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diff oil ?

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basher

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I am in the process of rebuilding my diffs in my mbx-5 and realized that when I first built them I used 50k in the center diff instead of 5k --oops. Anyway part of the reason I am rebuilding them is that I have noticed a lot of people running 5k, 7k, 2k diff setups respectively. What can/should I expect to see happen when dropping back down to 7k (pondering 10k too), will I lose any of the punch or is there a point in which you don't gain anything with a thicker oil? i haven't had any problems with the current 3k, 50k, 1k setup just wanted to experiment a little.
 
I know a guy who when he rebuilt his savage diffs he used 1k in the fromt and 3k in the back. This probably doesn't help you, i was kinda going to ask the same question for what to use on my savage when i do the spider mode. Sorry I'm no help. Hope some one can help ya out.
 
by going down to 7k from 50k you will notice a lot more stability. i personally never go higher than 1k in the rear- for slick tracks i use grease or run it half full. basically with the 5-7-1 set up the car is quite neutral and it works great. by going too thick the car will be 'twitchy' and sometimes hard to control- especially on slick tracks.
by dropping in viscosity you will have better traction where you need it. you may get more wheel spin with every tire by using thick oil, but really it isnt worth the handling headaches. thinner oil in the center will let the buggy act like the front tires are over-driven slightly, but this also helps the car track straighter.

btw- you should NEVER use thicker oil in the rear diff than what is in the front.
 
i also recomend running 5000 or even 3000 in the center dif if your are runing on a bumpy track, basically the smother and driftier the track the thicker the oil in the center, and the bumpier the thinner, we run on basially miniture moon craters so we only run 3000 in the center for stability
 
diff fluids really seem to be a personal preference. Some guys like to drift around the corners while others would just tap their brakes or something. Also, 50K in the center isn't uncommon. Some people have troubles keeping the nose down when accelerating (big beefy engines). Higher diff fluid in the center keeps your front wheels more on the ground. Also, like you said, a lot of people claim they get more punch with higher center diff fluid.

My 2 cents on the topic is this: If you're used to racing your car with 50K in the center, just stay with it and keep consistent. That's kind of my sentiment on most all aspects of setup. As soon as you change something, you're back to square 1.
 
less oil weight in front = easier turn in, more of a push off of the corner
more oil in front= not as easy going in, pulls off strong off of the corner

with my diff oil set up i like to run a good amount in the rear and lessen the front of it a bit.. i can drive in harder, and with the extra in the rear i try to dive through the push (which is normal for any 4 wheel drive machine) but yet still come out strong with a bunch of speed..
 
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