Hey all, sorry if this has been asked before but whats a mini-spool like to drive on the street? do they always skip around corners etc? and how else does it effect handling? Also whats the difference between a mini-spool and a full-spool and a locker? or is a full-spool the same as a locker?
Cheers
-Viper
Mini-Spool on the Street
Started by
_Viper_
, May 08 2006 09:52 PM
31 replies to this topic
#2
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Posted 08 May 2006 - 10:00 PM
Ask Tiny, he will tell you how much he hated it. Mini spool does the same job as a full spool, just not as strong, but is cheaper. Lockers do lock and unlock if you wish to corner sensibly.
#3
Tiny
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Posted 08 May 2006 - 10:41 PM
Viper.. Any type of spool means that there is no differential action at all.. its a solid diff.
(Appart from not being legal LOL) Theyre a bit of a pain to drive.. THe car always wants to push straight when accelerating around corners, theyre an absolute BITCH to reverse park and forget 3 point turns... 33 point turns are the order of the day.
Theyre very hard on axles etc with alot of twist load being placed on them when cornering.. the tighter the worse.. and dont ever have to push the car.. cause the slightest of turns and she locks up solid... Arsehole to push..
On the positive side.. when you mash the GO pedal.. you know your either going to break something.. or both wheels will fry... which is re-assuring when doing a skid or at teh track.
Personally.. a well set up LSD, or a detroit variant ( Tru Track) is a MUCH better option for a streeter!
Hope that answers your questions!
(Appart from not being legal LOL) Theyre a bit of a pain to drive.. THe car always wants to push straight when accelerating around corners, theyre an absolute BITCH to reverse park and forget 3 point turns... 33 point turns are the order of the day.
Theyre very hard on axles etc with alot of twist load being placed on them when cornering.. the tighter the worse.. and dont ever have to push the car.. cause the slightest of turns and she locks up solid... Arsehole to push..
On the positive side.. when you mash the GO pedal.. you know your either going to break something.. or both wheels will fry... which is re-assuring when doing a skid or at teh track.
Personally.. a well set up LSD, or a detroit variant ( Tru Track) is a MUCH better option for a streeter!
Hope that answers your questions!
#4
_MYLJ_
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Posted 08 May 2006 - 10:42 PM
I think you might find it is not legal to use a spool on the street.
#5
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Posted 08 May 2006 - 11:05 PM
learnt this one couple of days agoTheyre very hard on axles etc with alot of twist load being placed on them when cornering.. the tighter the worse.. and dont ever have to push the car.. cause the slightest of turns and she locks up solid... Arsehole to push..
#6
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Posted 08 May 2006 - 11:17 PM
cheers for the reply's guys, looks like the mini-spool idea is out... this is actually for my Gemini. which have weak as piss diff's and no real easy upgrade for them :( but a mini-spool can be done fairly cheap... guess ill just have to do a Borg Warner conversion or something
thanks
thanks
#7
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Posted 08 May 2006 - 11:28 PM
Do a Borgie trans plant... or better still concentrate on the Torana. 
#8
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Posted 08 May 2006 - 11:51 PM
Hey Tiny, I've found mine does real tight 1 action turns. One foot with medium pressure on the brake, the other foot push the accelerator while turning the wheel. Hey presto, before you know it you are 180 degrees in the other direction. If you do it right you can get barely any noise and no smoke. Nothing simpler 
All of the stuff tiny says is true, less than ideal for street driving.
All of the stuff tiny says is true, less than ideal for street driving.
#9
gtrboyy
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Posted 09 May 2006 - 12:03 AM
Locker also gets even more attention that you dont want just by trying to turn a corner or by trying to park the car,it's annoying people looking at you like you killed someone & all you did was turn a corner.
#10
Tiny
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Posted 09 May 2006 - 12:25 PM
Liam: I havent wanted to do this yet as ive got other weaknesses in my driveline but i have seen it done rather nice too! hehehe
GTRboyy: I FOund that out at supercruise on anzac day when i had to reverse park infront of a police officer... THe obvious chirping of the tyres and they KNEW it was a spool but yeah.. they didnt say anything! (Bigger fish to fry!)
