Well like some of you I decided to get something relatively cheap to put in my open diff. Well due to time constraints I decided to go with NewSkool's SID unit.
I installed it at the same time i did my bottom end, well to get to the point, it did not even survive the break in period! it did not even see boost and it fell appart destroying my tranny. now I know that there are people out there who have it and are doing ok.. well I'm sure if you take a look at it now you will see how chewed up it is, and God only knows what problems all those little metal shavings will give you in the furture after his part is out of warranty.
Well no proof is better than pics so here they are. Ohh by the way I'm still fighting to get him to pay for my replacement tranny.... :thumbsdown

here you can see the screw that fell off the unit getting caught in the diff gear and breaking appart my tranny case.


Here you can see the broken scarred pieces of my tranny case (they were scarred by the loose bolt that got pressed against them..


here is the bolt that fell off and caused the damage and the SID unit in the diff..


here are pics of the piece of crap SID as it was when it was taken out.. notice not only that the bolts are coming off, but that the metal on the side of the SID is scarred.. wonder where all those metal pieces went?? they must be good floating around in my tranny.



Well after my ordeal I realized i should have gotten a quality part here is the Diff Retrofit did for me.. these guys really know their stuff.. it is made of some really hard metal, the top of the SID has some kind of very hard and rough substance on it to help with the gripping of the spyder gears. and they machined the diff for better oiling, and the spyder gears so that the contact area would be flat against the SID. This is the route i suggest all of you take unless you are going with the Quaffie. Put in cheap parts at your own risk I learned my lesson the hard way.. here is a pic of the Retrofit Limited Slip...

ohh and just to make it clear.. the SID broke during the engine break in so there was no hard driving. and it broke as i was pulling out of my parking stall, so it was not a hard launch or anything like that. Glad it did not break in the highway.

That's harsh man, hope you get some kind of compensation.

Just to play devil's advocate though, you sure you installed it properly and it wasn't your own personal error?

it was installed properly, Michael was there and so was a mechanic friend of mine that has intalled various units in several neons. They were both like WTF? i did not want to put the unit in once I saw it, but i had paid for it and he said he had had no problems in over a year in any of his units... so I did it.. his work is junk.

This actually happened several months ago, and was heavily discussed. I spoke with the guy that installed it (our very own Michael97rs) and yes, it was installed per NS's instructions. However, even perfect installation can't make up for crap parts.

How much did your new lsd cost?

you will need to send in your Diff. and they will machine it and install the SID with the correct springs, shims and washers to make sure that it is in there correctly. A complete work will cost you about $450 something like that. I'm going to have Carlton from Retrofit post here he can give you more info...

I'll tell you one thing that looks crappy about that thing, is the location of the springs in relation to the plates. They sit on the inside of it rather than towards the outside thereby causing more tension on the outer corners. :thumbsdown One thing to note though, was a note he sent out to customers to make sure that those hardened plates were torqued down properly. Apparently some people did not have theirs torqued down enough.

Even with that though, I have no idea why he re-designed it! :shrug I'm glad my unit is more of a phantom grip clone, with the springs sitting closer to the perimeter and the rounded space versus the angled cuts for the diff pin.

I would check your piece still jason, the scrapes on the side of the unit had nothing to do with the location of the springs or the screws. you could very well be grinding that unit down slowly and just creating more more metal shavings that will not be good for your tranny.

Well, I really doubt I will.

I mean, should the piece fail, then I'll be up shit creek with a nuked tranny. But I know that I personally checked the torque specs on those screws, and they were all much tighter than the 20ft/lbs of torque he recommended. And in any case, if she goes, I'll get a new T850 tranny with a Quaife.

But I can say, I've driven my car HARD now for about 5-6k miles since the install, and it's been fine. I know from his mail that there were some LSD's he send out that had those screws loose. It's VERY unfortunate that yours was one. :(

damn pics like that makes me believe in just the Quaife. forget cheap stuff, i'm getting quality when it comes to LSD's.

And to think how much i bitched to get mine from him. I havent had time to install mine yet. Anyone want to buy it?:P

damnit you guys are making me nervious. on the floor in my garage is my NV-T350 with one of these SID's in it. should i take it back apart and locktite the screws in place or something?

That's what I did... I torqued those bolts down to 17 ft lbs and used red loctite. I'm still taking mine for an all expense paid trip to the dumpster here shortly.

Yeah the bolt that came out was the one that created the inmediate damage, but as you can see from the pics, the metal that is used is a very soft metal that just gets chewed up by the spyder gears... those scufsfs were only from 1k miles of driving with no real force applied to the unit itself. can you imagine what it would look like if I had done some hard launches or reall tight fast cornering? all those metal shavings can't be good for any tranny.

maybe the chewing metal only happened because the screw came out.

