Mike C Posted March 18, 2002 Share Posted March 18, 2002 If you can't get a universal shim set from a local driveline store, give Reider Racing a call. I'm sure they can set you up. The better shim sets have interlocking end pieces that make it easier to get 'em all in there, but the cheap ones work fine as well. If you measure the OD of the carrier bearing race and the stub od, I'll measure the universal shim set I have and let you know if that will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted March 18, 2002 Author Share Posted March 18, 2002 I've set up other rearends before, but this is my first R200. I'm installing a quaife, and it is about 0.010-0.012 narrower than the open diff, giving me excessive side clearance. Is there a source of shims for the R200, or do you make your own out of shim stock? The parts people at our local Nissan dealer looked at me as if I were from another planet. Also, what is the torque for the carrier bearing cap bolts? Thanks for the help. John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted March 19, 2002 Share Posted March 19, 2002 Excellent. Let me know how that Quaife works. I'm really interested in SOME sort of LSD, and If I'm going to spend $700 or so, why not spend $900? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted March 19, 2002 Author Share Posted March 19, 2002 Mike, thanks for the help. I found a set of generic shims at a local parts house that worked perfectly. I didn't know to ask about universal shims until you mentioned it. The backlash was about 0.035 to start with, got it down to 0.006 with a nice pattern on the gears. I'm going to put the rearend back in the car tonight, hopefully try her out tomorrow. I'm going to a driver ed school this weekend, and was really hoping to get the quaife installed. Thanks again for the help. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted March 26, 2002 Author Share Posted March 26, 2002 Mike, the first rearend was a disaster. Even though it looked pretty good when I set it up, when I put it in the car, it sounded like a jet airplane. The guy I got it from said it was making a noise, and that was a huge understatement. Pulled it back out, tore it down, the gearset was junk. Tore down my good diff, put the quaife in it, set it up again, put it back in the car. This was a success. Quiet as could be. Took the car to a HPDS at Carolina Motorsports Park at Kershaw, SC. I was really impressed with the quaife. Previously any hard throttle app would lite up the inside rear tire, particuarly the right rear. With the quaife, both rear tires hooked very well until they would both break loose. What I really like was that the engagement was very smooth- you couldn't feel the diff grab like a locker, and their was no minor slippage of the inside rear like lsd's usually do. I was really pleased and would buy another. There's a lot of little gears in there, but quaife says they have a lifetime warranty. I'm sold. John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 26, 2002 Share Posted March 26, 2002 Unless I overlooked this in the manual, I never saw what the preload of the carrier bearings should be. Did you measure this when you installed the shims, or make a good guess? I know from removing the carrier that it's pretty tight from the factory. The two I removed had to be forced out and then forced back into the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted March 27, 2002 Author Share Posted March 27, 2002 blueoval, I couldn't find any info on the preload either. The good diff that I wound up using was very tight, like yours. I had to use two large pry bars to lift the carrier out of the housing. I took the ring gear off and reinstalled the carrier with the same shims, and it took 10-12 inch-pounds to turn the carrier. I reinstalled the quaife to the same amount of torque, adding several thin shims cause the quaife was narrower than the open carrier. This was so tight that I had to put all the thin shims in, then tap the thick spacer in with a brass hammer. I had to tap it hard enough that I was worried about breaking or deforming it. Once again, I had to pry the quaife out with two large bars. Other rearends I had done, mostly Mopar 8 3/4's, have a screw type adjuster to set the preload, so this spooked me a little. So far, at least, it seems to working well. It's very quiet, and after about 500 miles I changed the oil and the magnet was perfectly clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 27, 2002 Share Posted March 27, 2002 Thanks jt1. Your experience mirrors mine to a Tee as far as getting the carrier and shims in and out of the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted March 30, 2002 Share Posted March 30, 2002 It's good to hear that there's a universal shim kit that will work. I'd love to get the brand and PN for it. When I pulled the carrier out of my LSD R200, it was difficult to remove and I had to gently pry it out. When I put it back together, the kitchen refrigerator freezer helped immensely You should have seen the wife's face: Anyway, it dropped right in. Of course, since it was mid Summer ni the muggy DC area, it started to sweat immediately. I put it together quickly and filled it with oil and spun it around to keep rusting to a minimum. No problems since. Oh, a guy that used to work for Nissan Motorsports turning wrenches on the race cars, and now the owner of SMC products told me a trick he used to use on setting up these rears. He said that since there's trial and error in setting the pinion depth and since the bearing is pressed on the pinion, he would take an old good one and hone the ID so it would be a nice slip fit on the pinion. Then R&Ring the pinion into the case was easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 30, 2002 Share Posted March 30, 2002 Woman just don't see the humor in using the kitchen as a extension of the shop. My soon to be ex-sis-in-law was a bit surprised to find my vibration dampener warming in the oven before installation. Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 I'm glad the second install went cleanly, but I feel your pain on having to re-do the whole darn thing! Pete, any driveline shop will have the shim kits, just make sure the id is larger than the stub axle and the od is smaller than the carrier bearing race. The interlocking ones are MUCH easier to install since all the shims don't try to come apart. It's very typical that their is an interference fit on the carrier bearings. I have not done an r200, but many 10 and 12 bolt chevys. I have a general "feel" for what is right for preload can't explain it exactly, but they diffs work! A Dana 44/60 gear set uses more preload than the GM housing, but they make a case spreader that opens them up about .015 or so to drop in the assembly. The Dana, unlike the GM, has the shims BEHIND the carrier bearings, so adjustments are a first class PITA! Proform has a universal pinion depth checker that is available from Jeg's for $99. If you could find a source for the numbers (Or just measure a few different r200s) you could do fresh installs. Unlike my T&D tool that uses machined aluminum discs that go in the caps, the Proform tool (As well as the Preciscion Measurement tool)use the machined cap surface. You measure from the surface to the bottom of the bearing bore, then to the top of the pinion gear. Do a little math to calculate where the axle centerline is and their you go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted April 3, 2002 Author Share Posted April 3, 2002 Pete, sorry on the brand name and parts numbers. We dug thru a big box with about a zillion shims in it, no names or numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted April 3, 2002 Share Posted April 3, 2002 Cool - it's good to know that they're available somewhere other than Nissan, that gets an arm and a leg for them, I'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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