Bullet Proof Diff conversion for any vehicle!

[DanTurboLancer]

Here is my diff conversion i have completed into my 74LA Lancer.
and if this fits into a Lancer, it will fit into bloody anything!!!

GQ Nissan Patrol diff.

I was looking for a cheap diff with a strong LSD
And strong axles.


So i came across the Patrol diff range......


There are loads of them about, which makes them easy and cheap to find.
(you could prob find afew up the bush with free parts)
They come LSD standard, and for a 2.5tonne off road vehicle,
so they are a good LSD.
Big brakes, and large Ventilated rear disks.

they have a range of ratios....
3.9:1
4.1:1
4.3:1
4.6:1
So they are similar to what most would be chasing....

And best of all they have Huge axles
43mm Diameter (45mm at the bearing race)

A 9" only has 33mm Axles!!!



I thought with the much bulkier size of housing and axles tubes (90mm Diameter)
I would have lots of troubles, but you will see from my photos it has gone together quite smoothly.
And as I said thats into a little Lancer.



So here we go....

I bought a set of diffs, thats front and rear diff for $500
(As a set is how they are usually advertised, I will sell the front diff)

To Shorten and respline the axles by a machine shop was $380

I left the 6 stud pattern as is, I want to use the patrol Brakes, and im getting spacer plates made so it will suit my 4 stud wheels FWD offset. But the axle width is factory Lancer,
so i also have a pair of 6 stud 15" rims that i can bolt on....

The stud pattern for the GQ Patrol is the same as:
Landcruiser 56' to 98'
Navara
and Hilux to 98'
I found a set of 15" off a Rodeo fit too

I had new U bolts made from scratch $33 each

Shorten the diff housing $600

I made the base mounting plates, mines a leaf rear end (very easy) 8mm plate.

I bought a Patrol Tail shaft $100 (see if you can score one with the diffs, i couldnt)

Tailshaft Yoke and uni swap and balance cost $.......... Still waiting atm

12 Chrome wheels Nuts $30

4 Litres Nulon LSD 85w-140 oil $41

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Optional Extras
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I didnt have to, but I had new Wheel Bearings fitted,
They are abit expensive, but very strong, and the kit came with new seals.
Kit was around $180
Fitted for $315

One of the Brake Calipers had Seized, so I had have the calipers rebuilt.
2 New Disks,
and a Brake Bias valve.... all up $350


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Here are some photos of the conversion...
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The factory Lancer diff against the Patrol,
you can see the obvious size difference


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Sorry its hard to balance a diff, hold the tape, and take a photo ;)
But you get the rough idea...

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Checking Height clearances...

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Here I am Trial fitting the Housing for final Measurements for centering.
My biggest concerns were the clearance for Fuel Tank,
and The front/top of diff centre and floor pan clearance....

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I had allowed afair bit for clearance in my initial measurements,
Cleared Fuel Tank no worries

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Wont even have to change the current exhaust...



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Think I may have to cut that rubber abit shorter....



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Ok got all parts tonight, so the plan is to fit it all this weekend, so more pics to follow.....

Cheers Dan

[DanTurboLancer]

So you know, unless you are doing at home yourself,
expect about a month for all machining depending on how busy they are.
Then allow another couple of weeks for extras....

So here are some photos of all the items.
and for the Jenny Craig crowd
(Weight Concious)
Here are the actual weights of the items too

Diff housing (Cut down for factory Lancer width) - 21kgs (Surprisingly light right)
LSD Centre - 38kgs
Axle - 17kgs Each
Brake Disk - 7kgs Each

Total weight 107 kgs
small sacrifice for strength.

Other parts in list

Axles are a 33 spline

The U bolts are made 200mm x 90mm ID x 13mm
The thread is 13mmx1mm and 60mm long

Mounting plates for under side of leaves

Brake Bias Valve
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Here I am cutting up some spare factory Saddle plates to use the shock mount.



Dont bother commenting on my shitty welds lol





If you are looking for some anchors....




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For my car the rear brake line is on the Left side.
However the Patrol brake line is on the right side of the diff.
And so I couldnt just connect up the flexible brake line(Too short)

And I couldnt get a longer 1 piece hose made to replace the Patrol one.
as the hose going to the diff is a fixed item attached to the splitter, for the solid hoses to each caliper.
I noted that the Lancer brake line had the same fitting as the Patrol.
So i had a Male - Male fitting hose made.
(they only make a male to male threaded solid fitting (no hose) in Imperial)
But this way you can get the Patrol one side, and what ever you require to suit your car on the other!