It's kinda disturbing to let one bad case ruin a whole product. I mean, sometimes people make things and they make bad choices. If the guy compensates you for his error, and moves toward fixing it so that it never happens again, then I see no reason why we shouldn't support him.

And if he doesn't compensate you, then we can boycott him. Cuz we 2gnters need to stick together. :cheers

Hell, I've been beating the crap out of mine and it's still holding up good.

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maybe the chewing metal only happened because the screw came out.It's kinda disturbing to let one bad case ruin a whole product. I mean, sometimes people make things and they make bad choices.

Why not? Seems the 2GNT population does that to other vendors all the time.

One crappy product, one horrible failure, lots of expensive damamge. Do you want to risk it? I know i wouldn't.

Quote Do you want to risk it? I know i wouldn't.

Neither would I.


95 Eclipse RS : 5 speed
15.901 @ 88.34mph
Jeep TB writeup - http://www.dimensia.com:81/jimbo/JeepTBfor2gnt.html

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Quotemaybe the chewing metal only happened because the screw came out.It's kinda disturbing to let one bad case ruin a whole product. I mean, sometimes people make things and they make bad choices.

Why not? Seems the 2GNT population does that to other vendors all the time.One crappy product, one horrible failure, lots of expensive damamge. Do you want to risk it? I know i wouldn't.

I think we can safely assume the reputation of this product is already spiraling downwards. (Hell, I even have it book marked now )x(

just get the phantom grip. I've had mine for a year and a half now and i have no problems.

The problem with that, is the phantom grip is just a more expensive version of a shitty LSD. The unit itself may wear better, but the concept behind these slip in diffs is just stupid. Think about all the force being applied to the diff housing. Think of the metal on metal friction when making a WOT turn doing 40-50 mph. The heat generated alone from that, makes me nervous. It does work, but how it works just makes me cringe.

as far as how they work, I rebuild diesel Allison Transmission for diesel engines for a liveing and if you have never seen a diesel trans there big some of them way up 3000lbs the one they use on oil rigs but any way the planetarys and ring gears are all metel to metel friction and some of the trans that we build only last about 2yr at the most so if you are going to buy anything for your trans or diffs pay the exter money and get a built well item crap it carp and high quality it high quality.

some cars come with a spring type metal peice in the center like the phantom grip and new skool lsd and work fine metal on metal should work if there is proper lubrications and no bolts come out
stage 4 clutch, aluminum flywheel, solid motor mounts, Phantom grip, phantom boost, egt, a/f, oil psi, apexi TT, Jeep TB, Star stage 2 with custom 3 inch downpipe out passenger side bumper, custom ground kit, falcon azenis, 2 inch drop, eibach camber kit, crank scrapper,AEM cam gear, short shifter, and some other stuff

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some cars come with a spring type metal peice in the center like the phantom grip and new skool lsd and work fine metal on metal should work if there is proper lubrications and no bolts come out

1. Exactly which cars are you refering to that come with a slip in diff?

2. Do you think that the diff is being properly lubricated??? It's not.

wow sux dude. Yeh NSR really disapoints me with them disappearing and all.

hmm yours looks like the newer SIDs. I have one of the older ones the one with the round center not pentagon shaped on like yours. I've driven it for like 3000+ miles already with lots of hard driving and even drifting. Its held up great for now. O_o but I guess that's what happens when you cheap out you pay more for it in the long run I know that about engine building now :P

not real sure what brand uses it maybe ford i think chrysker is called sure grip and this one is called posi-traction but anyways they use a preloaded spring to push on the spider gears kind of like how the the phantom grip or new skool one works. I was talkin to my driveline teacher about this and showed him some pics and the install instructions and he said it should work with no problems. So i guess what i'm saying is it should work as long as there is proper lubrication and nothing comes off of it. Because the transmissions use metal to metal contact only the trans fluid protects it so why wouldnt the phantom grip and other stuff like it work then?
stage 4 clutch, aluminum flywheel, solid motor mounts, Phantom grip, phantom boost, egt, a/f, oil psi, apexi TT, Jeep TB, Star stage 2 with custom 3 inch downpipe out passenger side bumper, custom ground kit, falcon azenis, 2 inch drop, eibach camber kit, crank scrapper,AEM cam gear, short shifter, and some other stuff

the surface area contact in the spyder gears is not wide enough or even enough to create some really good friction with the SID unit. also smooth metal on smooth metal contact in a slick environmet.. very very hard to get much friction force if at all.
A very well written write up by the Carlton from Retrofit Limited Slip will be posted up shortly this will clear any questions or doubts about how the SID's work and how they need to be designed for them to work well, and also what needs to be done to the diff. itself in order to allow for maximum benefit from the SID unit itself. it will have pictures and all please bare with me for a bit, it will be up soon. The wait is worth it trust me!

