Well - she's all installed and car's a hoot. Stuck with the 300LS 75W90 and will change it to 80W140 in 6months time and see what difference there is.
Took it for a run this afternoon around some of my local side strips and let er rip.

I must say some launch advice (I think it was 32Krazy..thanks) has been a treat,
...but this time it seemed so much more stable and very little chirp.....brilliant!

 

I want to thank all the Crossfire Forum members who enabled this group buy. Your hard work and diligence has made this Wavetrac available still today.

I took me 3 days to read through all the posts in this thread. I learned a lot. I have a 2002 SLK32 with the old style axles. I called Devin, at Unitrax, in Anaheim, and made an appointment to get the LSD installed.

I drove down to Unitrax in November of 2013 and had it installed. I can tell you it has made a huge difference in the car's performance. I am happy.

Has anyone here ever mashed the gas, like when entering a freeway, and had the Traction Control shut it all down? I have and it is not a good experience. That does not happen now. I have predictable acceleration with the ESP on or off.

A word on gear oil from the paperwork given to me by Unitrax:
Autotech Driveline recommends Motul brad performance gear oils:
Motul Gear 300 75w90 (100118 1)
Motul Gear Competition (101161 1)

I highly recommend Devin at Unitrax in Anaheim.

Again, thanks to the Crossfire Forum for making this LSD possible. Also, thanks for the performance enthusiasm that made my after-market power enhancements possible.

 

Is there a shop in the Washington DC area that is qualified to do this install?

 

I was just going to ship a housing to NeedsWings

 

Da55id

Here is a link to Wavetrac's dealer list.
Wavetrac® Differentials - Dealers

I like the idea of having one good shop do it all. Unitrax gave me a price of $1805 over the phone. He told me that the Mercedes carrier bearings could almost always be reused, if not the price would go up by the cost of new bearings. The final price was as quoted.

Let us know how it goes

 

Wish you guys were closer to Indiana. If no bearings needed....$500 to install....

 

I want to do the 3.27 swap at the same time.

I figure buying a N/A pumpkin and a SRT6 yoke, the wavetrac and ship it all to NeedsWings?

Then once I get it back I can ship the TCU to someone who does that...

 

It makes a world of difference in how the car handles. I love the wavetracs. Not got into the gear change TCU just yet, but we are going that route soon... Can't get in the mood to work with just the left arm and cold weather...but come March, we will tear into it again...and get it all figured out so I can run in April.

 

Here is a great post by Techevo over at an Evo forum. He expertly answers a lot LSD of questions. It is post #40.

Wavetrac vs Quaife - Page 2

 

thanks very much for that info!

 

I'd love to visit Indiana this Spring, but I've just spent about $3k getting the srt6 roadster into better than new condition, so it may be as much as a year before I do this for another appx $2,000...gotta let the cash drawer refill a bit :-) If anyone decides to sell their good-as-new Wavetrac in the meantime, I'll be on the lookout. In the meantime next week we do a paint/ding/smudge/scuff exorcism and the following week install the new-to-me Needswings CAI plus retune. I just keep liking the car more and more!

 

That info is bullshit. Exactly why I went with a wavetrac. You want consistent handling, the last thing you need is loss of traction. That is why I never liked an open diff. It may stay hooked, it may not. I don't round track, but I am sure those that do, would want to still be accelerating out of a turn, whether both or one wheel is on the ground.

 

2qtr next year is fine with my budget schedule!!!

 

With sincere respect, to what bull excrement are you referring? Perhaps someone else's post? I am indeed looking to solve the open diff problem with Wavetrac.

 

Sorry man. Neoprobity's link to wavetrac vs quaif . I wouldn't want anyone thinking that is a good assumption. I linked to the wrong quote. You read that thread over there and wonder what the hell they are thinking.... buy the wavetrac.

 

Cool. I definitely want to! Thanks for all your posts which have definitely helped me.

What I read from the Quaife vs wtrac link at post number 40 was that wtrac was vastly superior...so it's good all around.

 

What would not be a good assumption? Techevo said the Wavetec is all the Quaife is, and more.

From Techevo's post:

I've used Quaife, Wavetrak and full Motorsport plated diffs on various cars, road and track, over the years. I've had problems with loss of traction after changes in suspension setup, where before the mods, the Quaife worked perfectly, and once changed to a stiffer setup, it was just hopeless, loosing traction very easily.

The ultimate mechanical LSD is a plated one. These can give a very high percentage lock-up depending on the number of plates, ramp angle and plate area. Pre-load adjustments can also be made to tweak the diff depending on application, tarmac, gravel etc. The downside is they are noisy, difficult to setup correctly and require maintenance due to wear. The positives are they give great traction thus the choice for hardcore road and track cars.

This is the whole reason the Wavetrak was developed. It combines the maintenance free and quiet operation of the Quaife, but still gives great traction if one wheel looses complete grip. It does this because when one wheel looses traction, the plated part of the diff activates, whereas normally the helical torsen part gives lock-up as per the Quaife. The reason the plates don't wear out is because they are only 'used' for a small percentage of the time.

So, a Quaife is a great diff if used on a road going car or a track car with decent suspension droop and not too stiff anti-roll bars. On a hardcore setup where one wheel can have a complete loss of grip they do not work.

 

guess I didn't read far enough into that thread. I didn't see that part of it.. I would agree with that statement, but there were other statements in there that make me wonder. It doesn't matter to me what they run in their cars. I came out of the old muscle car era. I am a stickler for what is proven. I have ran limited slip rears ends in just about every car I have owned that was a performance based car, and I hated the open diff. Damn near sold them both before Wavetrac came along. You need consistent lock up whether drag racing or cornering. Anything that can't deliver that is just ......period.

 

When I bought Wavetrac over the Quaiffe it was a coin flip. I am now very thankful I went with the Wavetrac.

Google Quaiffe broken half-shaft. These forum posters seem to think the half-shaft broke and destroyed their Quaiffe. I am thinking it was the other way around... extreme driving caused a wheel to lift. The Quaiffe can't bias the torque. All the rotational energy is transferred to the spinning wheel. That energy tries to propel the car forward when the wheel hits the ground. It can't. The half-shaft to that wheel breaks. Then the Quaiffe fails catastrophically. It is cause and effect.

I think with the Wavetrac under the same condtions, instead of diverting all power to the spinning wheel, it locks. Rotational energy is divided between both wheels. The speed of the spinning wheel is near matching the vehicle speed when it touches down. There it is. No failure observed.

Quaffie groupies talk about how quiet theirs are compared to Wavetrac... none of that nasty thumping. Agreed. But, maybe, just maybe, that thump you hear is the Wavetrac saving your ***. Did you expect the Wavetrack could control that much torque trying to divert to the spinning wheel instantly and do it quietly? I choose instant and can live with the thumping sound.

Would I be off base if I described the Wavetrac as a torque-biasing differential with the ability to lock-up under zero-load conditions?

That's my theory. Any thoughts? Anyone?

 

well, I've had the Wavetrac for several months now, and, in an srt6, it is the best mod of all. If you are considering mods, consider doing this first, then the other cool stuff. I know it's pricey. It's worth every penny and more