Blown77Z Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 (edited) I just recently finished up my Q45 rear end upgrade on my 280z yesterday I've been working on this swap for about 5-6 weeks now. It's pretty straight forward once you have all the necessary parts in order. I basically changed out EVERYTHING in the rear to limit my chance of having to do it over again, lol. Unfortunately I did NOT have a digital camera that worked at the time I had everything apart Ross from Modern Motorsports (MM) was awesome to deal with ! THANKS !!! www.modernmotorsports.com Details on the parts: 1995 Q45 R200 VLSD w/ new poly bushing kit 4 Q45 inner axle assemblies w/ new boots installed Custom MM axles MM billet companion flanges MM R230/R200 Diff mount kit MM Adjustable control arms New struts New spindle pins, lock bolts, nuts and washers New brake shoes (Upgrading to disk brakes in future) The MM pieces are VERY well made and bolt to the car like it came from the factory with it ! VERY pleased with the items I did a lot of research on the swap to make sure I purchased the right items needed. It was a fun learning experience for myself, which enabled me to better understand how the "rear end" of the car works, lol Now off to the dragstrip on Sunday to see what she does Edited March 7, 2009 by Blown77Z added more parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators BRAAP Posted March 7, 2009 Administrators Share Posted March 7, 2009 Very nice. Like the color scheme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo1jz Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Hey, you stole my setup ! J K. Looks great! How does the car behave, because I still have not been able to drive mine yet with this setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneSickZ Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Today I was suppose to have the rear tires alligned...... On the way to the shop, I heard a clunking sound from the passenger side axle area. I pulled the car over and noticed the outer boot had twisted itself around the axle.... meaning the INSIDE cage and ball bearing assembly had spun around So, I limped the car home, took the axle off to disassembe the outer boot. When I popped the boot off I noticed the large metal ring that holds the cage assembly inside the Q45 housing had come loose and popped out of it's groove !!! My theory is this metal ring was not fully seated in the groove when I installed it and had popped out allowing the cage assembly to come out to the edge and start to spin a little. I repaired the metal clip and made sure it was snug inside its groove, added more grease and reinstalled the axle. I'll test my "fix" tomorrow to see if it works................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneSickZ Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Goodluck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 My "fix" did not work.... The metal ring that holds the cage assembly inside the Q45 housing popped out again. I took a look at it after I removed it and it's bent to hell now. So, I have to source another one and hopefully won't have to buy another Q45 axle to get it.... Does Nissan sell these by themselves? On a side note, I measured both sides of the diff to it's corresponding companion flange and they do not match, the passenger side is about 3/4" LONGER than the driver side. Are both sides suppose to be of equal length? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 The metal ring in the CV will nopt ho;d things in place. I have a similar set up on one of my cars. YOu need something in the end of both CV's to keep the ael from walking to one side or the other. I've had this happen on both the inner and outer CVs. Ross sells them, just a metal disc that fits inside the end cap of the CVs. It is about 316 thick and machined to fit just inside the end cap. Good luck. No need to get another CV. The one you have will work fine when you get it back together with a stop inside the end cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Mark, I have the axle end stops installed in the housings...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Woot, I just bought my "new" metal ring from 1 tuff z, thanks dude ! I just went outside to mess with the axle some more and noticed the end stops on BOTH ends are loose fitting and move when I bottom out the axle on them. NOW I'm thinking my problem might be because the end stops move along with the axle and are not stopping it...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 The end stops should be between the end of the axel shaft and the end cap of the CV. They should be on the inside of the end caps. I hope that makes sense. Once it is all bolted together, the end cap should be locked into place by the lip on the inside of the outer edge of the CV and the adaptor on the outer CV or the diff out put flange on teh inboard side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Yes, the end stops are installed correctly with the raised portion inside the Q45 housing, lol. I talked to Ross earlier and he told me some of the end stops will be a little loose because of the way they are made, and in the past they have been made to large and would not fit. I need to double check the bearing assembly to see if I reversed it somehow when I installed it..