Cheers
but i have seen it done rather nice too! heheheGTRboyy: I FOund that out at supercruise on anzac day when i had to reverse park infront of a police officer... THe obvious chirping of the tyres and they KNEW it was a spool but yeah.. they didnt say anything! (Bigger fish to fry!)
Cheers
#11
gtrboyy
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Posted 09 May 2006 - 02:31 PM
They are good for quick u-turns on the spot though provided that no-one saw you do it lol.
#12
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Posted 09 May 2006 - 06:50 PM
Nothing better then cruising in the city with its smooth roads and turning chirp chirp chirp chirp
#13
_Bomber Watson_
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Posted 09 May 2006 - 06:53 PM
i have a few mates with them in there street cars. they have no problems. i'm putting one in mine.
note, none of these cars are daily's. even weekly is a bit much. i currently take mine out once or twice a week and owuld like to keep that, the mates cars which are already spooled come out more like once every two weeks to a month.
note, none of these cars are daily's. even weekly is a bit much. i currently take mine out once or twice a week and owuld like to keep that, the mates cars which are already spooled come out more like once every two weeks to a month.
#14
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Posted 09 May 2006 - 07:07 PM
mate its a gemini, LOCK IT.
if i had a dollar for every heli ive done in locked up gemini's lmao
if i had a dollar for every heli ive done in locked up gemini's lmao
#15
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Posted 09 May 2006 - 09:14 PM
Oh there are certainly plenty of drawbacks but I love mine. You'd have to do a lot of convincing to get me to change it.
#16
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Posted 09 May 2006 - 09:18 PM
Seen so many gems with lockers when I was at TAFE I thought it was std,that & cutting the springs lol.
#18
DanWA
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Posted 10 May 2006 - 03:07 PM
fancy seeing you here clint... go the gems !!!
in reply to post up above... they should have come factory with choppies and a locker as most gems cop those mods as soon as they are purchased anyway... also a gemini has no real purpose but to be thrashed...
in reply to post up above... they should have come factory with choppies and a locker as most gems cop those mods as soon as they are purchased anyway... also a gemini has no real purpose but to be thrashed...
#19
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Posted 10 May 2006 - 08:03 PM
Heres somthing fun to do in a gemini. Grind the splines off one axle and you will have a burnout machine with all the driving force going to one axle itll do 4th gear burnouts no worries. extreemly hard to drive in the wet tho lol. a mate of mine did this
#20
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Posted 11 May 2006 - 03:04 PM
yeah a mate of mine did that in his 2l escort, although he decided to just chop the axle, hell funny, 4th gear burnouts and like spyder said it would just spin like crazy in every gear, even when he was trying to take off real slowly. would not suggest o do this on the street thouHeres somthing fun to do in a gemini. Grind the splines off one axle and you will have a burnout machine with all the driving force going to one axle itll do 4th gear burnouts no worries. extreemly hard to drive in the wet tho lol. a mate of mine did this
#21
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Posted 14 May 2006 - 09:34 AM
I know heaps of people who have spools and I've driven a few cars with them. (and the LX I'm building is fitted with one, Tiny, I hear you on pushing it hehe).
I've found them to be fine. If you've got good bushes in the rear and and a largish profile tyre, you wont really notice it's there. When you have low profile tyres like my mate had on his VN, you'll find it'll chirp alot more where as larger profile takes up alot of the slip.
I've driven my mates VN 5spd with a mini spool and my mates LH auto with a big stall and mini spool. Both were fine to drive and I've parked both in hairy places and didn't have a problem.
My mate welded up his banjo in his old LX and it has harsh as hell and drove like shit. I'm guessing that it was due to old bushes. He had decent profile tyres on it.
The real downfall to spools is that when you put the clutch in they're still locked. So for example if you hold it sideways out of a corner and you've given it too much, with a LSD or locker when you back off, you can usually just give it a shit load of oposite lock and you can gather it back up. But with a spool the inside wheel forces the other to light up. My mate found this out in his torry. Unfortunatly I was in the car at the time.
So quite often, if the car wants to go around the best bet is to keep it on the gas and let it go around. Look at the V8 supercars... So many times in the past I'd see them lose it but they keep going around and I'd be thinking just put the clutch in you clown, but now that I've driven one I know what they do.
