Gear diff in KD
 

Hi all,

at yesterday's welsh regional two of the guys running KDs ran into problems with their ball diffs.

Mine is on its third meeting & seems to be resisting slippage, but does feel gritty. And after building the car, and pitting opposite someone who had to get their diff out between rounds for a rebuild, I'm thinking that's not something I'd like to do under pressure.

Is anyone here running a KD with the optional gear diff? If I used a light enough oil, could I get a similar feel?

You are not alone I was wondering this myself. On my 4th rebuild

FOUR! I bet you've got it down to a fine art by now :lol:

It's frustrating because the engineering that went into that gearbox is astounding. It's a beautiful bit of CAD / CNC work. but after running a KF2 where the diff is accessible after undoing 4 screws, having to take the entire rear end apart is a nightmare. I can't believe they overlooked that.

A simple single removable width plate design at the rear could have mitigated these problems without compromising rigidity or the seal. It wouldn't have been pretty, but it would have meant being able to pop the diff out the back, horizontally, by popping out the driveshafts & undoing 4 screws.

My gear diff should be arriving today :)

are you sure you have no slip?
i did one set on my first run, fitted some new plates and the nitride balls and the car has done 4 meetings with still a smooth untouched diff

my first failure was too tight slipper and too loose diff

I've been running a gear diff in my KD for a while now. Very pleased with how it drives in the wet still. The ball diff might be slightly easier to drive but I have no issues turning equally quick lap times with the gear diff. I run 2000cst in mine.

Nearly a year on...
 

Hi Guys,

I have recently gotten a KD and I am getting problems with the ball diff. It seems to be impossible not to have it slipping. Don't know if i have done something wrong. I am considering going to a geared diff.

One of our junior members says he feels little difference with his. What are your thoughts?

I cured all my KD ball diff problems by selling it and buying a YZ-2 DT.

The ball diff in the KD is one of the worst I have ever seen. The plates were shot after 6 runs. Add that to the time it takes to get it out, and enough was enough for me.

The YZ-2 DT was immense on grass for me yesterday. The diff in it has done a about 15 runs and is still spot on.

Did you sell it on eBay? I may well
Be suffering with exactly the same diff. Haha.

:lol:

I think I sold it on here - with a fully re-kitted unused diff fitted (and a spare diff!).

Not that it matters.... the diff is so pathetic even a new one is junk.

The KC & KD really shredded my 4 year long Schumacher loyalty :rolleyes:

It also made another long-term Schumacher racer at my club switch brands.

I am going to persevere a little longer. I'll try rebuilding it again from complete strip down but i have also ordered a geared diff just incase. As usual the diff fails in a final. I can't understand how it is possible to slip when it is screwed all the way up? So maybe in my hurry, i have made a boo boo.

The diff plates aren't fit for purpose. They're too soft. You can set the tension at build & the wearing of them allows everything to slacken off. When I rebuilt it after a meeting you could quite clearly see the grooves in the rings. Once that groove forms you don't stand a chance.

I used to run my slipper on the loose side in the hope it would protect the diff but that was postponing the inevitable. Apparently there are harder plates available to team drivers to save embarrassment...

The latest diff plates are a harder plate (and have been in production under same part number for a good while) and make them longer lasting.

Built correctly and run in and set so the slipper slips before the diff, have seen mine last 3 or 4 meetings.