hawairish

They’re the same length. The sensor on the snout is the ABS sensor. You can swap the entire 3rd member into your truck as-is. The sensor remains unplugged, of course.

Totally agree! Lockers definitely aren't cheap, but they're worth every penny if you wheel. I don't even go that often, but every time I do, I'm so glad I have them. If there's any downside, it's made things too easy sometimes...but in reality, if I'm out wheeling, why would I want my truck to struggle? You want it to move as efficiently as possible to reduce the risk of breaking things...and the best way to do that is to have all 4 wheels actually contributing to movement equally. There's definitely a price to pay, but if you factor in the costs of potentially breaking things or higher risk of being in a stuck situation without them (or really, a combination of both...ask anyone who's gunned up an incline and broken a CV without even lifting a tire), then it's probably justifiable. I've just one locker is better than none. Next weekend I'll be installing a full ARB setup in a buddy's QX4. He's not in it to crawl with them, but he plans to find himself in remote situations where being stuck presents a major problem. Harrop wanted $2600 for front and rear e-lockers, and the ARB setup (with compressor) came in around $2000 just for the major parts. It's definitely a high price to pay for traction and convenience, but he's also adding onboard air as a result.

There are times it can put more stress on the CVs, but that's not without saying there are certain things to do and not do when you have a locker. For daily use, the stresses are largely negligible...on the street (and presuming locked/fixed hubs), it'll only briefly stress the CV until the rotational speed causes the locker (specifically, a lunchbox locker) to disengage. When off-road, there's some added stress around turns, as the locker won't disengage on slow speed turns with torque applied. This is why a selectable locker is generally preferred since turning when locked can be very difficult, and having the ability to unlock is a benefit. In straight lines, it's negligible. Other stresses from minor turns are usually relieved between the tire and terrain. I'd also say having an open diff is probably more likely to bust a CV than a locker is when off-roading. With an open diff, if a tire loses traction, that CV gets all the torque and free-spins the tire. If that spinning tire then lands on terrain and comes to an abrupt stop, that's a CV-busting scenario. If it were instead locked, the tire speed would remain in control, and even with the tire spinning in the air (at the same rate as the other tire, and potential while the vehicle was moving), so when it lands it won't be stopped abruptly.

For what function, with what compromise, and at what price? If you’re after full traction, a locker is well proven and is the only off-the-shelf option. From there, it’s $250-$350 for Lokka lunchbox locker, or $900-$1000 for an ARB air locker. There’s no readily-available LSD specifically for front R200A applications.

That's the thing...without the 4-pinion 33-spline carrier existing, there's nothing to test there. I'm not sure the LR would fit the 2-pinion carrier because the drivers are round, whereas the 2-pinion lockers I've seen/installed have flat sides in order to clear the carrier opening. I would also think the rounded teeth may contribute to undesired disengagement. Here's some other comparisons from my write-up using 31-spline lockers in the R50/D22/WD22 2-pinion carrier: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/42436-31-spline-swap-or-how-to-install-a-rear-mechanical-locker-in-the-r50/?do=findComment&comment=781294. Also worth noting that there was an LR-3210 that was also labelled for 33-spline use, but that was wrong because it only came with 31-spline side gears. Regarding the R200 LSD blocks...the other thing I'm curious about is if those are "only" for car applications. I'm not familiar with the R200 rear diffs, but their stub shafts use circlips to snap into the side gear. Our LH stub shaft is secured by a long bolt that threads into a circular nut that fits into the side gear...and when seated, it sticks up probably 3/16": Not to say it couldn't work, as long as the hole in one side of the block was wide enough to not interfere with it...but that doesn't leave much meat on the side gear to work with, and does make it a little bit more of a puzzle to assemble. There are other ways to do it that I can think of. As for helical/Torsen LSDs, they're not generally suitable for off-road. They work fine if the tires are on the ground, but it'll act like an open diff once a tire starts slipping or is in the air. You can apply brake pressure to trick it, but since this would be a front application, you'd have to 2-pedal it (or worse, 3-pedal for the MT guys) instead of being able to use the e-brake for rear applications. By the same token, I don't think a viscous LSD fares much better for off-road use, either. These rely on speed differential, too, but they also build friction from rotation...the slow speeds of wheeling won't contribute much to their lockup. Even then, I don't know if either of those LSD units for a RWD R200 would work up front if you can't get the stub shaft nut in there...would probably need to have a similar piece made/machined.

