Rp Differential Fluid for 2010 Camaro Ss Review
Engineering science has given late-model musculus cars like the vth Gen Camaro unprecedented admission to bolt-on horsepower. Unfortunately afterwards discovering just how like shooting fish in a barrel it is to add gobs of rear-bike-horsepower many enthusiasts also discover how quickly the OEM limited-sideslip differential's ability to transfer torque can be surpassed. It's about so that an age-old racers axiom is rediscovered; "The only power that really matters is the power you can get to the basis," or put some other way – "Spinning own't winning."
Luckily there are already a few performance differential options for powerful tardily models that see regular racing duty and need to use that horsepower and torque to get the car moving in a hurry. In fact, Eaton has even taken their respected Detroit Truetrac and adapted information technology for use in the new Camaros, and offers a great balance of streetability and hardcore performance. Follow along with the states as nosotros review the technical details of the 5thursday Gen Detroit Truetrac, and install one (Part #912A686) in a street/strip LS3 powered 2010 Camaro SS.
The Eaton Detroit Truetrac has been used in everything from daily drivers and off-road machines, to drag strip heroes and route course dominators. Now its fourth dimension-proven design is available for utilise in the fifth Gen Camaro.
Virtually The Eaton Detroit Truetrac For 5th Gen Camaros
Because of the Truetrac'due south immovability and versatility, you'll notice it used in all different types of racing and high functioning applications." -Barney Bwozdz, Eaton
The Detroit Truetrac is actually nothing new. Its time-proven operation has been the aforementioned for decades, but has been steadily refined past the engineers at Eaton as new engineering science has immune. "The vth gen Truetrac is essentially the same internally as what you might find installed in a 12-bolt in a '69 Camaro running at the drag strip," says Eaton'due south Barney Gwozdz. "This is just the design specific to the envelope GM gave united states with the fivethursday gen Camaro's differential."
Instead of using clutch packs like a typical limited-slip differential, the Truetrac uses a helical gear design to transfer the engine's torque equally to both wheels, or to the wheel with the most traction should tire spin occur. "The Truetrac has the power to transfer up to seventy% of the torque load to the bike that has the most traction," says Gwozdz. "Permit's say you accept i rear bike on wet grass, and the other on dry physical and you rev up the engine and sidestep the clutch. Manifestly there is zip rolling resistance on the tire in the grass and information technology is simply going to spin. However, considering of the Truetrac'southward biasing capabilities it will transport 70% of the torque to the wheel on the concrete and move the auto forwards."
The Truetrac uses a helical gear pattern to perform its express slip functions rather than clutches.
Inside the Truetrac are three sets of interlocking pinion gears that span from one main axle gear to the other. The gears volition be completely locked up when both tires have the same corporeality of traction, but volition nevertheless seamlessly let the outside cycle to spin faster equally the automobile goes through a turn on the street or a road class. No popping, clunking, or jerking. Bank check out the video beneath for a visualization of how the Truetrac'due south helical gears operate.
The Truetrac is at home on the street, but information technology is congenital durable for racing. "What we try to do is add as many pinion gears as nosotros tin inside the envelope we have been given to piece of work with," says Gwozdz. "The more pinion gears you accept, the meliorate they can dissipate the torque load. The 5th gen Camaro Truetrac is a three-pinion design so it's very heavy-duty." Eaton continues the heavy-duty blueprint on the exterior of the Truetrac as well. They wrap the helical gears in a rigid steel instance, rather than a typical sand-casting to ensure that everything stays together fifty-fifty nether the rigors of racing.
Hither's a side-by-side comparison of the fifth gen Truetrac (left) and and a '69 Camaro 12-bolt Truetrac (right). They are very similar other than size, which is specific to each awarding. Also notice the hole in the case of the 12-commodities Truetrac for access to the beam c-clips.
fifth Gen Specifics
5th Gen Camaro Eaton Detroit Truetrac
- Three Pinion Helical Gear Design
- Durable Hardened Steel Case
- Works with Stock or Aftermarket 31-Spline Axles
- Locks Wheels Together in Straight Line
- Automatically Transfers upward to 70% of Torque to Cycle with the Most Traction
- Street Friendly and Quiet Operation
- Uses Standard Gear Oil (No Synthetic or Additives)
Eaton did have to make a few small changes to accommodate the time-tested Truetrac to the new Camaro'due south contained rear suspension. "The agility and articulation immune by the new IRS is keen, just it did have some special considerations in our design," Gwozdz tells us. "For example, the pilot on the axle shaft as it enters the differential'south bearing journal is unique. So we had to make our ain provisions to pilot the half-shaft into the Truetrac."
The fiveth gen Truetrac is designed to work with stock and aftermarket 32-spline rear axles, and volition likewise accept any 218-milimeter band and pinion set with the same flange height equally the stock gear set.
Another unique consideration for the new Camaro is that information technology does not use constructed gear oil like the stock differential, or any kind of friction modifier or additive for that thing. The reason for this might seem strange, but synthetics gear oil and friction modifiers are actually likewise slippery for the pinion gears in the Truetrac. They demand a small amount of resistance to bite together properly, so Eaton designed the Truetrac to work with plain 'ol conventional 80W-90 gear oil.
The Test Auto: Street and Strip 2010 LS3 Camaro SS
The Truetrac is a perfect match for Jose Lugo's powerful daily driven street/strip Camaro SS considering of its balance of no-slip traction and shine operation.
