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J30 shortnose vlsd into open longnose R200


shupee

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Before you hammer me to bad YES I DID DO A SEARCH AND READ PAGES OF GOOD INFO-- But before I buy I just need to know for sure if I can use a J30 short nose VLSD in my R200 open housing. I know it has the odd 6 bolt stubs but if i'm reading this right I can re-use my open stubs into the new carrier and retain my u-joint halfshafts for now. I also realize that I must re-use my ring gear (3.54 ratio) with my original pinion shaft.

 

   thanks for answering this question before I commit on the J30 stuff

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You can do all of that but your open stub axle won't engage the two side of the VLSD viscous clutch.  You'll still have an open differental.  One of the VLSD axles is much longer than the similar axle in the open diff.

 

There's a thread on Hybridz somewhere from someone who cut the two axles and welded them together to make a hybrid axle.  It seems difficult and most pros don't recommend welding axles but he did it and says it works.  No idea how it's holding up.

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The J30's are VLSD.  They're shown in the pd chapter of the FSM if you want to take a look.  Many of them have a sticker on them that says "viscous" or similar, I believe.

 

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/J30/

 

There's another thread on Hybridz from a guy who used one open R200 axle/companion flange, and cut and welded the u-joint half-shaft flange on to the VLSD axle for the other side.  Same as before, says it works but not recommended.

 

The only easy, plug-n-play way to get limited slip seems to be the 87-89 Z31 CLSD's.  All of the other options require welding, and/or machining (adapters with mix and match CV shafts), or buying a kit from someone who's done the welding and machining.  It's a bummer.

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shupee-I have a shiro VLSD that I would part with complete with axles-very resonable.  PM me if interested.

 

Shupee- This would be a bolt in too ! You would just need the basic MM or Checkered Flag adapters ! 

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  • 2 months later...

Here's what I did to convert an open R200 diff to LSD...

 

I bought an LSD differential from a 240sx.

 

The LSD will bolt into the S30 long nose housing EXCEPT the ring gear needs to be swapped since they are different ratios and you need to match the ring and pinion...so reuse the open diff ring gear.  Like an idiot, I took out the LSD and open diff before unbolting the ring gear bolts.  It's difficult to get any torque on the bolts if its out.  I took it into a driveshaft shop since I don't know how to set backlash.  The only hangup is one differential uses M10 bolts while the other uses M12 bolts so a spacer will have to be made...no big deal.

Since the LSD differential won't work with the stock U joints, its a great opertunity to upgrade to the 280zxt axles.  The 280zxt splined shafts are the same as the stock 240sx stub axles and plug right in.

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The 280zxt splined shafts are the same as the stock 240sx stub axles and plug right in.

Have you compared lengths?  I'm fairly certain that one of the 240SX VLSD shafts is longer than the 280ZXT shafts.

 

The shorter 280ZXT shaft (or 280Z stub axles) will fit but won't engage with the VLSD unit.  It will be an open diff, not locking.

 

 

Edit - actually I already said this in post #2.....

Edited by NewZed
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  • 2 weeks later...

I was the one who welded the axle splines to engage the VLSD. I bet it would have worked, but I ended up buying a OBX Helical diff for 350, and just cut the welded section off my axle to run it stock. Never did try it on the road. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I was the one who welded the axle splines to engage the VLSD. I bet it would have worked, but I ended up buying a OBX Helical diff for 350, and just cut the welded section off my axle to run it stock. Never did try it on the road. 

 

So you used the stock r200 setup with U-joint axles?

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If you adapt the 6-bolt stubs to your axles or Pathfinder axles(with a spacer) it should work ! As long as the 6-bolt stubs are used in the open diff with the VLSD it should engage in theory !

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