Cone VS Clutch?

Which is better Cone or Clutch for the street?

  • Cone type

    Votes: 18 15.4%

  • Clutch type

    Votes: 99 84.6%
  • Total voters
    117
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MtNemoMopar said:
There ain't no rear end that will take 50 -75 races a night:bootysha:.
Glad we could change your mind for ya:cheers:
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"I say,I say,that was a joke son,pay attention when I am talkin to ya boy." Quote by foghorn leghorn. I did not change my mind .That was just on sat night, didn't mean everynight if someone might have thought that.
 
You know, you hang around Mopar gearheads long enough and you hear it all. I heard (can't back it up though) that the cone is better on the street for normal driving, handles torque distribution better in turns and so forth. The clutch is better for inline driving, like drags. BUT, never smoke one side of a cone, ie coming out of the waterbox. Thatll surely damage the cone unit. I have a cone and have had it for years (273,318,340,451,403), no complaints and it was available to me for a hunsky, cant beat that.
 
There is nothing wrong with running a cone type SG in a budget street application. I beat the hell out of my 741 cased SG behind a mild 340 4 speed and never had a bit of trouble. Add slicks and a sticky track, now that's a different subject.

Do what your budget allows for now and you can always upgrade later.
 
I got my cone type for free... it was junk. So me being the guy who likes to see what makes things tick. I took it apart filed the cross shaft where the gears were spun on it, took a drum roll to the inside of the spider gears to clean them up and reassembled it. It now is stupid free fun in my dart!!:tongue3:
 
The reasons are more important to me than the reputations. I voted clutch, but my real "best" would be niether. It would be the Detroit Tru Trac. Buy it once, and you'll never need another (unless you like mutiple gear selection...lol).
Limited slips are designed to be non slipping in an "unloaded" state. Unloaded means the car is not turning. Speed has no relevence, either the vehicle is turning, or it's going straight. When a vehicle turns, the outer wheel (meaning left side wheel if you're turning right or vice versa if you're tunring left) rotates faster. The outer wheel has to move a further distance than the inner during any turn. As a car turns, a certain amount of sideways force is transmitted thru each axle. It's that sideways force that compresses the springs and "loads" the differential. A loaded differential will allow the inside wheel to turn slower without slipping the tire on the pavement or breaking an axle. The type of friction material that is used is the key. The friction materials are either under spring pressure and touching (unloaded condition) or under pressure from the axle (wheel) and not held tight (loaded condition) at any one time during driving.

Cone types were always made by Auburn do work... ok. However they use a cone shaped steel piece and a cup shaped receiver as frictions. Because of that they are slow motion hand grenades from the factory. The surface area for grabbing is very, very small in comparison to clutch types. As they are loaded and unloaded during driving, the metal on metal produces a fine glitter of steel particles. (Remember that while there is oil present, while driving it is thrown off the components, and the parts are being constatnly pushed together.) Those particles wear the gear surfaces, the bearing surfaces and rollers, and each time some is worn off and the cone digs deeper into the cup, the preload from the springs becomes weaker. They can be rebuilt, however after resurfacing the wear surfaces and cutting them ever shorter, you have to use shims to make sure the side gears mesh properly. Most "rebuilders" don't do that. Any rebuilt cone type IMO is junk, adn the new ones will be in short order, especially if driven hard on road courses or twisty local roads.

Clutch types use a series of clutches and steels, so the real heavy wear items are the frictions, and the residue from their wear doesn't contaminate the other parts. Not to mention having about 8 times the surface area to provide friction when unloaded.

The Tru Trac uses gears. No wear items, and no slipping. but, it behaves much like a spool when you're on the gas hard.
 
As long as your not running slicks you should be fine. If you brake it get the clutch carrier.I'll sell you one for $250. Oh wait you bailed on buying my rails with out even telling me.
 
Just think about how many years the cone type have been around? 40 years! yes they wear more than the clutch type but I would never call them junk. Like I said early in this thread. "SEND ME ALL YOUR JUNK CONE SG'S" I'll even pay the shipping!
 