I can't say I've tried per se, but I've probably done more research about it than most. My stance is that it won't work simply because the carrier it's supposed to use (a 2-piece/4-pinion open diff) never appears to have existed in 33-spline applications. Every 33-spline open diff I've cross-ref'd is a 1-piece/2-pinion carrier, with identical internals. But for other reasons, every set of side gears I've seen for 31-spline and 33-spline applications (and seem to hoard them), the teeth are cut differently: 31 gears have sharp teeth matching the LR-3220 cut, while 33 gears have rounded teeth. (This topic is also why I did a write-up about converting a 33-spline truck to use 31-spline shafts, to use lockers like these.) Precise1 put some pics of the LR-3220 here: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/40280-was-the-factory-lsds-breakaway-torque-any-good/?do=findComment&comment=756688 and I posted pics of the 2-pinion 33-spline side gears two posts down. Weighing in on the LSD blocks in the original post...it would surely function like a LSD, but I'd expect low breakaway torque. I'd be curious to try, but not at a $350 price point. I'd be more curious to know how well the blocks or side gears resist chewing into each other over time.

I'm in a similar situation with an identical leak, which I'm certain is also gear oil. You are correct that the seal is inboard, but when the diff is filled, the level should be right about at the bottom of the seal, perhaps higher. So, leaking isn't out of the question. I freshened my diff up a few years ago so I'm disappointed to see the leak, and haven't been looking forward to addressing it. I recall when I first took mine apart that there was what looked to be some additional liquid seal applied around the bearing flange/retainer; I had cleaned that off and not replaced it since it wasn't called for in the FSM...but in hindsight, it was probably there for this reason. I may put some RTV in and be done with it. You can remove the side shaft assembly only by undoing those 4 bolts and then tapping it out. There's no clip. Replacing the grease seal requires pulling the bearing, which is pressed on. The bearing is also sealed. Changing the inner seal requires pulling the carrier out, of course. The driver's side seal is accessible by removing the center bolt and pulling the flange, which is just seated in the side gear.

Without the press, yeah, probably much easier for a shop with the right tools to do the work. Pulling the brake parts and axle shafts from the truck is trivial, so doing that work yourself should save some money. A competent shop should be able to swap the bearings in about an hour. Also, I usually get my seals and bearings from Rock Auto, as it's usually 50% cheaper than OE, but not sure how shipping fares to CAN. The lock washer and o-ring are dealer-only parts...these are listed in the FSM as being replace-after-use items, but they are not generally damaged when removed (the lock washer has a series of tabs, of which only one gets bent when used).

Should be a fun project. Someone in one of my local groups is doing the same, except using the front and rear axles from a Titan...though, I presume the Titan isn't sold there? Super popular swap here on D40/N40/R51 is the "Titan swap" where they move over the front suspension parts for more lift options and a wider track. Is using the D40 leaf spring setup an option for you? Wondering if the fuel tank may be in the way of one of the link positions. There may be some challenges for retaining ABS items...I would expect that the tone rings between the R51 hubs and D40 axles are very different, let alone the sensors and such. I'm not sure how susceptible the system is if you were to splice wires, but if the tooth count on the rings vary enough, it'll throw off the system.

I've broken down several of them. Not terribly fun, but a floor press is required. There's a Nissan service tool (Kent Moore J-45073) that makes light(er) work of the disassembly process since it helps to remove the ABS tone ring, lock nut, and bearing cup from the axle shaft, but it's a relatively expensive tool. Once you've got the bearing cup off the axle shaft, you then need the floor press to push the race out of the cup, and then to sandwich everything back together again. Even with a floor press, unless you have a suitable adapter or process, breaking down the axle shaft is still a pain. In regards to consumables on the axle shaft, there's an outer seal (grease seal) between the axle shaft and bearing cup; the bearings themselves; and a tabbed lock-washer. There's an inner seal (oil seal) and a large o-ring on the axle tube that should also be replaced. The part numbers you'd need are under "Unicorn #2" here:

Yeah, if you're hearing a noise when the hubs are locked, it can only be the bearings. The rear bearings are a bit more work...you can't replace those without disassembling the entire axle shafts. Might be time for maintenance, but if you can't sense a problem, I'd probably let them slide for now. It's probably not something I'd do unless you had more things to do while everything was down, like driveshaft u-joints, seals, etc.

