TA Girdle ... Studs or dont bother?

Why should i get the stud kit for hte TA rear end cover?

Arent the suplied bolts good enough?

also for the things that put pressure, how tight do those have ot be?

The TA cover will come with "preload studs" built into the cover. The seperate stud kit they sell contains four hardened studs that replace the four main bolts holding the main bearings in place inside the rear. They help keep the ring gear from walking within the housing and keep it aligned with the pinion. I used a TA style rear cover with preload studs, a solid pinion spacer and the stud kit in mine and it's held up to about 75 runs now, this is with the slp clutch (not a very hard hitting clutch) I set the preload studs in the rear cover to 5 ft/lbs I believe.

I have often wondered if those fancy cover do any good. Though I have one for my 12-bolt, I think of it more as a cosmetic thing, though I have often wondered about just how much good it does. Stronger bolts never hurt, I suppose.

Rich Krause

Originally posted by rskrause
I have often wondered if those fancy cover do any good. Though I have one for my 12-bolt, I think of it more as a cosmetic thing, though I have often wondered about just how much good it does. Stronger bolts never hurt, I suppose.

Rich Krause

I launch mine around 4k on the 10 bolt and it's held up to now, I'm pretty sure at least one of the 10 bolt upgrades I did has made a difference. I just tried a 5k launch on it sat to try and hit an 11 but the BFGs didn't hold, which was probably a good thing for the 10 bolts sake :D

not to highjack the thread but what mods will strengthen the 10 bolt?

oh ok, so the stud kit isnt for holding the cover on... that makes more sence.

I think I will invest in that too then.


Now what fluid and or additives should I fill it back up with?



I'd also like to know what else i can do to make it stronger

I have the cover and the bearing studs, its just cheap peace in mind for me

Originally posted by rskrause
I have often wondered if those fancy cover do any good. Though I have one for my 12-bolt, I think of it more as a cosmetic thing, though I have often wondered about just how much good it does. Stronger bolts never hurt, I suppose.

Rich Krause

Well you can take this with a grain on salt but DTS says that a support cover with the bearing cap support bolts is the single best mod for making a weak asp 10 bolt to last. When you put power to the rear the pinion tries to push the ring out the back the extra support helps to keep the rear in spec. under load.

Preload bolts finger tight only thne lock the nuts down. They can push the rear out of spec if tighter and cause premature bearig wear.
2 qts of good 80w-90 and 1 bottle of posi additive.

How do you install the studs?
And who is DTS?

Originally posted by Bud M
And who is DTS?

Drive Train Specialists in MI

Originally posted by Xride

I'd also like to know what else i can do to make it stronger

Best things you can do to strenthen the 10bolt:

Use a solid pinion spacer, not a crush collar
Weld axle tubes to the center section
Support cover with preload studs
Stud kit

I did all these so far except welding the tubes, I'm getting that done this weekend. Welding the tubes to the center section prevents the rear from flexing and helps reduce the chance of breaking things. You could also go with a heavy duty posi and aftermarket axles but I havn't messed with them, I dont want to sink that much money into the 10bolt. It's usually either the gears or the posi that go from what I hear although some have snapped the stock axles too.

Originally posted by Bud M
How do you install the studs?


You remove the rear cover and then remove the four bolts holding the carrier in place. Remove the bolts one at a time and install the studs in their place and torque them to specs. Do them one at a time so you don't throw off the gear pattern.

Originally posted by GREGG 97Z
Best things you can do to strenthen the 10bolt:

Use a solid pinion spacer, not a crush collar
Weld axle tubes to the center section
Support cover with preload studs
Stud kit


For the pinion spacer.... what and where is it?

The pinion spacer is mounted on the pinion gear, it's used to set the depth between the pinion and ring gear. The 10 bolt comes standard with a "crush collar" pinion spacer, over time and from hard launches this crush collar will compress and change the depth between the ring and pinion, which leads to gear breakage. Using a solid pinion spacer helps keep the ring and pinion depth constant helping extend the life of the gears. It's usually installed when you are installing new gears, it's not something to just easily install on your current rear that's already set up, I used it when I was having my 4:10's installed. Here's some info on it from Thunder's site, look at the Ratech install kit near the bottom:

http://www.thunderracing.com/catalog/?action=vshop&vid=4&pcid=67

You don't really gain anything by welding the axle tubes to the differentials on our cars. We have torque arms which keep the pumpkin from rotating backwards. I doubt anyone has ever spun the diff on a 93 or newer f-body. Gears break long before that would ever happen.

Originally posted by Robert95z
I doubt anyone has ever spun the diff on a 93 or newer f-body. Gears break long before that would ever happen.

I wasnt referring to preventing the differential housing spinning backwards. I'm talking about preventing the lateral twisting on the rear axle housing, welding the tubes to the center section stiffens the whole housing up, helping to prevent axle breakage.

Originally posted by GREGG 97Z
I wasnt referring to preventing the differential housing spinning backwards. I'm talking about preventing the lateral twisting on the rear axle housing, welding the tubes to the center section stiffens the whole housing up, helping to prevent axle breakage.

hmm, I dont really understand that, but I do know that welding cast iron is a PITA