Hello All,

I broke my diff spinning the tires. See pics.. Ugh!

It is a cutlass, bone stock not matching number, 350\350 with 273 gears with stock size 14's. It's a cruiser that I take regularly on highway and like to spin a burnout here and there..

So I have another cutlass rear end with 273's I can have swapped out or look at a POSI rebuild. Money is not really a major concern at this point. My fun is.. lol.. Couple of questions..

1. Does it make sense to upgrade to a posi with 323's? Will the make a "wow" factor around town without destroying the hwy drive?

2, KISS. Keep it Simple Stupid and replace with cutlass rear end with the 273's?

Thanks for any input..

 

If you were happy with the performance of the 2.73 and you drive on the highway stay with it. If you desire more acceleration then go to the 3.23. The 3.23 will rev higher at all times and cost more in fuel if that is an issue. The 3.23 is a good balanced choice for both city and highway.
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To the other end of the car that helps with burnouts....has the timing chain set been replaced?

 

Thank you! To be honest I'd like a little more acceleration... So the 3.23 us the sweet spot so to speak.

 

Bummer..

 

Thats a common open diff failure with excessive burnouts. The heat staining is a dead giveaway. The Achilles heal of the open diff is the pin and spider gears don't get much oil. Ordinarily this isn't an issue under normal driving conditions as the spider gears hardly turn at all. But when one wheel is stationary and the other is spinning 50 mph the spider gears are turning at enormous speeds with almost no oil.. massive amounts of heat is generated and significant damage happens quick. That pin is something I'd usually see in a teenager's car. Job well done!

I'd say at the very least put in a decent clutch type carrier and continue to beat the hell out of it!

 

LOL. Made me laugh!

 

If your rear is a NON-posi, and you have been spinning tires with it, that is the COMMON result. Live and learn. It's surprising that something else in your rear is not damaged (there may be unseen damage when it is opened up). A posi would cure this kind of damage.
Live and learn.