Bad news, guys. I wish I could be writing a great review of this product, but please continue reading:
I purchased the VERY FIRST Powetrax locker for the C200K differential last week. Apparently they have produced 20 of them, and still have 19 sitting on their shelf at Richmond Gear. I have the only 'production' model sold.
I installed it this weekend following their installation manual. It went off without a hitch; I am a Michigan certified mechanic with years of experience in working on full-blown race cars, dune machines, and everything in between.
I took the truck out onto a private dirt road to test. At first, the locker worked perfectly and I got amazing traction. It made noise turning corners, but this is expected and totally acceptable. I drove back to my house and as I began to drive up my gravel driveway, the back tires began slipping and I noticed that only the driver's side tire was spinning. I have a supercharger and a fair amount of power, so it's pretty easy for me to break traction most of the time. At this point, I thought I somehow broke an axle.
Took the truck back into my shop, jacked it up, and I was able to spin the passenger side tire with the truck in park. Not good. At this point, I thought for SURE I had broken an axle, but seeing as how I had BARELY tested the truck on a dirt road, I couldn't believe it.
So I began disassembly. Took the axles back out, and removed the differential cover. Metal all over the drain plug... oh crap. But, the axles were fine and the ring gear/differential case seemed okay.
Removed the differential carrier and ring gear, took out the locker. The driver and driver spacer are cracked all the way through, and the driver paddle is sheared off completely. This is me staring in disbelief on a $500 dollar, ten minute old locker that is shredded.
Monday morning I call Richmond gear first thing and explain what happened. They wanted me to send the locker back so they can 'analyze the damage and see what happened'. I agree to overnight it, and casually mention that I belong to several Nissan forums and I know how the R&D process has gone with this locker. Mentioned I knew about their heat treating issues which he denies. Told him I have a wheeling trip this weekend so I expect a response immediately.
One hour ago, they call me back. Apparently, ALL 20 DIFFERENTIALS ON THEIR SHELF ARE BAD. He tells me the blueprints are correct, but the drivers were machined incorrectly and out of spec. He said at this point he has no quick solution for me, so I am contacting the distributor for a refund. I told him flat out I will never buy a Richmond product again if they do not reimburse my overnight shipping expense. I tell him I work with numerous manufacturing operations in my line of business and not a SINGLE ONE of them ships out a product without doing quality control on the first batch run. He has no explanation for this, and said he can't make the call on whether or not Richmond will refund my shipping costs.
At this point, I must recommend that nobody purchase this product or anything else from Richmond Gear until they resolve this situation to my liking. Sorry for the bad news, guys, but better you hear it from me than by purchasing one of these things and finding out yourselves.
Please feel free to post this on The NewX or any other forums. Thanks for listening!
I purchased the VERY FIRST Powetrax locker for the C200K differential last week. Apparently they have produced 20 of them, and still have 19 sitting on their shelf at Richmond Gear. I have the only 'production' model sold.
I installed it this weekend following their installation manual. It went off without a hitch; I am a Michigan certified mechanic with years of experience in working on full-blown race cars, dune machines, and everything in between.
I took the truck out onto a private dirt road to test. At first, the locker worked perfectly and I got amazing traction. It made noise turning corners, but this is expected and totally acceptable. I drove back to my house and as I began to drive up my gravel driveway, the back tires began slipping and I noticed that only the driver's side tire was spinning. I have a supercharger and a fair amount of power, so it's pretty easy for me to break traction most of the time. At this point, I thought I somehow broke an axle.
Took the truck back into my shop, jacked it up, and I was able to spin the passenger side tire with the truck in park. Not good. At this point, I thought for SURE I had broken an axle, but seeing as how I had BARELY tested the truck on a dirt road, I couldn't believe it.
So I began disassembly. Took the axles back out, and removed the differential cover. Metal all over the drain plug... oh crap. But, the axles were fine and the ring gear/differential case seemed okay.
Removed the differential carrier and ring gear, took out the locker. The driver and driver spacer are cracked all the way through, and the driver paddle is sheared off completely. This is me staring in disbelief on a $500 dollar, ten minute old locker that is shredded.
Monday morning I call Richmond gear first thing and explain what happened. They wanted me to send the locker back so they can 'analyze the damage and see what happened'. I agree to overnight it, and casually mention that I belong to several Nissan forums and I know how the R&D process has gone with this locker. Mentioned I knew about their heat treating issues which he denies. Told him I have a wheeling trip this weekend so I expect a response immediately.
One hour ago, they call me back. Apparently, ALL 20 DIFFERENTIALS ON THEIR SHELF ARE BAD. He tells me the blueprints are correct, but the drivers were machined incorrectly and out of spec. He said at this point he has no quick solution for me, so I am contacting the distributor for a refund. I told him flat out I will never buy a Richmond product again if they do not reimburse my overnight shipping expense. I tell him I work with numerous manufacturing operations in my line of business and not a SINGLE ONE of them ships out a product without doing quality control on the first batch run. He has no explanation for this, and said he can't make the call on whether or not Richmond will refund my shipping costs.
At this point, I must recommend that nobody purchase this product or anything else from Richmond Gear until they resolve this situation to my liking. Sorry for the bad news, guys, but better you hear it from me than by purchasing one of these things and finding out yourselves.
Please feel free to post this on The NewX or any other forums. Thanks for listening!