Testing Testing the LSD requires the means to apply torque to one side gear while holding the other stationary. I made these tools from some spare axle shafts (31- and 33- spline) and towing accessories. A digital torque adapter is used to measure breakaway torque. Splined ends cut off and welded to ball mounts and ¾” drive sockets: Undermount hitch receiver and backing plate: Digital torque adapter displaying a test result: With this setup, I realized my workbench has a 175 ft-lb breakaway torque before it wants to topple over. The advantage here, of course, is that I can mount this to my truck hitch (and I needed to once I started hitting higher numbers). Without such a tool (I doubt many people hoard spare axles and differentials like do), if you have the means to rig up a flange that mounts to the wheel hub and has a socket provision for a torque wrench in the center, you can actually test it that way, too...it's the same principle as the bench tool above. Otherwise the only other "test" is to do LSD-check test #1 in the Q&A section (first post) and feel out how much effort it takes to turn the tire. This will be entirely subjective. Barring any definition of the average mechanic, knowing that I could rip the truck if half if I wanted to: If it's relatively easy to rotate the tire, it's probably under 50 ft-lbs. If it takes a fairly significant amount of effort for you to rotate the tire, it's probably around 100 ft-lbs. If it requires just about everything you've got to turn it, it's probably over 150 ft-lbs, or you haven't put your purse down or eaten your Wheaties today. I also made a 3rd member mount because I need to set up a few carriers in the coming weeks: The joys of having a plasma table. Anyway, let’s talk about some real numbers. My torque adapter ranges up to 750 ft-lbs, and has a Peak-to-Peak setting that autosaves each peak readout. I’ve recently repacked 3 LSDs units using a bunch of new and unused FPs, some new FDs, some 1.6mm pieces, and the 3SS setup, all while testing incremental changes in between. For each test, I did 6 “pulls”, 3 in each direction. These were the general improvements observed: Using new/unused pieces: 10-15 ft-lbs per pair Series vs. parallel springs: 15-20 ft-lbs Using thicker (+0.1mm) piece: 20 ft-lbs per pair Triple parallel spring: 15-20 ft-lbs These are the following end results for those 3 LSDs and their recipients: @TowndawgR50: 4FD, 6FP (1x 1.6mm, 4x new), 3SS (1x SD, 1x SP, 1x SS) - Avg 236.5, Min 232.3, Max 240.1 @R50JR: 4FD (1x new), 6FP (4x new), 3SS (3x SS) - Avg 197.5, Min 184.4, Max 211.4 @RainGoat: 5FD (1x new), 6FP (1x 1.6mm, 4x new), 2SS - Avg 193.8, Min 178.9, Max 207.5 Notably, there were several other tests in between, but here’s how RainGoat’s LSD transitioned: Initial: 5FD, 6FP (4x new), 2SS: 151.1 ft-lbs With 1x 1.6mm FP: +19.4 With 1x new FD: +14.8 With both: +42.7 The aforementioned 95 WD21 unit I rebuilt using only the original pieces it came with averaged 142.8 ft-lbs. Not shabby given age and mileage.

