oakland240 Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I am the proud owner of a CLSD r200 going in my project (currently has stock 180 installed, bought the car as a scarab with a 350), after seeing the FAQ I am fairly confident I can fit in my car. My question is this...can I bolt up the stock '71 240z half shafts to the r200 as a temporary solution to make the car driveable and then replace them to go to the 300zxt axles as a separate step? I would just keep the existing r180 in there for now except I'd prefer not to have to re-cut the driveshaft to put in the LSD. If the stock half shafts fit is there any reason not to use them temporarily with the lsd other than the strength issues? If this has been discussed before please point me to the thread, it seems like a basic question but I didn't see an answer when I searched. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 You can bolt it in if you have the parts needed from a 280Z R200 (mustache bar, curved link behind the diff, the companion flange, and the side stub flanges). Then you need to worry about the halfshafts being too long. You can cut the axle down to make it work, several people have done that and documented it, search and you'll find info. You'll also find info on the driver's side being too long at www.betamotorsports.com in the bench racing section. If you get the 300ZXT adapters from www.modern-motorsports.com, you'll have a similar problem where both of the CV axles are too long. I'm going to have a new solution for that problem in the next couple weeks. I can either sell you shorter CV shafts so that they don't bottom out when you use Ross's setup, or I could sell you an entirely different CV setup, but my setup would require you to either buy my stub axles or to upgrade to 280Z stubs which have 27 splines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakland240 Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 You can bolt it in if you have the parts needed from a 280Z R200 (mustache bar, curved link behind the diff, the companion flange, and the side stub flanges). Then you need to worry about the halfshafts being too long. You can cut the axle down to make it work, several people have done that and documented it, search and you'll find info. You'll also find info on the driver's side being too long at www.betamotorsports.com in the bench racing section. If you get the 300ZXT adapters from www.modern-motorsports.com, you'll have a similar problem where both of the CV axles are too long. I'm going to have a new solution for that problem in the next couple weeks. I can either sell you shorter CV shafts so that they don't bottom out when you use Ross's setup, or I could sell you an entirely different CV setup, but my setup would require you to either buy my stub axles or to upgrade to 280Z stubs which have 27 splines. The more I read about this stuff the more I think I should keep the existing r180 in there to make my car driveable, then do the entire lsd swap. If your kit is not too much money I'd be very interested in it. The the companion flange and the side stub flanges you talk about....both of those connect to the differential side of the axles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 There are two "stub axles" in the back of the car. There is the part that the wheel bolts to, which is a stub axle. It has a shaft that sticks through the strut housing, and there is a companion flange on the other side, this all bolts together and holds the rear wheel bearings in. There is another stub which fits into the side of the differential. Between the diff stub and the companion flange you put the halfshaft or CV shaft. If you want to simplify things, I would get all the parts you need first. That means the mustache bar and parts from a 280Z R200 and either a CV kit that fits correctly or a shortened driver's side halfshaft. Consider your outer stub axle options (leave it alone vs upgrade to chromoly) and then make a decision about whether you feel you need to upgrade. You do not need the R200 to drive the car, but the CLSD makes a HUGE difference in how the car feels and is well worth the effort in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 oakland240, I hope you don't mind me jumping in to your thread. I have read up on the R200 swap in to the 240Zs and am not 100% sure why the R200 with u-joint half-shafts fits fine in the 280Z but leads to binding in the 240Z. JMortensen, are the 240Z wheel-side stub axle and companion flange combination wider/thicker (from wheel mount surface to companion flange surface) on the 240Z? Is that where the lost width comes from? From what I can find the 240Z and 280Z have the same track width. If this is true, then one option to allow using an R200 in a 240Z would be to install the rear suspension and hubs from a 280z in to the 240Z to get the thinner stub axle/companion flange assembly, with more space from wheel-side companion flange to wheel-side companion flange. This should give all of the dimensions from a 280Z. Of course, springs, ride height and brake components would have to be considered to make everything work together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Simple answer: I don't know. The reduced ride height of a 240Z should give more clearance, see this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/100094-cv-axle-discussion/page__st__20 As to why they work in the 280 but bind in the 240, I don't really know. We're using the 280 mustache bar, so unless the bolts through the frame are in a different spot, the diff should be in the same spot from left to right. I haven't measured a 280Z control arm for length, nor have I measured the thickness of the companion flange vs the 240, maybe there is a difference there. Internet legend says that the 280 halfshafts are shorter, John Coffey and I and many others have checked that one and found it not to be true. There are several problems with swapping the 280 suspension in: the insulators are taller (easy enough to swap those out), the strut inserts are taller (could be sectioned, but not as easy a job), the springs are different lengths and the spring perches are different heights (not so bad if you're sectioning and running coilovers), the control arms and strut tubes are heavier, and the brakes are different (change prop valve???). I don't really know the differences above and beyond that, but I think that shortening the halfshaft is not that big a job, and probably easier to do than all the extra stuff necessary to swap 280 rear suspension into a 240. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 What is the benefit of swapping a 280 suspension into a 240? Spline count would be one thing, but you could just swap stub axles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Apparently there is little benefit. I only proposed it as an alternative way to get an R200 with u-joint half-shafts in to a 240Z, without having any binding problems. I'm just trying to understand why the distance between the wheel-side companion flanges on a 240Z appears to be less than that between the companion flanges on a 280Z, since both body styles have the same track width. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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