Ball Diff vs Gear Diff

[K-Brewer]

Thinking about changing my geared diff in my 210 to run the ball diff, I run on astro but has anyone got an experience with the pro's an cons? I know it can be down to personal preference but would it be worth changing?

[Jordy]

I run a gear diff all the time...on carpet and astro.

I only change over the gear diff if the track is wet...gear diff is a nightmare in the wet.

[Danosborne6661]

The debate of gear and ball diff begins again. First off, a lot of people that run a gear diff run it with insanely light oil so they don't even get the same 'feel' as a ball diff. With that in mind you can't make a direct comparison in less you run thick enough oil in your geared diff to give it the same 'feel'.

I've ran both, for similar periods of time. I started on 3000wt CST oil and have moved thicker to 5000wt. This makes the geared diff have the same 'feel' as a ball diff so you are then able to make direct comparisons on how each one functions differently.

For the record a gear diff isn't a nightmare in the wet. It handles pretty much the same as a ball diff if you have it set-up to feel the same. It's difficult to tell in less you change it back to back on a race meeting as the change is very subtle, they just work very differently. People that think the difference between a ball diff and a geared diff is like night and day are wrong because they've been running a completely different set-up on their gear diff to compare.

[K-Brewer]

Originally Posted by Danosborne6661

The debate of gear and ball diff begins again. First off, a lot of people that run a gear diff run it with insanely light oil so they don't even get the same 'feel' as a ball diff. With that in mind you can't make a direct comparison in less you run thick enough oil in your geared diff to give it the same 'feel'.

I've ran both, for similar periods of time. I started on 3000wt CST oil and have moved thicker to 5000wt. This makes the geared diff have the same 'feel' as a ball diff so you are then able to make direct comparisons on how each one functions differently.

For the record a gear diff isn't a nightmare in the wet. It handles pretty much the same as a ball diff if you have it set-up to feel the same. It's difficult to tell in less you change it back to back on a race meeting as the change is very subtle, they just work very differently. People that think the difference between a ball diff and a geared diff is like night and day are wrong because they've been running a completely different set-up on their gear diff to compare.

I've been running 7000wt an it runs great, to me anyway but on a scale for ball diff an gear diff (if u ran a thick enough oil in the geared diff to make a comparison) what seems to run better mechanically?

[Danosborne6661]

I think it's very difficult to call that, in less you run them back to back at a meeting then that will give you a realistic comparsion; mechanically. Theoretically a geared diff will work better. What I prefer about the geared diff is once it's set to how you like it, it's set! No faffing around adjusting and making sure it doesn't back itself off

[mrspeedy]

I would have said technically the geared diff is the better. In theory it should be able to be setup to provide the car with more steering and at the same time equal or more drive to a ball diff due to being fluid filled unlike the ball diff. But I can never be assed to rip it all apart and try back to back

Certainly a geared diff works well if you put thick enough oil in it. 5000cst in mine like Dan's and runs really nice ... even on sandy astro

[Allan1875]

Interesting.

I've recently just got my DEX410v3 and i'm currently running 10k front, 7k rear everywhere, indoor carpet, outdoor grass etc.

Last 2 outdoor meetings have been wet then going to damp later in the day. Car has been very slidy, would most people drop the oil in the rear? I was thinking somewhere around 3k for the wet?

Was going to leave the front as i believe dropping the front would increase steering? If so thats definitely not what's required with my car in the wet.