Z-TARD Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 I'm thinking of swapping in a rear end out of an Infiniti J-30. It is a short nose R-200 VLSD, approx 3.90 ratio, and looks almost identical to the R-230 except that it has 5 bolt CV flanges instead of the 6 bolt R-230 flanges. The "Easy" way for me to swap this would be to use the diff side of the infiniti CV's with the stub side of a 280ZXT CV. Cut the shafts near the center, bevel them to ensure a full penetration weld, and TIG weld with 80S-2 filler wire (chromoly). Maybe have a short section of Crmo pipe to slide over the welded joint, overlapping on either side by a few inches and welded to the shaft with a small fillet weld. I can weld them together without them warping or becoming offset by staggering the weld beads to even out stress induced by cooling. Has anyone tried this, or seen it done before? Any horrific failures? Any suggestions on post weld heat treatment? Any opinions or options are appreciated. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 I've done this with formula car powered by a small motorcycle engine. One broke, but after I re-did the process again it (both) held up fine. but this was a 3/4" shaft on a light car with little torque. Add 2 thousand pounds, wide tires, and gobs of torque, and I would guess that this will not live long. The pipe surround will be a necessity regardless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 How will you ensure that the shaft stays perfectly straight? Thos shafts are heat treated/hardened (at least surface). I wouldn't do it. Can you imagine those two halves flapping around at the end of a 1/4 mile run at 90+ mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dot Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 I’m with Tim. I doesn’t sound like a good idea. I cut mine, but they were Vette, 3 inch drive shaft tubes. Completely different. I have broken two ½-shaft suspension bearing, U-joints at speed. Not fun. There are no short cuts here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted April 19, 2004 Author Share Posted April 19, 2004 Thanks for the input guys. I kinda figured that welding would be a bad idea. I've welded on hydraulic piping that ran up to 5000 psi without any problems, but thats still not quite the same as making a structural weld on a 1 inch shaft that will have several hundred foot pounds of tourque being applied through it. I've found a website that has some information on using the shafts from the front of an AMC eagle for this swap, so I think I will investigate that possibility. If nothing else, I guess I can weld up some mock up shafts and send them to Moser to have real ones manufactured. http://www.eng.fsu.edu/~jthagard/ Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 I've done it a couple of times with no ill effects. However, my situation was identical to Terry's. 600cc motorcycle powered formula car, weighing about 520lbs. We were running slicks however. The prodecure I used was as follows: - Cut shaft to desired length - Face both ends in a lathe - Bore reasonably large dowel hole in each side with interference fit - Chamfer both ends for weld - Press in hardened dowel to align shaft - Using V-blocks for alignment, TIG weld shaft In this case we didn't use any type of sleeve over the shaft. One thing to consider when using shafts for anything, is that diameter is MUCH more important to the strength of the shaft than thickness of material. For example, 3/4" solid shaft has ~3 times less strength than a 1" shaft with a .095" wall thickness, despite the 1" shaft weighing 3 times less! Of course this is in pure torsion, but it's worth considering when dealing with shafts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Mike, I've got a few donor pairs of those axles here. I can easily do a CV adaptor on the outboard end if you want to run 4 joints all the same. Then you'd only need the one pair of custom shafts made, which I may be able to help you out with as I've done my buyin with Moser (whew!) The 280ZXT stub axles are a weaker piece vs. 280Z stubs AIR. I would reccomend a solution using custom shafts (ie. not spliced), for a few reasons. Much easier quality control and ease of replacement IF ever required. Peace of mind should be far greater. I've got several axles that are 5 bolt CV's from R230's that kind of surprised me, I thought all r230's were 6 bolts. Anyone know what differentiates 5 bolt's and 6 bolt's, 6 bolts just all turbo units? The 5 bolt axles appear very stout themselves, not as beefy as the massive typical 6 bolt pieces but still very stout! Drop me a direct email with any questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxgts-4 Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Ross I would check for confirmation that the 5 bolt 90mm Cv axles actually came from an R230 as they are normally used in R200v in Z32NA and Skyline. They may also be used in another domestic application that we dont have Aus, but to the best of my knowledge 6 bolt 100mm CVs are used for all R230v. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Ross I would check for confirmation that the 5 bolt 90mm Cv axles actually came from an R230 as they are normally used in R200v in Z32NA and Skyline. They may also be used in another domestic application that we dont have Aus' date=' but to the best of my knowledge 6 bolt 100mm CVs are used for all R230v. Neil[/quote'] Thanks, I'm quite comfortable 4 prs of 5 bolt 90mm CV's with 2 matching R230 4.06's (ie. output flanges-5 bolt) as well as a few other similar confirmed cases in a couple friends shops are confirmation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxgts-4 Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 G'day Ross Do you happen to know what model there out of, as 4.06 ratio is not one that I have heard of before and would like to keep my information up to date. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted April 21, 2004 Author Share Posted April 21, 2004 Ross, you have PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rytherwr Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 Ross,et al I should have read these posts before, I guess. Just got my Moser axles in as part of the R230 kit I bought from you. Great pieces! However, imagine my dismay when I tried to fit them to my FIVE BOLT ends and they didn't fit....the axles were too large. I was thinking Moser made a mistake until I came back to hybridz and your site and found out that I should be using 6-bolt ends. My 5-bolts have 27 splines and the Moser axle has 28 splines as well as being too large in diameter. I bought the half-shafts as R230's and the ends match the rear end I bought that was also advertised as an R230 out of a 93 300ZXT. The output flanges on the "R230" are 5 bolt. Configuration is the same as R230 pictures I have seen, so I'm not sure what I have. I DO know that it is a 4:08 geared VLSD. Anyway, I'm back to the drawing board and also hope that 6-bolt output shafts have the right spine to go in the rear-end I have. Will let all know how that turns out. Anybody who can decipher this is welcome. The R200v seems to be plausible, but I don't know much about these rear-ends. Well...I'm off to tilt the windmills...wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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