Assembly By now, you should have everything cleaned and pieces you intend to use all sorted. Organize the pieces in order so you just grab a piece, lube it up, and build the stack up. I do one stack first, get it in the carrier half, then do the other stack and carrier half. You should also have a container or squeeze bottle for lubricating each part in gear oil. Everything gets oil. Get some gloves because this gets messy. Start with the springs, put some oil on them, put them in parallel, and set them in the carrier concave-up (if using SP and SD, the SP goes into the carrier half first). Then, grab the first FP and oil it up; this will go against the side gear. Grab a FD, then another FP, and repeat. Once the stack is complete, rotate all the FPs so that the tabs are aligned (don’t worry about the FD alignments). At this point, you can either put the guides on the stack (note my fingers are holding them in place) and try to get it in the carrier in one shot, or place the entire stack into the carrier without guides first, and then lift each side near the tabs, and slip the guide in. The latter is probably easier. Both of these approaches are better than the FSM method, in my opinion. You’ll figure it out. You can see how the FPs tabs fit into the carrier, and the guides in place. All the tabs must be constrained by the guides. Put the side gear in place. A few slight twists will align the FDs and eventually let the side gear fully seat: Check the backside of the carrier half to ensure the guides include the last FP (hot tip: before flipping this over, hold the side gear in place, otherwise you’ll be starting over when everything falls out): Repeat stack assembly on the other carrier half. Apply gear oil on the cross shaft and gear surfaces, including between the spider gears and their thrust washers. Put the cross shaft and pieces on the Case B side. You’re going to do two flips: first, starting with Case A, put a finger on the side gear to keep the stack from falling out, then find your match marks on both cases. Watch for finger pinch points. While holding the entire assembly together with both hands, flip everything over. Apply gear oil to the threads of the carrier bolts (yes, the FSM calls for gear oil, not threadlocker) then hand-tighten all bolts (they should thread in smoothly). Use a ratchet to initially compress the two cases together, then go through a torque cycle. If you skip every 2 bolts when tightening, it’ll draw things together evenly (see pattern below). Torque to 50 ft-lbs (FSM range is 47-54 ft-lbs). Note that in this pic, I’m using washers. Older LSDs like this one had retainers to prevent the bolt from backing out. The retainers are not reusable (they get damaged during the removal process), and they were also discontinued by Nissan; use M10 washers instead if you prefer (Bellevilles would be best). Newer LSDs used flange bolts.