I just spool mine for street'n'strip duties.
Not much into hard cornering so i just drive it accordingly.
And that means very carefully when it's raining.
Don't get snow and ice here.
 
moper said:
The reasons are more important to me than the reputations. I voted clutch, but my real "best" would be niether. It would be the Detroit Tru Trac. Buy it once, and you'll never need another (unless you like mutiple gear selection...lol).
Limited slips are designed to be non slipping in an "unloaded" state. Unloaded means the car is not turning. Speed has no relevence, either the vehicle is turning, or it's going straight. When a vehicle turns, the outer wheel (meaning left side wheel if you're turning right or vice versa if you're tunring left) rotates faster. The outer wheel has to move a further distance than the inner during any turn. As a car turns, a certain amount of sideways force is transmitted thru each axle. It's that sideways force that compresses the springs and "loads" the differential. A loaded differential will allow the inside wheel to turn slower without slipping the tire on the pavement or breaking an axle. The type of friction material that is used is the key. The friction materials are either under spring pressure and touching (unloaded condition) or under pressure from the axle (wheel) and not held tight (loaded condition) at any one time during driving.

Cone types were always made by Auburn do work... ok. However they use a cone shaped steel piece and a cup shaped receiver as frictions. Because of that they are slow motion hand grenades from the factory. The surface area for grabbing is very, very small in comparison to clutch types. As they are loaded and unloaded during driving, the metal on metal produces a fine glitter of steel particles. (Remember that while there is oil present, while driving it is thrown off the components, and the parts are being constatnly pushed together.) Those particles wear the gear surfaces, the bearing surfaces and rollers, and each time some is worn off and the cone digs deeper into the cup, the preload from the springs becomes weaker. They can be rebuilt, however after resurfacing the wear surfaces and cutting them ever shorter, you have to use shims to make sure the side gears mesh properly. Most "rebuilders" don't do that. Any rebuilt cone type IMO is junk, adn the new ones will be in short order, especially if driven hard on road courses or twisty local roads.

Clutch types use a series of clutches and steels, so the real heavy wear items are the frictions, and the residue from their wear doesn't contaminate the other parts. Not to mention having about 8 times the surface area to provide friction when unloaded.

The Tru Trac uses gears. No wear items, and no slipping. but, it behaves much like a spool when you're on the gas hard.
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I agree 100%..i ran the tru-trac in my duster for 2 seasons of 1/4 mile beatings my buddy bought it from me and has been beating on it for 2 plus years himself..holding up great..
 
9" with a locker is the best way to go and probably cheaper.
8 3/4 I have had both and had no problems with ether and I beat the S**T out of them for years and years. Get what you can a Ford.
Ridge
 
stroked 340 said:
I agree 100%..i ran the tru-trac in my duster for 2 seasons of 1/4 mile beatings my buddy bought it from me and has been beating on it for 2 plus years himself..holding up great..
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I hope so. When I had my Strange 60 built, I upgraded to the Tru-trac. After the initial break in, I don't plan on ever worrying about my rear again!!
 
Stupid question, maybe, but how do you tell a cone from a clutch without opening up the diff? I have a pair of 489's in 3.55 and 3.91, both Sure Grip. Is there a way to tell without 'carving the pumpkin'?
 
un-molested
489's are cone
742's clutch
 
Captainkirk said:
Stupid question, maybe, but how do you tell a cone from a clutch without opening up the diff? I have a pair of 489's in 3.55 and 3.91, both Sure Grip. Is there a way to tell without 'carving the pumpkin'?
Click to expand...

If the center section is out look at the suregrip. The Auburn cone type will have springs visible, the clutch type will be more of a solid case bolted together.

Look here: http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/axle/13.html
 
Thanks to both of you for the answers. Relatively sure the 3.55 is unmolested, the 3.91 'might have' been messed with as it was a Mr. Norm's car.
 
The cone type units are fine for anything street driven.
 
Captainkirk said:
Stupid question, maybe, but how do you tell a cone from a clutch without opening up the diff? I have a pair of 489's in 3.55 and 3.91, both Sure Grip. Is there a way to tell without 'carving the pumpkin'?
Click to expand...

The cone type S.G. will have the case bolts on the same side as the ring gear bolts, the clutch type has the case bolts on the opposite side of the ring gear.
This will be visible once you pull the center section out of the housing.
 
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