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 I got a new keeper ring, installed it today and the axle still popped out of joint..... IDK what the hell is wrong with this axle. The only thing I can think of is the Q45 housing is somehow warped and is letting the ball bearings/guts spin INSIDE the housing itself. I'm going to buy another Q45 housing and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 It's not the housing. The snap ring is not strong enough to hold the guts in the CV. If you are pulling the guts out of the CV, the axel is too short. Are the cages flipped on both inner and outer CV's? If not you may want to try that. I see you are running adjustable control arms. Can you shorten the control arm and still keep you desired alingment setttings? It looks like you have pleny of thread to shorten the control arms. This would in effect lengthen the axel and keep the CV from pulling apart. I've been thru this. I know it sucks. Hang in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 Mark, thanks for that thought ! I have not had the rear end alligned yet, because I can't drive it, so I have no clue what the allignment is atm or how close it is to stock.... I will move the control arm in some more to redo the CV housing and see if that holds. I have thought about reversing the cages as a last resort, but I'm going to move the control arm inward some more first to see if that fixes the problem. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 Moving the control arm inward about 1/4" or so did not work by itself. I double checked the movement of the axle and it was not bottoming out while the car was sitting. Do the axles move from side to side when the car is moving? I reversed the cage assemblies on both sides of the axle, but I have to wait until I receive another Q45 assembly before I can test it again, since this one got chewed up this time... Mark, do your end stops move at all, or are they air tight??? Mine are not air tight and will move with no resistance what so ever..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm not sure what you mean by move. My end stops are just under the end cap of the cv and I still have the end cap on the CV. It all fits in tight. I could put the end stop on the end of the cv and it has enough space between the outer edge of the cv and the end stop to just fit the stock cv end cap in there. Does that make sense? The axels do move a bit from side to side. That is how it pops out. can you grab the axel and shove it inboard and feel the guts of the cv comming out of the out board side? The end stop should stop this. I've been messing with this set up for about 12 or 13 years. I've been thru this. You can fix it by having longer shafts made, shortening the control arms or increasing the thickness of the end stops. Flipping the cages will help a bit also. Increaseing the thickness of the end stops is pretty easy. You can weld something in the center of the end stop ( large nut, bar stock, and end cut off an old half shaft) I'd add at least a half an inch to each end stop. When you pull the axel apart, post a pic of your end stops. I want to see what Ross sent and how it fits in the CV housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 (edited) You put the stock tin cap OVER the end stops and snug fit them in??? I didn't catch that in your earlier posts Wow, I feel dumb now......... I shortened the length of the control arm is what I meant to type earlier BTW, I have a part number for the retaining ring for reference as well. I have bent these before and had a hard time sourcing them. Part # 281-14 http://www.rockfordcv.com/PDF%20Downloads/Retaining_Rings.PDF Reference image Edited March 23, 2009 by Blown77Z added part number Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I doubt that will fix your problem. That thin tin cap will only keep the grease in place. I left that retaining ring off my CV's long ago. If the axel is the correct length and the end stops are on both CV's the guts of the CV will not get near that ring. Just to be sure what is going on, when you get the new CV, shorten the contorl arms as much as they will go. Grab the shaft and see if you can feel the axel hit the stop. If you can feel the axel hit the stop, drive it and I'll bet it will not pull apart. Alingment will decide if you need to lengthen the control arm. If you do need to lengthen the control arm, you will need to add that length back in to the axel by either flipping the cages or adding material to the end stops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 As you already know, the Q45 has a lip where the end stop rests inside the housing. When the axle hits the end stop it pushes the end stop to the outer edge of this lip causing the axle to move further than it should. If I can get the tin cap back in it should prevent this from happening.. Here's a picture of the lip on my axle with NO tin cap installed, the axle is pushing the end cap to this outer lip until it hits the companion flange edge. Hope I made sense describing it, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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