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the surface area contact in the spyder gears is not wide enough or even enough to create some really good friction with the SID unit. also smooth metal on smooth metal contact in a slick environmet.. very very hard to get much friction force if at all. A very well written write up by the Carlton from Retrofit Limited Slip will be posted up shortly this will clear any questions or doubts about how the SID's work and how they need to be designed for them to work well, and also what needs to be done to the diff. itself in order to allow for maximum benefit from the SID unit itself. it will have pictures and all please bare with me for a bit, it will be up soon. The wait is worth it trust me!

See: http://www.2gnt.com/nuke/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=67

Words from the man himself.

Yeah the new and improved one is even worse the force it put all on the outer plates because the new construction puts all the flex and twist stress on the outer friction plates. Since the two sides are no longer one pices adding to regidity. If you have one of the first ones yu are better off. The screws still might come off and shit break. And you will get metal on metal wear with metals shaving likely floating around in yrour trans fluid.

Bottom line I don't want one.



15.9 @ 86.7mph

Smooth idle? We don't need no stinking smooth idle.

Mods List:
http://highlander.dsmpower.com/sig.htm

F*** it I'm buying a Quaife. NSR SID is crap. I don't need kryo treated gears trying to chew up SID pieces.

Like Dino said.. for anyone that wants to understand more how a SID should work.. please read
http://www.2gnt.com/nuke/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=67
I think this will clear any questions people might have.

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F*** it I'm buying a Quaife. NSR SID is crap. I don't need kryo treated gears trying to chew up SID pieces.

Buy one for me while you'e at it. I'll pay you back later.

tell ya what dino, ill buy you the quaife if you give me ur engine and turbo setup, deal?

yeah but u got metal to metal all in the tranny as long as u got lubricant to protect it should be fine. I mean all the gears and bearing in the motor r metal to metal just oil protects it. I've given my phantom grip hell everyday and no metal shaving or anything in my transfluid. no signs of failure in sight and i even have the race tunning package with stiffer springs.
stage 4 clutch, aluminum flywheel, solid motor mounts, Phantom grip, phantom boost, egt, a/f, oil psi, apexi TT, Jeep TB, Star stage 2 with custom 3 inch downpipe out passenger side bumper, custom ground kit, falcon azenis, 2 inch drop, eibach camber kit, crank scrapper,AEM cam gear, short shifter, and some other stuff

Its your trans dude, we're just telling you to look out. it is a FACT that is it a bad design, you cannot argue that.

As far as metal to metal goes, yeah, but gear facings are DESIGNED for that. they're spiral cut, constant mesh, and lubricated. the inner face of the output gear in the diff is contoured, and it NOT designed to take metal on metal abuse. Your arguement contradicts itself - it works great, but the lubrication is supposed to protect it? Lubrication protects by reducing friction between metal surfaces. Don't you, like, NED that friction for the diff to function? So by your arguement, it either works and is not being protected by lube, or the lubrication is protecting the metal and then it shouldn't work. See how that goes? it is a BAD DESIGN.

Who is Carlton McCrary of RetroFit Limited Slip? I've fallen out of the loop. Can someone fill me in? Are they making a new LSD unit for our cars or what? That was an impressive article, with a slight flavoring of self-promotion. :P i'm interested in learning more.

yeah he's part of retrofit limited slip. through out the years they have been researching the best posible way (yet least costly) to create a limited slip in an open diff. they make one hell of a diff. everything is meticulously machined and put toguether for the specific diff that you send it (as not all are equal, some could be more worn out, etc). If you can't afford a quaiffe unit, but want a quality diff from someone that knows what they are doing, who have put in the time into research and development, and want to get it for a reasonable price then you want the retrofit limited slip diff.

Thanks for the info! :thumbsup

I get it, so you send in your differential and they rebuild it to they're standards. That's pretty good. Hopefully i'll find some downtime where I can do that.

Anyone have contact info or a website?

you guys can email Carlton at
limitedslip@hotmail.com

his addy is:

Retrofit Limited Slip
PMB 158
236 So. 3rd Street
Montrose, CO 81401

the phone # is:

970.596.4135

Feel free to get intouch with him.