OK I know all I have to do is get out the jack and jack the rear of the car off the ground and turn the wheel and if the both turn the same direction I have my answer, but I just haven't done it. Here's the deal. The yellow 72 with the 4 lug and 6 cyl if I sit in my gravel driveway and stomp it it will spin both tires in the gravel for as long as I hold down the gas. Will an open diff do that if the gravel is loose under both wheels?
My 73 left two digs in my yard the other day when it spun going up an incline in the rain. One slightly longer than the other. Neither longer than 2 feet.
To tell if you have a posi or not, just jack both rear tires off the ground, Support the car for safety, put the car in neutral emergency brake released. Then rotate one of the tires, while turning the tire look at the other tire to see its direction of rotation. If it rotates in the same direction as the one you are spinning, you have posi. If it rotates in the opposite direction, you have an open. Ken
if neither tire gets traction yes it will. as soon as one tire gets more traction than the other it will spin only one.
yeah i know I can check it that way I just haven't done it yet. Never think about it at the right time.. but I gotta jack that d@mn car up soon and check. It has been driving me nuts for several months now. My other 6cyl Maverick that I owned years ago was a 250 and in a hard acceleration with the front wheels turned it would spin one tire on dry pavement to the point that the one tire would smoke AND I could power brake it from a dead stop. This yellow Maverick I have with the 200 6 cyl will not spin a tire on dry pavement no matter what I do, but on wet pavement it feels and sounds like both tires spin equally and in loose gravel it leaves 2 spin marks for as long as it will spin the tires they both spin equally and I just have this wierd feeling that someone put a limited slip diff in it for some wierd reason... I just never think about it when I have time to roll the jack under it and check. Like tonight I thought about it after it was dark and I was moving it back into it's parking space after cutting grass and I stomped the gas in the gravel driveway and it left two spin marks of equal length about 20 foot long. If it weren't almost midnight I would go jack it up right now. I am going in to work late in the morning so I might have time after I put my son on the bus to jack it up and check... my enquiring mind needs to know.... I just can't imagine why anyone would put a posi, whether it be limited slip or spool or locker or what the heck ever in a 4 lug 6 cyl car but I can't figure out either why I can't get this car to break traction on dry pavement or why it leaves 2 spin marks in gravel and pretty sure both tires spin when the road is wet. OK I am tired and rambling now... going to go to bed and bug the wife...hehehehe
If the side clearance on the spiders is tight, an open rear will act a bit like a posi. Some guys have put extra shims in just for that reason, but it is hard on everything. Eventually, something will break.
Well not that most of you really could give a hoot. But I jacked her rear end up in the air this morning and it is an open diff... One turns clockwise while the other is turning counter clockwise and visa-versa YET both tires definetly spin in loose gravel..... Who'd of thunk it?? Rearend must be tight because when I try that in the 73 Grabber with the V8 only one wheel spins.... 72, 6 cyl. they both spin equally.
