Detroit Trutrac. What is it and why do I want it?
My truck has an open differential. Meaning, when I floor it, one tire peels out. From the factory you can get whats called a G80 option. This will supply the rear differential with limited slip. My truck didn’t come with this option.
So now that I’m adding more power to my truck, one of the things I have to address is traction. I need some sort of limited slip. I figured I had two basic options. I could either find a stock rear end with the appropriate gear ratio and the G80 option or go aftermarket. After doing some research, I found that the stock limited slip has it’s limits. Since it uses clutches to engage both tires, it’s prone to failure when high horsepower is applied.
So that leaves the aftermarket. There are several solutions, but what I decided on was a Detroit Trutrac. These are supposed to be one of the least intrusive, yet strong rear differentials. I needed something that was very streetable.
Here’s what the manufacture has to say:
The Detroit Truetrac was the first helical gear differential ever introduced into the automotive aftermarket as an Eaton brand. It remains the leading helical gear-type limited slip differential in the industry. Detroit Truetrac’s proven helical gear design eliminates the need for wearable parts, resulting in maintenance free traction recognized not only for its toughness, but its smooth and quiet operation as well. Proven design, low cost and effective performance all make the Detroit Truetrac limited slip differential the ideal choice for a wide variety of vehicle applications. No maintenance – Just Traction.
I ended up buying my Trutrac second hand from performancetrucks.net.
Here’s a pic:
The above photo gives you an idea of how it works.
Here’s a link to the website and PDF.
Project "Charlie Murphy" 