Two spider gears in the 03 American axles

[Texas Diesel]

My old Dana has four spider gears, what gives?

 

[Bill Lins]

Guess they had to cut costs somewhere.

 

[Dane]

Toyota made the same mistake in the 90s with their 4x4 trucks. 4 bangers got 2 spiders and V6s got 4 spider diffs. Only thing that that showed wear after 150,000 was my 2 spider diff. Musta looked good on paper

 

[nickleinonen]

but if it breaks, there will probably be at some time a detroit locker or some other avalable to fill the void in there. then you can have no spiders

 

[Texas Diesel]

Originally posted by nickleinonen

but if it breaks, there will probably be at some time a detroit locker or some other avalable to fill the void in there. then you can have no spiders

That may be true but still a weaker design to use two spider gears instead of four. I like my Dana better all the time.

 

[Blakers]

Anyone know how these limited slips actually work? Cutaway views or pictures would be nice. I'm thinking the design may render itself to only two spiders.