AITA? Seller misrepresentation of a product

Stealing from Reddit AITA - Am I the shiny happy person.   Collecting parts for my '49 build.  I wanted to get rid of the open diff and 3.25 gears and had my eyes open for a deal.  Seller on Ebay, reputable seller dealing in hot rod, racing and performance parts.   Listing is for a 4.11 limited slip differential.  So I buy it.   It arrived today.  Yep, 4.11 gears on an open diff carrier.   I reached out to him and he tried to tell me I just dont understand.  Limited slip = open diff, he would have listed it as a posi if it was a track loc.     

I've been playing with this stuff for a few years now, like over 30, and I have never heard anyone refer to an open diff as a limited slip.   Thanks to ebay and paypal I'll be getting my money back but its just a big pain.

Anyone got a track loc or other posi unit for a Ford 9 inch?  28 spline axles

If you get to keep the open 4:11 diff, ill happily buy it. 

Im also looking around for a 28 spline posi for the stock car build. I have an open 31 spline carrier if that helps. Im staying 28 spline for used availability.

Nta. Seller is an idiot. Limited slip is not open. It's not locked but it's not open. It's limited slip, per the name! It even requires different gear oil compared to an open diff. 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

If you get to keep the open 4:11 diff, ill happily buy it. 

Im also looking around for a 28 spline posi for the stock car build. I have an open 31 spline carrier if that helps. Im staying 28 spline for used availability.

Sadly no, I'll be returning it.  I had even hoped to split the difference and keep the 4.11 gears but it was all or nothing with him so back it goes.  On the upside the Ford 9" is so popular its not difficult to find these things, I was just stoked because it was the "limited slip" and gears for $200.   

Seller is 100% a goober.  Anyone that googles "limited slip" or "open diff" is going to get two wildly different things.

Point him to this thread so we can argue with him about how wrong he is.

It is not you.

Looking for an Explorer 8.8 4.11 LSD?  There's enough in the yards here I could problaly get you one.

You are in the right. 

My recommendation for Ford 9" limited slip is one of these guys:  https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dtl-912a587

Eaton Detroit Trurtrac, helical gear style limited slip.  I replaced the stock limited slip in my Mustang after it wore out 2 years post rebuild.  This thing was good enough that I bought a second for my truck later on.  Not $200, but not crazy compared to some options. 

I encounter idiots who don't know accurate terminology every day. His fault for not clarifying terms in his ad to accurately describe what it is. 

Stampie said:

Looking for an Explorer 8.8 4.11 LSD?  There's enough in the yards here I could problaly get you one.

No 9" not 8.8 sadly

Apexcarver said:

I encounter idiots who don't know accurate terminology every day. His fault for not clarifying terms in his ad to accurately describe what it is. 

Im generally ok with people who dont "speak the language" (car talk, not an actual language barrier) but this guy makes his living on ebay selling high performance auto parts.  He should know.  And then his absolutely condescending response actually made me question myself because he was convinced that to the whole automotive world open diff and limited slip meant the same thing.   I'll take some blame as if I had done some research, Im no expert on the ford 9", then it was obvious from his photo that it was an open carrier.  But I didnt focus on the tell tale signs since it was listed as a limited slip, I was focusing on the condition of the gears and bearings.

NTA.

Positraction (aka Posi) = GM trademarked clutch type limited slip

Trac Lok = Ford trademarked clutch type limited slip

Open diff = Open diff

Seller should use eating the cost on this as a valuable lesson about the correct terminology for their future listings.

No pics in the eBay ad? 

A picture should have cleared it right up.

But, my feeling is most performance part sellers and buyers still have no idea what anything actually is. At your friendly neighborhood car show you would get similar wildly wrong answers about what the difference between posi and limited slip.

Posi is a GM term for clutch type limited slip, thus a FORD 9 inch will not have one.

See if you can trade him for a 3/4 race cam.

Open diff = unlimited slip.

Not sure why'd you even think you were the shiny happy person. The seller is a frittata that apparently either doesn't know what he's selling or purposely misrepresented it in an effort to get it out of his stock. 

JThw8 said:

 

I'm generally ok with people who dont "speak the language" (car talk, not an actual language barrier) but this guy makes his living on ebay selling high performance auto parts.  He should know.  And then his absolutely condescending response actually made me question myself because he was convinced that to the whole automotive world open diff and limited slip meant the same thing.   I'll take some blame as if I had done some research, Im no expert on the ford 9", then it was obvious from his photo that it was an open carrier.  But I didnt focus on the tell tale signs since it was listed as a limited slip, I was focusing on the condition of the gears and bearings.

He knew exactly what he was doing.

Relative to the GRM Hive, my automotive knowledge is well below the 50th percentile yet I TOTALLY know the difference between an open dif and a limited slip.

The seller needs to quickly pick one...

1) Learn his craft

2) Change careers

3) Stop being full of E36 M3

For fun, I'm going see if my wife, 18 y/o daughter, & 15 y/o daughter can explain the difference between the two tonight.

I'm sure my 18 y/o daughter will stick the landing and I've got even odds on the other two.

RX Reven' said:

Relative to the GRM Hive, my automotive knowledge is well below the 50th percentile yet I TOTALLY know the difference between an open dif and a limited slip.

The seller needs to quickly pick one...

1) Learn his craft

2) Change careers

3) Stop being full of E36 M3

For fun, I'm going see if my wife, 18 y/o daughter, & 15 y/o daughter can explain the difference between the two tonight.

I'm sure my 18 y/o daughter will stick the landing and I've got even odds on the other two ; lets see.

 

My wife knew but only because she loves the movie My Cousin Vinny

In reply to JThw8 :

Did everyone read that in her cute little nasal voice; good!