I will be ordering Quaife LSD for my base, manual 350Z pretty soon. While down there, what else should I replace/upgrade? Drive shaft/differential bushings maybe? I don't really have any idea.
Thanks for any advice

 

First off, think twice before getting a Quaife. A couple of people on here, including myself, have had problems with the install where the unit didn't fit properly and we were stuck with a $1000 paper weight. Search the forums to find those post and then make your decision. You might be better off looking for a used one since you'll know that one will fit with no issues.

As for other things done while installing the LSD, I had differential mounts installed and 4.083 gears put in. I don't think it's wise to switch out the drive shaft considering it's already carbon fiber. I don't think you'll find anything stronger/lighter than the stock one, but I could be wrong.

 

Diff bushings.

 

Hah, sorry, I meant bushings, not mounts. I went with whiteline poly bushings myself. But some have gone with the solid bushings. Some people complain about the noise with the solid bushings, some don't. Again, read up on it.

 

I wouldn't do solid bushings unless you track the **** out of your car.

 

^+1

Whiteline Diff bushing works really great.

Replace bearings too, including oilseals

plenty of info on here:
https://my350z.com/forum/autocross-r...erentials.html

Quaife install
https://my350z.com/forum/engine-driv...tall-pics.html

 

Diff cooler, diff brace, SPL bushings when I did my quaife

 

SPL diff bushings, Whiteline subframe bushings, Nismo diff cover , fresh bearings and seals. Grab a 3.7 or 3.9 gear set if you can.

 

Thanks for the replies and links, guys. I decided on the Quaife unit a while back. Its easy maintenance (or lack thereof) is the deciding factor I don't drift, I simply need to get rid of the one-wheel-spin wonder, especially as it gets wet and cold outside

Did some reading. Here's what I've concluded so far.

Fitting shouldn't be an issue with QDF11L, as I have the base model. All of the issues seem to stem from VLSD replacements and spare diffs pulled from autos.
I will be getting the Whiteline bushings. Just need to refresh the old rubber with something more rigid, not to build a race car.
Bearings and oil seals will be on order, too.
The bolts, I'm assuming, should be reusable.

Now, if I can figure out backlash and shims

Am I set then?

 

Ring gear bolts should always be replaced if they have any mileage on them.

I would absolutely suggest changing the gear ratio when installing the diff, it increases the labor though: just changing diff means you don't have to deal with pinion depth.

I would suggest my route but i don't care about noise

- Quaife Diff
- 4.083 ring and pinion
- OEM pinion and carrier bearings
- OEM Seals
- New Ring Gear bolts
- SPL Solid Alum Diff Mounts
- Nismo Finned Diff cover

 

I don't want higher gear ratios. It's my DD and I put many highway miles on it. It's actually a fresh breath from my old Mazda 3, where I had to shift 4 times between traffic lights. 0-60 with 1 shift FTW
Noise doesn't matter to me either (JCT clutch/flywheel combo ) but I feel like having solid bushings where rubber was used by the OEM creates undue stress elsewhere in the system
The car has 30K miles on it... You recommend doing pinion bearing?

 

Change your gears. It's a matter of 500rpm per mph. It's insignificant in the lower gears and requires no extra effort from you. Not that you need t, but you can get better mpg by skipping gears, with or without gears.

 

If you did have an itch to do the gears consider what type of driving you do. I have a pretty even mix of in town and for lack of a better term super highway. Drive every day to work going anywhere between 75 and 85.

In town I'm getting a little better mileage actually becuase I use the powerband different now but yes out on the highway in top gear it by pure physics has to get lower mpg. I used to average 22.3 or so, now averaging 21.5 or so after 5,000 miles with the new gears. It's not like you are going to automatically get a 15% decrease in mpg becuase of the gear ratio change. You would have to drive 100% highway and never come to a stop!

I'd vote for solid bushings even with a little added noise. I know if I keep my car another 5-10 years I will never have to replace them again. All of mine were cracked and needed to be replaced. I figured when the diff was out I was doing every mod I could afford and made sense. You don't need a Nismo cover unless you are going to track it on a hot day from what people have told me. If you get poly bushings you may want a brace but try it without first, that just bolts on and the price on it is crazy for what it is. For me it made no sense to do solid bushings AND a brace. You are going to enjoy the night and day difference on the diff anyway even without the gears so go with your gut and your budget. I get much more enjoyment out of the diff compared to the extra grunt from the gears. The car is completely different now. Good luck!

 

I agree with not changing the gear ratio unless you dont use it much for daily driving. stascom. There seems to be a lot of people in the sport car community that push for higher FD ratio, but I agree with the engineers at Nissan that are much smarter than most in the sports car community. Changing the ratio is a cheat in my opinion with some drawbacks. Horsepower is always a better way to go fast, not changing your FD so that is has more acceleration at the expense of more shifting, and lower fuel economy. Think about what you do most. Do you really want to sacrifice 1-2mpg and more labor shifting for a slight acceleration improvement that you only really need for a tiny fraction of thousands of miles?

 

I have yet to see one person tell him he needs differential fluid. Please make sure you get differential fluid and the right kind. Without any fluid at all its going to burn up.

 

It's a night and day difference in the "feel" of driving the car. It's definitely one of those things you can't recommend until you try it for yourself. If I were to leave my car completely stock, I'd recommend the final gear and a differential upgrade.

 

I wouldn't do solid bushings unless you track the **** out of your car.

 

Thanks, guys. I appreciate all of the input. I'm pretty set on leaving the gears alone and swapping to poly bushings.

Yes, of course, I will put fluid in I have 3 bottles of Redline goodness waiting
With Quaife diff, do I need to flush it shortly after install? I figured, since there are no clutches, there shouldn't be any wear (shavings), so I can just fill it the first time and leave it for 30k-40k miles. Yes/no?

 

Now that you know what you want, are you doing this yourself? Are you expecting to do it all in one day or weekend since it's your DD or can it be "down" if you forget some special tools or whatever happens? I can give you a short list of things I didn't expect if you want a few warnings...

 

Any info helps, man. I will try to do it myself. One thing that worries me is the shims. Most reviews I've read say that no additional/different shims were needed during install. However, there are 16 different sized available for a reason; it would be a ***** waiting for them to come in (2-3 days out). I would probably have to put the old setup back on while I wait for them.