Repacking The heart of the discussion—the actual “how to repack” tips. This is what you want to do to get the most out of your LSD: Rearrange the pieces to maximize the number of friction surfaces Maximize the stack height by replacing thin pieces with thicker pieces Use new pieces Use “unused” pieces and pieces with less wear Put springs in parallel "Triple Spring" Shim it Clean everything Rearrange the pieces to maximize the number of friction surfaces We want friction on both sides of all pieces. The optimal stock stack is 5FD, 6FP, 1SD, and 1SP: G1234567890123 GPDPDPDPDPDPSS #|O|O|O|O|O|)) This yields 13 friction surfaces. The SP doesn’t see friction on the side facing the carrier. Use the SPs and SDs if you have them; the SP needs to be the last piece on the stack and the longer guides are used. The next best optimal setup is with 2SS, with 11 friction surfaces, since the last FP and both SSs rotate in unison with the carrier. The 2FD setups only have 5 friction surfaces; you want a donor 5+ FDs to replace spacer or excess FPs. Maximize the stack height by replacing thin pieces with thicker pieces Use a micrometer or caliper to measure each friction piece. You want to replace all 1.4mm (thin) pieces with 1.5mm (nominal) or 1.6mm (thick) pieces. The weaker LSDs I’ve opened have had 1-2 thin pieces per stack. A 95 WD21 LSD I cracked open last week had only 1.5mm pieces. There’s no real guarantee what you’ll get, but with pieces from two donors, it should be fairly easy to at least replace all thin pieces. Use new pieces Unfortunately, new pieces are difficult to find since the pieces are discontinued. But, they are out there, and here are the p/n’s: Friction Disc, 1.4mm: 38433-C6004 Friction Disc, 1.5mm: 38433-C6002 Friction Disc, 1.6mm: 38433-C6003 Friction Plate, 1.4mm: 38432-C6002 Friction Plate, 1.5mm: 38432-C6001 Friction Plate, 1.6mm: 38432-C6003 New vs. used piece: Use “unused” pieces and pieces with less wear The only advantage to the weaker LSDs with 2 FDs is they have FPs stacked consecutively, meaning that they’ve never had friction applied to their surfaces, only compression. These are effectively unused. For example: 01-02 R50 (2FD, 9FP, 2SS), pieces 6-11 are unused: G1234567890123 GPDPDPPPPPPPSS #|O|O|||||||)) 03-04 R50/D22/WD22 (2FD, 5FP, 1XXXX, 2SS), pieces 10-11 are unused: G1234567890123 GPDPDPXXXXPPSS #|O|O|XXXX||)) These can be shuffled into other positions. Keep in mind, too, that the FP in position 5 will have only seen friction on one side, so it can be flipped. The 01-02 R50 makes for a great donor in this sense because it has 12 unused FPs total (though some might be thin). Unused pieces should replace “inner” FPs that show wear. The FSM specs warp and wear limits, but it’s unlikely any piece will hit the wear limit (-0.1mm). In general, use pieces with less shiny surfaces, as the surfaces on these pieces have basically self-polished over time. Here’s a set of unused, slightly worn, and worn pieces (I’ve adjusted the image shadows to emphasize condition): The unused piece lacks broad shiny spots on the surface (ignore reflection from the grooves), but may show a slight circular depression from long-term compression: A slightly worn piece with a few shiny spots: A worn piece showing uniform wear: Notably, the worn piece is still well within spec. Depending on your supply or donors, you might not need all of the pieces, so you should sort the pieces out to use the thicker and better ones first. You should also inspect all pieces for excessive damage or cracks. Pieces that show metal ridges or lips on the FP’s tabs or the FD’s teeth, or even gouges to the guide pieces, indicate that the LSD saw its share of abuse. If you suspect a piece is cracked (in particular the springs), hold it lightly and tap it with a wrench, screwdriver, or another piece. If it resonates like a bell or chime then it’s good. If it resonates poorly or sounds muted, it’s cracked...toss it. If you look very closely in that earlier pic showing the types of pieces, the SD has two little cracks at the 3 and 4 o’clock positions. Put springs in parallel Spring orientation matters. Some of the LSDs I’ve disassembled had the springs in series, like “()”, but you want them in parallel, like “))”. When Belleville springs are stacked in series, it only produces a spring load of one spring; in parallel, spring load is additive. To illustrate that concept: Series: Parallel: I speculate that Nissan may have used series to deliberately dumb down numbers, though I don’t know for what purpose beyond that. It could easily explain why the same configurations had grossly different specs (I don’t think the use of thick pieces alone explains those deltas). It may have just been another case where Nissan was slowing clearing out inventory before the next generation of trucks. Anyway, put the springs in parallel if they weren’t already. They should also be oriented so that concave side faces the side gear, like so: G1234567890123 GPDPDPDPDPDPSS #|O|O|O|O|O|)) Not: G1234567890123 GPDPDPDPDPDPSS #|O|O|O|O|O|(( "Triple Spring" Nissan only used spring configurations with 1 or 2 springs. I’ve done repacks with 3SS, which is 50% more stack compression. When doing this, a friction piece gets removed to keep 13 pieces in the stack. I’ve been removing a FD because in all applications where SS are used, an FP is next to them, like so: G1234567890123 GPDPDPDPDPPSSS #|O|O|O|O||))) This results in a 4FD, 6FP, 3SS setup with 9 friction surfaces. Notably, if you happen to have two of the weak 03-04 LSDs, they can be combined to make this setup, but you may end up having to use 1.4mm discs if they were used. Now, even though 3SS isn’t an OEM setup, it’s also technically not out of spec. The stack height remains with spec, though it might be debatable if the additional spring load is detrimental to the spider gears. Personally, I don’t think it will be, so we’re gonna send it. Keep in mind you can also run a series/parallel configuration like "())" if you need to scale back the spring load...but I know you won't be doing that. Shim it Several years ago, I tested a configuration of 5FD, 7FP, and 2SS (14 pieces for the mathematically challenged). All but one FP was 1.4mm, and the stack height barely exceeded the spec range (20.40mm vs. 20.25mm). The breakaway torque far exceeded what my “tool”—a torque wrench with an extension that had a calculated max of 350 ft-lbs—could measure. It would not recommend doing this setup. I have not tested any other shimming means, but technically you could either make shims from raw material, or by machining a friction piece to half-height (which a fellow NPORA’er did with positive results), provided you have access to the appropriate tooling. If a stack of nominal pieces is 19.5mm (13 x 1.5mm), and the max spec is 20.25mm, then a 0.75mm shim will max the stack. Note that for this stack measurement, the springs are not included, but will add 3.0mm (2x 1.5m) to the stack height and remain in spec. Clean everything This is a given. Get all the crud out. During assembly, everything should be lubed with new gear oil.

