Joyner open differential option

Posts: 26

I'm thinking of going with the open differential available from Joyner. I would first like to hear from an owner who has installed the open differential and what that person thinks about it. Team Joyner’s parts manager told me that the solid output shaft was designed for sand, and that sandy conditions are unlikely to create a situation where you have one wheel catch while the other wheel is in a spin. I think the "open" configuration would be easier on the whole drive train allowing one wheel to spin faster than the other, however I would like to hear some comments from an actual user of the open diff.

Let me tell you how I broke my output shaft at the Badlands in Attica, IN. I was sort of trapped in the bottom of a gravel pit, already frustrated with a sticky throttle, and after several attempts to make it to the top, I took a final attempt out, well it turned out to be the end of my riding at the Badlands after only twenty minutes of fun. I was half way up with both wheels in a spin, this pea gravel mind you, my right rear tire comes in contact with the flat rock and snap it’s all over. Luckily two fine gentlemen from Illinois (thanks guys) on four wheelers connected in parallel, where able to pull my 1,000-pond disappointment out of what seemed like a “low power” buggy death trap. By the way I would like to say hi to my two new friends Funny man and Ray in KY they kept me and my six year old company at the campgrounds.

The silver lining in this is I’m going to make some major engine modifications while I have my SS 650 tore down, that I will tell about, Lord willing, in the coming months. When I go back to the Badlands in the spring guess what gravel pit I’m going to at the end of the day, just to say I won.