Then i used both the Flexible hose that was fitted to the Lancer, and the Flex brake hose fitted to the Diff, with the connector hose between.
This gave me enough length to reach upto the floor and
secure the hose up away from contacting any moving parts,
but also enough left over to allow for suspension travel.
Cost $20




Holden Rodeo Rims, 15" x 6", 195/50/15


And on the ground all tucked away neatly





Think ill have to paint the under carriage next ;)

[S1GMARE]

Interesting alternative. The cost of your conversion is no more or less than any other set up.
Hopefull this will reduce the amount of, "LSD in a Sigma" threads. But I doubt it will.

Well done.

[COBWBS]

Hopefull this will reduce the amount of, "LSD in a Sigma" threads. But I doubt it will.

Well done.

Is there a Bolt in LSD for a sigma?? I want to drift it.

[psshhhht]

yeah good question Cob, so do I, anyone know of one? ;)

[Sideshow]

overkill? 107kgs? when i pulled the housing out of my LA with disc brakes and lsd it weighed 52kgs. more than double the weight of standard..... when my conversion is done i'll put some pics up.... but then again all the purists will be upset with what i'm doing to my lancer, but u will all see in time......

[S1GMARE]

Is there a Bolt in LSD for a sigma?? I want to drift it.[/quote]

I remember seeing on the old site, someone found a company in china that does direct bolt on lsd kits for sigmas. And when they did a EOI nobody wanted them.

[stealth]

soso far this has cost you $2057 and your stuck with 6 stud
and the biggest un-sprung weight to reduce handleing mmmmmm
im confused as to why you went his way ?
its way heavyier than a nine inch man
im not canining you im just lost the the confusion!
cheers stealth

[COBWBS]

should put a air locker in it.

Mini spool at the touch of a button..
I still rekon B-W are the way to go. Holden that is.. Not R33 junk..

[sig2L]

yeah i mean i know you wont have strength issue's but how much power are you making?my hilux diff conversion was under 1k and i doubt i will break that as long as i stay under the 500rwhp mark.....

[DanTurboLancer]

all good points, just another option for you ;)

As I said I chose to keep the 6 stud so i could use the much bigger brakes
And my mags are FWD Offset, so i needed a Spacer plates made anyway...

You could always get the axles machined down and redrilled to suit 4 stud, but the PCD is too small to use the Patrol gear
but Sigma brakes, or something upgraded would certainly do the job.

Stock Lancer diff is half the weight, but pretty hard to find the LSD centres and axles are tiny.
Id snapped axles in my old Lancer with a MIG Locker, then put in a Sigma diff MIG Locker, and blew an axle in that too....


Air locker is defintely another option, but more cost, and added wiring and air lines etc.
When you have an LSD for $500

And loads of spares and upgrades for the clutches and any parts are easy to get and cheap.

Out of interest, what does a 9" weigh complete?

I never said it was the lightest and cheapest option, but its another option
But all feed back is good
Cheers guys.

[mbrallying]

That is cool, I'm all for seeing stuff thats different. And it will be UNBIRSTABLE!

However I still like my hilux diff that I didn't have to shorten to fit in my galant, but I've since found that the hilux LSD is rubbish, and the reputation of the patrol unit is legendary in the 4wd world.

Cool mate, I like.

[stealth]

ok the 9 inch that we use is a custom fabricated housing
made out of chrome moly 4130 with a 40 spline ally full spool
billet hollow axels and a cv kit with 380mm discs and 4 spot
calipers also dont forget the watts link bars are welded to the housing
and it weighs 64kgs
anyway its just my opinoin,yes,and im not having a go in anyway
ive been down this road and come to this conclusion
on the next lacer i build im going to get a full spool machined up to suit
the 8 bolt and change the axel to a billet one possably hollow and use a
31 spline and you can get this done by modena for $1450 with a lifetime
warrenty and plenty of gears availble cheap as
if you want big ass brakes do the set like the one in my v6lancer
b/g 280mm discs i can nearly put you though the windscreen
cheers stealth

[BIG26L]

Hmmm.....Last time i checked, Lancers weren't eligble for V8 Taxicar racing????????????

....and I don't a 900kg roadcar needs 380mm rear brakes and camber wedges for the street, either.

[DanTurboLancer]

You are right BIG26L, the average daily or street car wont need all this, and it is absolutely
overkill.

But speaking for myself, i have been let down with blown drivelines plenty of times.

For a daily streeter, a patrol diff, Major overkill, a 9" probably is too.
And not to speak for Stealth, but im pretty sure he isnt talking about running the stock 1.4L




I would definitely recommend considering the Hilux option, or Borg Warner,
both very good diffs, and at a great price too.
And much lighter for sure!



I didnt start the thread to tell everyone to definetly do this conversion,
or to argue what is the best option.
I just did it, and thought i would share what was involved.

Hopefully some people can take from it and apply it to what ever conversion they choose.



