Ball Diff dex 210 !!!
 

Hi guys, having trouble with the ball diff which ive heard everyone has had (put gear diff in straight away when kit was bought) and im no stranger to building a diff as raced TC for 7 years....so far i have spent 5 hours trying to set and build this durango ball diff and everytime it either locks up on the diff outputs and slips on the gear or it just slips regardless when i try n break the diff in....so far i have changed

Circlips
Thrust race
Diff screw/sprin and t-nut

Anyone able to help as really loosing faith as really want to run a ball diff

Cheers

Have you tryed following the ball diff build tips on the Durango site.

http://www.team-durango.com/blog/201...ild-guide-pt1/

They run through how to completely build the diff start to finish.

I havn't really had any issues with my diff. It was built 11 months ago raced at min of once week and I have only ever rebuilt it once and all I did was spin the plates over.

Hi yes I have over and over and watched the videos aswell and still won't work as I get to the point where it all feels right...put it in the car in mm4 config with diff screw on spur gear side and it then just locks up but still spinning on the gear....I'm wondering if there's a defect on both the out drives

when i had one i too had problems with the diff during the build and i was told to replace the circlip which i did and everything was fine afterwards. My car was from the first batch so the problem may have been sorted with newer kits? im sure someone will confirm either way! :)

i was hoping it was the circlips aswell but ive now put 3 new ones in and still wont work :cry:

How To Properly Build And Break In a Ball Differential and Slipper Clutch
 

Could this be of any help to you ?

RCTech-How To Properly Build And Break In a Ball Differential and Slipper Clutch

Hi

What are you using to fit the circlips ? It's very important that you use he correct tool to avoid straining the clip. I would advise checking the groove in the outdrive where the circlip locates for burrs or defects. You also need to identify the difference between the flat and slightly rounded side of the circlip. The flat side needs to be fitted so it is closest to the part of the outdrive where the diff ring is mounted. I would also suggest that you fit ceramic diff balls while you're at it. Hope this helps

when your testing the diff to see its tight enough dont over do it... it will slip out via brute force..

check the guide use the screwdriver method

pay special attention to the fact that the 2 sides of the circlip are different as are the thrust washers.
make sure your using the right size of flat head screwdriver to tighten the diff nut.
I thought the one i was using was fine until a lad at my club mentioned i should be using a smaller size and I was then able to tighten it a bit more and stop it from slipping

sorry double post

try using AE B4 clutch pads they are thicker?

yes. they are vastly superior to the kit slipper pads

Well it's definitely not slipper pads but can't work out if it's still circlips as continue to tighten diff after breaking in...it then pings out n looses all drive I'm using carbide balls aswell...really getting frustrated as spent 8 hours now trying to sort this out it's making me think there's a problem with the output cup the circlip sits in as I've changed everything now :( really think this is a poor design as never had problems with ball diffs before

G....I think I should come over and have a look. You free one night next week ?

Im going to be starting to put together the spare car tonight. The ball diff is already in the used car and I have a GD for the unused one. I plan on getting the BD out though to clean it up and rebuild.

There are a couple of things I noticed with the BD.

The thrust race cage looks a tad flimsy. Check it over well and make sure each of the balls is able to move freely. I had the issue when I ran for Serpent UK and the S410 where the cage couldnt take it and would fold onto the balls and clamp them, this lead to the diff clamping up and then it would blow the cage to pieces. Check this as a priority.

I would soak the diff outdrive where the thrust goes in in alot of motor cleaner. Leave it for a good hour, then give it a really good spray though. It could be some gunk is in the slot of the E clip and this is causing binding possibly under load, not something you can simulate in your hand.

Get right into it best you can to clean it up.

Check on all the thrust plates and diff plates for any over wear. Are all the plates flat ? Check the thrust ones on a setup board or across a metal rule. I would also sand the diff plates to flatten them off again. Use 1000W&D with some motor cleaner to do that mate.

Asside from that I know you know your way round a car, so I know you will have though of alot. Lets see what we can achieve from the above, if not perhaps a cup of tea next week and some pearing into a BD !

(Plus I havent seen little'un in ages)

JP

PS....is the spring straight...put that on the board to and make sure each coil is flat to the board mate, if it has bent with tention that could bind the BD up to as it will stop the diff screw from spinning right

Your deffo welcome to pop over one night John as be great to see you...I'll order some more parts in as just wasted over 20 trying to sort it...I'm wondering if it's worth taking the circlip out n shimming the distance as the only purpose of the clip is to hold the thrust in place which shimming the distance would do aswell....I have been thinking about the spring aswell but the t nut screws on at an angle so again this could be a problem....wish X-ray would build the bd for this car lol :)

I had the same problem when I first built the Durango ball diff, the is circlip popping out of the groove when it has been tightened.

But then when you take it to bits the bloody thing pops back in!

I flipped my circlip over and rebuilt and the diff was fine...As specified in the Durango build guide.

So flat side of the clip towards the diff plates n diff balls?

yes that's ok

well ive tried it both ways now n still wont work lol :( *sighs*

when i had a 210 i used a E clip

flat up, get you driver in there to open the clip...

when testing the diff... dont put so much force else it will pop out....

its fine if you dont over tighten

Give the circlip groove a good scrath out with one of those dentist hook things, helped mine, seems like the black hard coating fills it up a bit.

Your not alone with 210 ball dif issues.

I race on a very high grip fast track so drive train takes some real abuse and I've had similar bother with the diff.

I've done all the cleaning of parts, I've used superior aftermarket thrust race and circlip etc and still had troubles.

One thing I've found is the T-nut is very poor. The bore of the plastic part is too tight, so it feels like the diff screw is tight... When its not its just struggling to thread through the plastic. I ran a tap through a T-nut so I could try the screw only feeling the tightening of the diff. With a free T nut I realised the diff could be set properly (but will slack off inservice becaue the thread is to free) . If you look to a used normal t-nut the metal threaded part is quite weak and the force from the screw tapping into the plastic deforms the threads somewhat. So my solution has been to take a new T-nut and just run a starter tap into the plastic part to help the screw tap its way in.

a spring that is cut square helps as previuosly mentioned. I ended up buying several and picking the best looking spring.

Eventually I seemed to get a diff that seems to last out, but I was always catious and fearing it would give up so I went to a gear diff. I prefer the handling of the ball diff but run gear diff for piece of mind I'm not going to spend all day taking the diff in and out.

I've built many different ball diffs over 20years and the 210 is by far the worst.

Does let the bomb proof Durango saying down a bit. TD stuff takes some proper abuse and keeps coming back for more, but that diff, its too heavily reliant on that fragile clip.

that clip is also more expensive and nowhere near as good as other after market parts.
Schumacher have a part that works and think X-ray do as well

I've built several 210 diffs using the Schumacher Circlip Tool and not had a problem...

Not cheap but compared to some of the problems people have had, seems like a bargain now!

Yeh I was wondering about a better circlip tool but I am putting a flat driver in to open it back up again...I'm starting to deffo think more about the spring a tnut as neither are straight and it does make the diff have a slight tight spot then frees up so I'm wondering if that force is causing the clip to pop aswell....has anyone tried any different springs or nuts?

Hi James
Could we put a small mig tack weld on it to hold it ?Or braize ? Is there space? Then cut it off when maintenance is required?

I've built three, including the diff that did the 24hr EBOR race, never had any problems at all.
The EBOR car did most of the 24hrs without a chirp, started slipping a little right at the end but finished the event without being touched.

The circlip is fiddly of you don't have the correct tool.