dom2248

Ok I am not asking a question of how to do it or can it be done. I am sharing my 2 cents on the topic.

About 6 months ago I welded the diff on my 03 Base. It will clunk a good bit and tight parking is difficult. However, that is ok to me. The part I could not take was that it wore my BRAND NEW 275 wide tire bald in 6 months. I knew it would be rough but that was fast.

So I ordered a VLSD from a 07 track edition and went to install it. I tried to just use the ring gear that came with the new diff. NO GO. So after I finally swap the old ring gear on the new diff I go to slide the axles in and only one side goes all the way in. I do some research and find that there are different axles, GREAT I think. I look at what is holding the axle from going in and notice a ring. More research tells me this is a snap ring that holds the axle in. After much thought I decide to take out the snap gear. CHACHING. It goes right it and I'm on my way.

So everything seems to be working fine after 1 day of driving. I will post up if anything good/bad happens. I thought I might let you guys know and see your thoughts on doing this.

Wu-Watt

iTrader: (24)

So the ring gear was from a 3.3fd? Your car is manual or auto? Thats probably what happened there.
As far as the axles go, theres probably nothing holding the axles in place. I had this problem and personally saw the issue myself. The axles would go in, but not all the way. I'm guessing the allowed movement will cause your diff to prematurely wear out... I'm guessing you didnt get the axles with the new diff? D'oh!

dom2248

I assume the final drive is from an automatic. Everytime I tried to tighten the caps that hold the diff it would jam up. My car is a 6spd.

I thought about the axles falling out but the snap ring is only on one side. So that means that Nissan designed it so it is possible for the axle to fall out. Either way I am saving up for a Quaife just in case. I got this and put the factory rims/tires on because my tires were destroyed.

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

Not that it matters but if you got a VLSD from a track, it wouldn't have an automatic ring gear as there are no automatic track models. An auto VLSD and manual VLSD are not the same either, so who knows what you really got.

That ring is necessary to actually keep the output shaft (not axle.the axle is what bolts to the output shaft) in place. Removing it is a bad idea. There are 2 different length output shafts on a VLSD equipped car for a reason - one of which is because a VLSD does not sit centerline in the pumpkin like the open diff does - it is offset to one side.

e30cabrio

iTrader: (30)

My research caused me to decide to get a Quaife. I have had it for months and have never regretted the choice.

So the Quaife for the base makes up for that offset and allows the use of the original shafts?

dom2248

Z1. I am confused on what you mean that the VLSD is offset. All diffs are offset to allow the pinion to mesh with the ring gear.