D

[stealth]

no worries dan
i just wanted to put my two cents in ;)
as i said the diffs we use are an overkill for most
but in my lancer i use the 28 spline borg warner with a 280 disc
5 stud ford 3.23 gears ,i had a cusco lsd actually had 3 of them
and broke two then got the shits as it coundnt do limos at over
135kph so i put a full spool in it now im thinking about a air locker
but it worked a treat and my car weighs 910kgs with 306kw at hub
also remember that this is a track car and gets abused heavilly every
time i turn key ahh good times
cheers stealth

[DanTurboLancer]

No worries Stealth

as I said I appreciate any feed back.

Interesting that you blew 2 cusco 9" centres.
Guessing they are Mechanical LSD?
And you are resorting to a full spool.

As I said when i first started this, i wanted bullet proof,
and not completely locked diff in a street driven car.


Just waiting on the Tailshaft now, hopefully it wont shit itself in the first week LOL

[stealth]

its not a 9 inch its a b/g
and what your after is not possible lsd's a light cars dont
work it will limo to up to a point then let go i had my cusco
set at 240ft pound and with a 16/225/50 at 135kph it would let go big time
and it was the best out all the options that were available
the differance between a lsd and a spool in my car was 4seconds around willowbank
so the choice for me is easy and yes im using a 8 bolt in my daily driver
the other point to make is that at 240ft pound the lsd is that tight that
when parking and low speed its a locker anyway
cheers stealth

[DanTurboLancer]

ahh ok, yeah just saw it did say BW thanks for that man!

So you have had me pondering afew questions now.
Like when you say it let go over 135ks,
you mean stopped working as a limo and just started spinning 1 wheel right?

and is this in your Lancer?

Is it a 1way, 1.5way or 2way?

When you are doing 135 and it lets go, is that in 4th or 5th?
is that on a flat track, or going up or down a slight incline?

Is that when you have shifted up a gear and giving it heaps?
or already in top gear and throttling on and off to come around a slight corner or something?

Lastly, when you wound the pressure in the clutches right up,
did it made the problem actually better, or actually worse?

Im thinking im pretty sure i will have the same problem, and just trying to work out why.
But it will be a street and occasional hill climb/track, so losing a couple of 10th, or seconds a lap, isnt a real worry.

Cheers
D

[stealth]

ok yes this is in my green lancer
yes at around 135kph and over on spins one wheel the one thats unloaded
mid corner hard on the long pedal and on down shifts and when your doing
lock to locks in 3rd gear onwards
its was a 2 way pin style tru lock lsd made by cusco(big coin)
the bigest problem is that your not ment to drive it that hard lsd/s arnt up to
it thats why the spool is your best freind with attitude
and the tigher you set your clutches the better BUT by tightening clutches
your just making it a locker any way
hope this helps
cheers stealth

[psshhhht]

little confused, the LSDs don't hold up to abuse? what about all the drift cars, most of which run 1.5-2way LSD (many of which are also cusco) they spend all their time sideways and mostly above 100km/h yet hold up... like not arguing, just wondering what i missed
Cheers mate

[stealth]

yeah and we make 3500hp out a 471ci hemi FOR ABOUT 30SECONDS
but hay it passes in under 6 seconds!
mate those drift cars you see doing big skids DONT do that all day
everyday forever!
those guys spend HUGE money to do this dont kidd yourself
nothing is bullet proof if you try hard enough your can brake anything
within reason
as i said i had three cusco 2 way lsd's and broke two (replaced under warrenty)
and sold the third one is was worth $2000 and bought a full spool brand new for $120
cheers stealth

[panda]

Excellent thread Stealth. Top marks for trying something different. It doesn't matter what others think, so long as you are happy with the finished job. At least its reality, & not just a dream

[DanTurboLancer]

errr thanks Panda, i think

Well here she is with the wheels on and ready to go.........

[panda]

Now thats uneeek !!!! Bet no-one else has a 6 stud Lancer.

[DVSGAL]

Woah!! Very nice Dan!!! ;)

[sigmare]

Excellent conversion.

Its nice to see someone actually attempting this sort of conversion.
And for all you big diff haters... ITS NOT OVERKILL IF IT DOESN'T BREAK!!

[COBWBS]

I can now count like.. 5 ppl who spend big money on there cars on this site!

It's amazing.

I wish i had money coz id have the biggest diff right now..

[larace]

Way to go Dan ,show all the neysayers how to do stuff

Pioneering Fast cars of yesteryear were never built of parts from a shelf

THEY were built using bits they could get their hands on and cobbled together to give a desired result just as you have done

Bravo for thinking outside the box, just 'cause someone said "no" did not stop your project going the way you want

the great thing 'bout this unit is that its all steel housing ,so the siggy boosted crew can weld on some susp link "ears" to put one of these units into sigma's (not possable wit B/W cast housings)

top work

[psshhhht]

really nice work mate, those rims actually really look good with the car, simple design but suits the lines, and the powder-coated white looks the goods too, esp with the blue!