Technical Objective The purpose of repacking is to increase the breakaway torque of the LSD, or the amount of torque required to rotate one side gear while the other remains stationary. I will use the following codes and symbols to describe stack configurations: This picture shows two different configurations: The top stack will be described as “5FD, 6FP, 2SS” and conveyed as: G1234567890123 GPDPDPDPDPDPSS #|O|O|O|O|O|() The bottom stack will be described as “2FD, 9FP, 2SS” and conveyed as: G1234567890123 GPDPDPPPPPPPSS #|O|O|||||||() The first row just indicates the piece position (1-13) relative to the side gear. I’m providing two conventions because some people might see one better than the other. All the springs will have the same code and symbol, but I will still describe them separately, making special notes about using them (in general, use SPs and SDs instead of SS if you have them). Note, too, there will be a distinction of spring orientation. Configurations will be described as a single stack. A typical stack consists of 11 friction pieces and 2 springs, or 13 pieces, so the LSD will then have 22 friction and 4 springs, or 26 total pieces. A breakdown of H233B (and some C200) configurations: This table is primarily of US-market models, compiled using publicly available FSM data. While it’s fairly comprehensive, it lacks data from international markets. It excludes Patrols because the 90+ LSD is completely different (similar in concept, though), despite still being H233B. Terrano and Navara owners can generally use Pathfinder and Hardbody/Frontier numbers, respectively, but expect possible differences (as noted by the 2002 Terrano), including the use of C200 axles in older applications. Terrano II owners are on their own, as I know nothing about them, but the numbers look extremely promising. Although many models also had C200 axles, those listings are omitted if the FSM does not indicate a LSD existed, or if it lacks specs for it (for example, 03-04 Xterra FSM lists an optional C200 LSD, but provides no specs, unlike the 03-04 Frontier FSM which does). The most obvious observation is that WD21/D21 trucks—and apparently Terrano R50 and II R20 (wtf, Nissan?)—got far better LSDs than 2003-04 trucks did. The ratings were attributed to the parts used, which is what the rest of the chart shows. Older configurations maximized friction, while newer configurations practically eliminated it. It’s also obvious that similar configurations produced dissimilar results, and dissimilar configurations produced similar results. Rather than try to justify what torque range is best, the real goal of this document is to make a unit that is presumptively “best” given all parts on hand. Since most people won’t have means to test the LSD, results will be entirely subjective anyway. From my experience, a basic repack using the “optimal” configuration has yielded around 140-160 ft-lbs, which is respectable given the parts used. I also ran a repacked unit testing around 165 ft-lbs and found it to be very streetable with off-road improvements, especially when it was paired with a front Lokka. From a starting-point perspective... Worst: 03-04 R50/WD22/D22, 02-03 QX4 These units require the most replacement pieces because of the spacers. It doesn’t make for a suitable donor in most cases, but since these would also likely come from lower-mileage trucks driven by grandmas, the parts probably see less wear than better units. However, two of these units yield enough parts to make a decent setup discussed later—something to consider if that’s all you can get your hands on. Meh: 01-02 R50, 97-01.5 QX4 By having 18 total FPs, it means that 12 are “unused” because they are stacked consecutively and no friction occurs between them, just compression. These units make for good donors because of the unused pieces, but not good starting points because they need FDs to replace FPs. OK: 96-00 R50 This is close to the optimal setup but needs 2x SS to replace 2x FDs Good: 01-02 D22, 00-02 WD22 This is the optimal configuration, but with any donor LSD you can replace any thin pieces with thicker ones. Best: 90-95 WD21 or D21 This is the optimal configuration, but due to age and mileage it’s unlikely they still hit stock specs. They are best starting points because of the potential for having thicker pieces, plus SPs and SDs (those provide friction and load). A 01-02 R50 donor is ideal for this.