Our test machine might expect familiar to those of you who frequent our site on a regular basis; that's because it's Jose Lugo'southward street and strip animate being dubbed "Killer Bee". The Camaro is a 2SS/RS with an LS3 that has been treated to Doug Thorley long tube headers, an Airaid MXP cold air intake, and a COMP camshaft to really wake things upwards. The cam specs in at 227/239 elapsing, .629/.623 lift, with a 114 LSA, and the whole combo puts downward a very respectable 475 horsepower and 430 pound feet of torque to the rear wheels.
The Camaro sees a lot of drag strip duty in addition to serving as Lugo's daily commuter, and has run as quick as 12.31 at 115 MPH on drag radials. In the search for a twelve-flat timeslip, Lugo opted to have the guys at key Texas' Easy Operation install the Detroit Truetrac along with a fix of 1LE Camaro 3.91 gears and BMR's polyurethane differential housing bushings while they were at it.
The Install Sequence
We'll be honest with you. Installing a differential and gear prepare in a fiveth Gen Camaro isn't really a job for the average at-home DIY'er, unless y'all already have a lot of experience in the arena. It's a job that takes a lot of special tools, lots of time, and lots of know-how. Some jobs are best left to the pros. That having been said, here are the basics of the install sequence.
Getting the rear differential case out of the Camaro'south independent rear suspension requires removing a lot of parts - including the exhaust, rear control arms, axles, and driveshaft.
The disassembly started with letting the unequal fluid drain while removing or unbolting numerous components under the machine including the wheels, exhaust, driveshaft, and rear command arms. The rear axles were removed past unbolting the outer retaining nut, and pulling the splined end out of the hub while pushing up on the rear interruption links. From at that place the axles were popped out the sides of the housing with some moderate pressure from a pry bar. With the axles out of the way, the 3 bolts that hold the diff housing to the car were removed and the associates was easily lowered out of the car.
Nosotros allow the diff fluid drain while we disconnected the rear control arms and half-shafts.
With the diff housing on the workbench the rear cover was taken off, and the differential side begetting caps were unbolted. Now, nosotros should note that the mill service manual calls for the use of a case spreader to remove and install the differential in the aluminum housing, but we found that some pressure from a pry bar was simply enough to get the differential in and out of the case throughout the install.
After everything was out of the style we removed the three mounting bolts that hold the housing, dropped out the housing, and headed to the work bench for the rest of the install.
Getting It Together
To start the reassembly, the new 1LE ring gear was bolted on the Truetrac. The ring gear does have a slight interference fit, but ultimately information technology slid right on the carrier after a little heat was practical with a torch. The ring gear bolts were and so tightened to 89 foot-pounds in a crisscross pattern.
Getting the differential in and out of the example required some gentle persuasion from a pry bar. We got the ring gear on the Truetrac with a lilliputian estrus and a few taps from a condom mallet, and tightened everything up.
The shop press became our new all-time friend during the class of this install…
The get-go trip to the store's hydraulic printing started with popping out the stock pinion from the case, and removing the bearings to get access to the stock shim stack which would exist used as the starting signal for the new pinion. The carrier and pinion bearings were besides pressed on before the pinion was dropped in the instance and the pinion yoke pressed dorsum on.
When the Truetrac went back in the case, the stock carrier shims were reused in hopes that luck might be on our side. The backlash measured out at 0.009", which equally hard as it might be to believe was likewise loose. The pattern besides revealed that the carrier needed shimmed to the left and that the pinion had too much shim. And then the Truetrac was pried back out and the case was taken back to the press to pop the pinion out and to get the bearings back off.
Information technology took us two total rounds of shimming the pinion, checking preload, and testing backlash, but when all is said and done we concluded up with a very good pattern.
The second circular was much more fruitful. With the shorter pinion shim and shifted carrier shims the backlash measured out at the factory spec of 0.007". Thee gear pattern was likewise right on for both sides of the ring gear – Score one for the good guys .The unequal assembly was buttoned up for the final time past torquing the side bearing caps to 77 pound feet and the cover bolts to 41 pound feet before reinstalling the diff example back under the Camaro and refilling it with regular 80W-ninety gear oil.
With all our tests landing within spec we buttoned up the unequal housing and bolted it back in the car. Washed and done.
Driving Impressions: on the Street and at the Strip
Then far, the Truetrac acts just like the stock differential on the street – but expressionless hooks [at the track]…" -Jose Lugo
Lugo drove the Camaro on the street as he normally would for virtually 500 miles, making sure to take his time so everything would be dainty and broken in. "So far the Truetrac acts just like the stock differential on the street," Lugo tells us. "There aren't any weird noises, clunks or pops. The machine does accelerate much better in offset gear with the 3.91s, and the RPM has only jumped up by a few hundred in 6th gear on the highway."
Nosotros're happy to written report that the skillful results from the 5th Gen Eaton Detroit Truetrac haven't just been limited to its street manners. On his outset trip to the drag strip later the Truetrac/gears/bushings install Lugo was able to better Killer Bee's previous best of 12.31 by almost iii tenths, running a 12.06 at 115 MPH! "The Camaro dead hooks with the Truetrac. The divergence is like night and mean solar day from the stock differential," he tells us. "My threescore foot time as well improved from 1.95 to 1.90 thanks to the Truetrac and 3.91 gears."
Source: https://www.lsxmag.com/tech-stories/drivetrain/install-and-review-eaton-detroit-truetrac-for-the-5th-gen-camaro-ss/