The Results
When the new ring-and-pinion returned from Mikronite, everyone oohed and aahed when the box was opened; the typical dull-gray gearset we'd sent off returned looking as if it had been chromed. To the touch, the surface was so slick it felt almost as if it had a clear coating of some sort, but attempts to abrade any such layer turned up nothing. Besides, any coating would likely be stripped within the first few revolutions of the differential once installed.
Our cynicism at this point had been somewhat quelled, in part because we'd learned that the guys from our sister pub Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords had recently done a similar test, and they'd also used an 8.8 Ford. Approaching with the same doubt we had, the MM&FF team had stamped an identifying code in the gears, disguised as part of the part number. Being in Jersey, they'd also taken it to Mikronite and watched as it went in and out of the machine. Their observations of the finished gears mimicked ours.
Next, we went to see Tim Moore for the gear swap. Moore is good with differentials and takes the time to make sure new gearsets mesh properly once installed. Our swap went swiftly, the only trouble being a slight increase in difficulty reading the wear-pattern compound due to the increased slickness.
We took time to put some leisurely highway miles on the new gears before testing and had 150 or so on the clock when we showed up at Westech for the retest. Back on the dyno, the Mustang was again cycled to stabilize fluid temps, and we were surprised to see they hadn't dropped-and, in some instances, seemed to be slightly higher. Admittedly, doing an absolute A-B comparison of fluid temps is difficult, but our cruise simulation and duration were matched reasonably well. After the pulls had been made, it did indeed appear that the treated gears were helping get more power to the rear wheels; a gain of 6 hp was realized with our testing.
The MM&FF guys saw an increase of about 7-8 hp during their test, and their car was an '05 that made more power, which means our numbers seemed to jibe. Word is trickling in from racers who claim this is a worthy upgrade; some of them have two years on their gears and can now realize the reduction in wear. Based on the evidence presented to us from a variety of sources and the fact that the treatment for a ring-and-pinion will set you back only about $200, we might tend to agree.
 Back on the dyno, fluid temps...  Back on the dyno, fluid temps seemed the same or possibly even higher, but the rear-wheel power figures did improve to right around 210 hp. We were correcting for air quality and using the same type of gear lube, so it would seem that Mikronite just found us 6 hp. |
 Setup Made Easy One of the...  Setup Made Easy
One of the most aggravating aspects of setting up a rearend is having to press the pinion bearings on and off while attempting to set the pinion depth. For experienced guys, it's added time; for those less experienced, it's more opportunities to ruin a new bearing. Precision Gear offers a solution that's simple and handy for any ring-and-pinion installer to have around: setup bearings. These are just another set of new pinion bearings, but their mounting surface is honed so they slip on and off by hand. Assemble the pinion to get the depth right, then slip off the setup bearings and press on the new ones just once. They're available for most differentials, but our set fits multiple applications, so it'll get used a lot. Here are the applications it services:
'63-'79 Corvette
'85-'96 Corvette
Ford 7.5 (all)
Ford 8.8 (all)
GM 8.5-inch 10-bolt
GM 12-bolt
Viper |