Mechanic from UCF!

I'm not sure about the tail light, but i think the headlight housings have some bolts that connect under the front bumper, so it may be the same in the back. You might want to try posting this over in this forum, which is more dedicated to this sort of thing:
http://priuschat.com/Care-Maintenance-and-...hooting-f6.html

 

Nice car. Did the Torsen come from the factory or did you have to install it yourself? At least you won't get wheel hop going around corners.

I had thought of putting a Torsen in my 1984 Ford F-150, which I keep at my hobby farm as a work truck and for plowing snow. It didn't seem that easy of an install. I put a Detroit Locker in the Dana front axle, and more recently a PowerTrax LockRite in the Ford 8.8 rear axle.

Your Camaro proves that a vehicle can be well engineered for a specific use with good fuel economy. A lot of that involves gearing, aerodynamics, and good fuel trims.

Not sure if you catched the "Mythbusters" epsiode where they tested fuel saving gadgets. They had what looked like a mid 1990's Toyota Camry 4 cylinder, and what looked like a 1981 Olds Cutlass Supreme, same as the Monte Carlo of that vintage, with small V8 and 2 bbl carb.

The old fashioned rear wheel drive Olds matched the Camry for fuel economy in their carefully instrumented tests. True, it put out far more emissions, but I still have a genuine fondness for older cars.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(UCFmechanic @ Mar 7 2007, 02:02 AM) [snapback]401470[/snapback]</div>

I did look into a Torsen for my Dana front axle, as they had them in '89 or so. Seemed to be a bit of a challenging install. If you're not aware, the Ford's with the "twin traction beam" Dana axle you needed a spreader to even get the case or R/P out of the housing.

The Torsen is MUCH more forgiving going around corners. Not sure if you have ever rode in a pickup with a Locker, the inside wheel will usually hop when you turn a sharp corner. You also get the sound effects "clickclickclickclick." A very durable design, but tiresome in city driving. That's why the truck stays out at the hobby farm.

I went with a new case for the Detroit Locker front, and surprise surprise, after I was done even the backlash and gear pattern was correct. The stars must have aligned or something, that took me almost a week. Had to remove the front and rear driveshafts, drop the transfer case, then the C6 auto (Had seepage from the rear main so did everything all at once, etc).

For snowplowing, with a lot of weight on the front axle, the Detroit Locker works just fine. If you have a rear axle that needs more traction, I highly recommend the PowerTrax LockRite. The design is extremely simple, you just remove the side and spider gears, put in the PowerTrax parts, 4 springs, then put the c-clips back in. You don't even touch the ring/pinion, so no dinking around with shims and backlash and gear pattern, etc.

From prying the sheet metal cover off, draining the gear oil, wiping everything down, removing the pinion shaft, c-clips, spider gears/side gears, to putting in the LockRite parts, new Mag Hytek cover, and refilling: 45 minutes. Yes, it's noisy in turns, and some folks don't like that, but very very easy to install.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(UCFmechanic @ Mar 7 2007, 02:02 AM) [snapback]401470[/snapback]</div>

IMHO the Ford 9 inch rear is highly overrated. The reason why a lot of hotrodders prefer a 9 inch or 8.8 rear is because the axle can be tucked up higher. The pinion gear is highly offset compared to a "normal" axle, like a Dana. For a long time, it was best to have them serviced at Ford dealerships, as only they had the proper GL-6 gear oil to prevent spalling of the pinion teeth due to such extreme offsets.

I got a 20 litre pail of Esso Gear Oil GX Extra, which still meets the now-obsolete GL-6 standard. I'm sure synthetic gear oils also meet that standard, but this pail should last my lifetime, and it cost under $50 Cdn.

The 9 inch is also an integral housing axle, like the Toyota pickups. So if you ever do have to monkey with servicing a locker or just an inspection, you have to pull the axle shafts, then remove +15 bolts, and pull the carrier off the axle. Is that design stronger? Well, sure.

There are also plenty of one ton pickups with Dana 70/80 axles, that have a regular sheet metal housing cover. They seem to live a long time.

If the 8.8 rear ever went in my Ford, or for that matter the "twin traction beam" Dana 44 front, I wouldn't even monkey with fixing them. A company called Dynatrac offers solid front axle conversions for the "twin traction beam" Ford front axles, which use a Dana 60 or Dana 80, if you really need the grunt. For under $3,000 I could replace my front axle, get a brand new Dana with factory Locker, and forever eliminate front tire wear issues that the twin traction beam axle is famous for.

Ditto the rear axle, if that 8.8 ever goes on me, I can order a brand new Dana 60 rear, factory Detroit Locker, my choice of gear ratio, etc.