Having said that I think they're fine, but they have a driving style of their own. Mark Dallaqua once told me, "if you can master driving with a spool then go to a locker, you'll be an ace driver".
I've found them to be fine. If you've got good bushes in the rear and and a largish profile tyre, you wont really notice it's there. When you have low profile tyres like my mate had on his VN, you'll find it'll chirp alot more where as larger profile takes up alot of the slip.
I've driven my mates VN 5spd with a mini spool and my mates LH auto with a big stall and mini spool. Both were fine to drive and I've parked both in hairy places and didn't have a problem.
My mate welded up his banjo in his old LX and it has harsh as hell and drove like shit. I'm guessing that it was due to old bushes. He had decent profile tyres on it.
The real downfall to spools is that when you put the clutch in they're still locked. So for example if you hold it sideways out of a corner and you've given it too much, with a LSD or locker when you back off, you can usually just give it a shit load of oposite lock and you can gather it back up. But with a spool the inside wheel forces the other to light up. My mate found this out in his torry. Unfortunatly I was in the car at the time.
So quite often, if the car wants to go around the best bet is to keep it on the gas and let it go around. Look at the V8 supercars... So many times in the past I'd see them lose it but they keep going around and I'd be thinking just put the clutch in you clown, but now that I've driven one I know what they do.
Having said that I think they're fine, but they have a driving style of their own. Mark Dallaqua once told me, "if you can master driving with a spool then go to a locker, you'll be an ace driver".
Edited by QIKSLR, 14 May 2006 - 09:42 AM.
#22
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Posted 18 May 2006 - 06:40 PM
You will also find that a single spinner and lsd are unpredictable, it may spin both wheels..or 1, you can never really know. say going round a corner with the inside wheel spinning you give it heaps it get it moving faster and then the outside wheel spins all of a sudden and you lose traction and the car spins uncontrobly hits a pole you die and the ambos will have to suck up ur remains with a vacum cleaner. but if its a spool and you know its going to loose tracton you either dont give it to it round a corner, or just bury the right foot in the carpet and hope you know wat your doing.
but yes...spools arnt all that fun to drive on the street but still manageable
but yes...spools arnt all that fun to drive on the street but still manageable
#23
Tiny
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Posted 19 May 2006 - 03:06 PM
VNGMH: Your right.. Spools are more predictable.. But ive gotto say that my LSD in my 9" is so predictable that no matter what happens.. i know i'll fry both wheels.. Its all about having it set up right.
For the street.. My vote is either a good LSD or a tru-trak detroit type centre...
Cheers
For the street.. My vote is either a good LSD or a tru-trak detroit type centre...
Cheers
#24
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Posted 19 May 2006 - 03:44 PM
Personally I would never (like Tiny) option a locked or spooled diff for street use, what a pain. Most people believe that LSD's and single spinners are unpredicable, when in most cases these are the nicest to drive.
Most LSD's if setup correctly will be great to drive and also give you the best of both worlds. Pushing is a pain with locked/spooled diffs but then again you have a car to drive not push.....
I have used a torsen 1.5way lsd before and by far these are the bees knees when it comes to lsd's. I do worn you that these are not the c heapest option but I have yet to see one break! I would recommend that you get a good lsd rather than a locker, the amount of issues you introduce are not worth the hassle. This is of course ignoring the whole legal issues and safty, but hey...
Cheers
Most LSD's if setup correctly will be great to drive and also give you the best of both worlds. Pushing is a pain with locked/spooled diffs but then again you have a car to drive not push.....
I have used a torsen 1.5way lsd before and by far these are the bees knees when it comes to lsd's. I do worn you that these are not the c heapest option but I have yet to see one break! I would recommend that you get a good lsd rather than a locker, the amount of issues you introduce are not worth the hassle. This is of course ignoring the whole legal issues and safty, but hey...
Cheers
#25
gtrboyy
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Posted 19 May 2006 - 04:01 PM
Most people seem to stray away from LSD diffs due to cost but I think they are the better option & nicer to drive if you drive your car on the street compared to a mini-spool.
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