LSD 101 The H233B clutch-based LSD uses plates, discs, and springs to create friction—the product of surface area, surface composition, and compression. Those pieces are shown below: Top row, L-R: friction plate guides; friction plate; friction disc Bottom row, L-R: spring plate; spring disc Plate pieces have exterior tabs to stay stationary to the carrier, while disc pieces have internal teeth to fit the side gears. The springs are large Belleville washers. Older LSDs had spring plates with tabs (not shown) and spring discs (bottom right), and used longer guides (not shown). Both springs were replaced with ones lacking tab or teeth features (bottom left), but were still called “spring plates”; shorter guides (top left) were used. The guides prevent the tabs of the plates from digging into the cast of the carrier. The friction pieces have grooved patterns in them to build friction and channel gear oil. The nominal thickness of each piece is 1.5mm, with “adjusting” pieces of 1.4mm and 1.6mm to bring the clutch pack height or breakaway torque into spec. The springs are all 1.5mm nominal. Newer LSD configurations use a spacer that occupies the space of 4 pieces, or 6.0mm, but has no friction-adding properties. Just a big, dumb spacer that probably saved Nissan a fortune. Each configuration describes how many of each piece is in the clutch pack (henceforth, “stack”); alternating plate and disc pieces create friction. The side gear fits into the stack, and two identical stacks are used. The LSD carrier, or “differential case”, has two halves: “Case A” is on the pinion gear side, and “Case B” with the ring gear. The stacks and side gears fit into the cases, and a pinion mate shaft (“cross shaft”) with pinion mate gears (“spider gears”) is situated in between. Eight bolts draw the cases together, causing the springs to compress the stacks. “Slip” is basically the ability for one side gear to rotate independently from the other. LSDs work by applying pressure to the side and spider gears, which reduces their tendency to rotate. It’s “limited” because it will proportion torque 50/50 to both axles until the breakaway torque of the stacks is met, at which point it quickly begins to act like an open diff until the applied torque returns to below the breakaway torque. Torque always takes the path of least resistance. That’s why open diffs suck for off-roading: once a tire slips, 100% of the torque goes to that tire. That’s also the principle behind the LSD-check tests described earlier: you’re checking for resistance that prevents the side gears from rotating separately. Even a worn LSD will exhibit some resistance. An open diff will completely lack resistance and spin parts with ease. Nissan notables With the exception of ~1990-up Patrol LSDs, H233B, C200, and H190 LSD clutch pieces interchange The splining on 31-spline C200 and H233B are identical. The splining on 29-spline C200 and R200A are identical. The carrier dimensions on C200 and R200A are identical. You can use a 29-spline C200 LSD in R200A front axle. 31-spline and 33-spline LSD differentials are dimensionally identical, differing only by the side and spider gears. 31-spline differentials (open or LSDs) have thrust blocks if the axle shafts use single-cone bearings; trucks with dual-cone bearings don’t use thrust blocks. 31-spline H233B differentials up to the mid 1980’s used 10mm ring gear bolts. They cannot be used with 12mm ring gears because the 10mm holes are slightly farther away from the center, but the 3rd members interchange if two of the studs are removed (9-stud vs 11-stud). Some H233B have their ABS sensor on the 3rd member snout, behind the pinion flange, while others have sensors on the axle tubes with tone rings on the axle shafts. The length of the 3rd members, from pinion flange face to the diff mounting surface, is the same for all units. If your truck has the sensors on the axle tubes, then either style 3rd member will work (the snout sensor just remains unplugged). If yours has the snout sensor, then you need to reuse your housing, or find a suitable 3rd member if swapping it in. Prior to disassembling the carrier, check for “match marks” on the carrier halves. Since these pieces are machined together, they should be reassembled together in the same orientation. The marks may be faint or incomplete, but you can make new marks (if using paint, be mindful not to clean the marks off before assembly). The ring gear does not need to be removed to repack the LSD.

