Avanti Twin Traction

[psdenno]

Was Twin Traction a factory or a dealer installed option?

[Gunslinger]

Factory, but I imagine a dealer could install it if someone wanted it badly enough.

[psdenno]

Factory, but I imagine a dealer could install it if someone wanted it badly enough.

As you noted, it was both according to dealer literature supplied by Studebaker. I can't image that dealers installed too many.

[GAWen]

I installed one in a 1963 R2, 4 speed, while working at a Studebaker dealership. The original TT had been hammered on one time too many.

[plwindish]

GAWen, was that a Dana 44 TT unit that you replaced in the 63 R2? Should they have been putting Dana 60's instead of the 44's in the higher powered cars?

[Gunslinger]

The Dana 60 is a big and heavy differential...it may not have been justified cost- and size-wise for an Avanti. They were used on 4-speed Hemi cars from Mopar and those elephant engines put out far more torque than any unmodified Studebaker engine was realistically capable of. Even the Hemi's with automatic transmissions didn't get the Dana 60's.

I think the Avantis would have been better served by having flanged axles as standard along with the Dana 44's. In most cases I believe the tapered axles would have been the weak points more than the 44.

[PackardV8]

The Dana 44 came in Jaguars, Sunbeam Tigers, Corvettes and Vipers, among others. Nothing a Stude V8 could do would break the basic unit. TTs used for drag racing should be considered a service part, same as the clutch, pressure plate and U-joints.

The tapered axles usually break in open drive cars where the right rear wheel has been hopping on hard starts.

jack vines