someone you know install it, go through that process and then describe the driving changes means a bit more than a magazine article.

For us in the USA sending it to the UK is a show stopper because of the weight.

 

That's why I'm asking. I think someone has already figured out the cost of the unit?

Yeah about $1K tops to mod and install seems a decent upper limit but I'd have to ask my installer.

I just don't care for the lack of control the stock system offers. I haven't had a non LSD car in quite a while. This "approximation" is just too crude.

 

Mafioso had to return a few times to the installer to re-set up the shims on his Quaife, eventually the LSD failed. An expert installer is critical here. I'd suggest an expert installer or send diff. to DTS.