seattlejester Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Hey guys, So planning on putting my diff back together and realized that one of the clips came out with my diff input. I've been told to hammer it back in, but the problem is that the clip came out on the axle is on the side that I will be replacing. The replacement axle is the 280zx turbo axle so it doesn't have an input flange, just the axle itself which is spring loaded on one end. Is there a tool for compressing the clip to put it back inside the differential? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I thought that most people just got the clip started in the hole then used something like a deepwell socket to keep it square while they tapped it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 That makes sense, so just compress it a bit, get it in the hole, then use a socket to keep it flat and push it in until it hits the groove and snaps in. Sounds reasonable enough, thanks Newzed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 So apparently with VLSD's the retaining clip is supposed to come out with the axle and it is supposed to stay with the axle on the drivers/shorter side. The cavity in the differential is quite a large expanse, nowhere for the spring clip to sit, it just ends up kind of bouncing around in there. When it is on the axle it acts as a stop to prevent the axle from pulling out. The many many pictures I found seems to indicate this as well as the fact that the diagram shows a distinct lack of the c-clip in just the images showing just the differential parts on the one side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Are you working with a VLSD? You said 280zx turbo axle in the first post. An assumption was made.. The VLSD's do use a clip on the axle itself. It's not the same clip either, it's round wire material, not square stock, I believe (I only have one VLSD so that's all I know). Did you push an old style clip in to a VLSD diff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Yes I should have clarified, putting a 280zx turbo axle into a VLSD on the driver side. Nope, I've just been playing with the round wire spring clip in the VLSD. I pulled it off the original stub and put it in where it is supposed to rest and realized that it wasn't correct. Diff is out of the car so it was pretty easy to remove. I'm planning on putting it onto the zx axle and then hoping to get it to seat without much fuss. I'm not sure how nicely it will go in being that one side is spring loaded. The groove for the ZX axle also doesn't look as deep as the infiniti axle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) The groove for the ZX axle also doesn't look as deep as the infiniti axle. I think the VLSD axle is machined for the wire diameter of the VLSD clip. I wouldn't use the old style clip in a VLSD. The spline and shaft tolerances in mine were so tight it was difficult to get the shaft in even without the clip. Probably makes for much less clunky operation than the older design. Edited January 11, 2016 by NewZed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Hmm I'll have to play around with that. It was a real tight fit with just the axles as you said, I'm not sure how nice it is going to be with the spring clip as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Not really sure what you're trying to do but without the very long VLSD axle, the VLSD "can" won't be engaged. You can fit the 28 spline ZX axles in the 28 spline Infiniti units but they will work like open diffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) Picture of the long "power transfer" axle. Edited January 11, 2016 by NewZed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Went around in a circle and found you. Post #479. Good luck. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/95789-seattlejesters-1971-240z/page-24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 SJ, I looked around to see about the C clips/snap rings/circlips and can only find part numbers for late model cars, like 2003 and up. But I did find a couple of interesting sites. Don't know what you'd measure to spec. the ring, but it might be informative. Because it shows a set of clips - http://forums.nicoclub.com/obx-300zx-lsd-with-halfshafts-bearings-t590228.html and a link it led me too, because they sell a variety - http://www.arconring.com/wire-snap-rings/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) Sorry for the lack of clarification. Long power axle side still has its retaining clip in the differential captive as designed. This is for the non engaging side. The longer engaging side will be reusing the infiniti input. The shorter one on the picture, as pictured it retains its ring when removed. My original thought was that the ring should be retained in the differential, but seems like it comes out with the axle. Since I plan on replacing the shorter side with just a 280zx axle and forgoing the input, I was thinking it would be easier to have the c-clip in the differential, turns out you just have to have the c-clip on the axle and it retains the axle in the void. Thanks for those links, it looks like I might need a thinner ring or maybe a deeper groove machined if the spring doesn't compress enough to clear the splines. Edited January 11, 2016 by seattlejester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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