This is for anyone wanting to “repack” their H233B clutch-based limited-slip differential (LSD). It applies to C200 and H190A LSDs, too. It does not apply to other Nissan/Infiniti RWD/AWD diffs, such as the viscous LSD in R200V. It won’t cover the specific how-to’s of differential removal, setup, or installation, but will cover the basic assembly process. (I’ll answer any questions related to those topics, though.) All specific information (instructions, service data, torque specs, etc.) is in the “Propeller Shaft and Differential Carrier” (PD) chapter of the Factory Service Manual (FSM), and I’ll expect you to read it; there’s a section specifically for H233B LSDs. FSMs are available at https://www.nicoclub.com/nissan-service-manuals. Table of Contents LSD 101 Technical Objective Repacking Assembly Testing Some Q&A first... Do you have a LSD? With very few exceptions, LSDs were not standard equipment. You probably have one if: There’s an orange sticker with “LSD OIL” verbiage on the backside of the axle’s diff hump. Any of these test conditions are true (if there’s no distinguishable resistance, or if test #3 is false, then it’s an open diff): Transmission in neutral, one tire off the ground, spin the tire slowly; there’s resistance before the driveshaft rotates. Transmission in park/gear, both tires off the ground, spin one tire slowly; there’s resistance before the other tire spins in the opposite direction. Transmission in neutral, both tires off the ground, spin one tire slowly; the other tire spins in the same direction while the driveshaft rotates You’re cool enough to have the window sticker and it lists it. I shouldn’t have to mention to chock the front wheels and disengage the parking brake when testing, but there it is. What LSD configuration do you have? This boils down to “what truck do you have?”, since it’ll determine what configuration you have, what improvements can be made, and which parts/donors will help the most. What if you have an open diff but want LSD? You’ll need the entire LSD carrier from a truck with the same spline count. You don’t “need” the entire 3rd member, just the carrier, unless it’s got the gears you want. In most cases, the entire 3rd is easier to obtain. What donor trucks can you use? Pieces can come from any 2004 or older LSD, except Patrols. You should mainly limit this search to only WD21, D21, 00-02 Xterra, and 01-02 Frontiers. If you already have an LSD, the spline count on the donor is irrelevant. What’s your budget? Expect to pay $75-$500 for LSD carriers or complete 3rd members from local junkyards or eBay. If you want new OE pieces, some are still out there for $40-$50/ea (and you typically buy in pairs), but Nissan has discontinued the pieces. There are also other costs (fluids/oils, gaskets, seals, bearings, tools, etc.). Are you considering a gear swap? Make that decision since you’ll have the 3rd member down and apart. For R50 owners, you can get 01-02 Frontier or Xterra rear diffs with the same 4.363 and 4.636 gears and a desirable LSD configuration, but you’ll still need to find a 96-00 R50 to get the front gears if going to 4.636. All H233B 3rd members can be swapped to any other H233B axle housing, as long as the number of mounting studs and splines are the same. What’s your mechanical aptitude? Dropping the differential can be done with hand tools in an hour or so, provided no issues with hardware or rust. It’s a 70lb chunk of metal, so don’t drop it on your face. Rebuilding a diff can also be done with hand tools, but there are some specialty tools and knowledge required. Disregarding certain steps of the process can lead to noise and possibly failure. However, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find a shop willing to do this work, including 4wd and differential shops that do gears all day long. Don’t let those Jeep shops touch your truck; they’ll just fskc everything up, I promise. A Nissan dealerhip probably won’t do this work, either (at least not to the specificity discussed here). Consider this a DIY or HAFDIFY (have a friend do it for you) job. Is it difficult? On a scale of 1-10, I’ll put it around 7. It’s probably an all-day task for the average Joe/Jane, on par with changing out a timing belt or chain. The advantage is you can do much of the work on a bench, but the disadvantages are needing some specialty tools and the smell of gear oil. The job also involves bleeding the brakes, among other basic wrenching tasks. Is it worth it? If you off-road, yes. Even a weak LSD is better than an open diff any day. It’s not a locker (I don’t care what you or Nissan calls it—it’s not a locker), but it’ll act like one until it can’t. Although this guide is geared for off-road use, a moderate rebuild would do well on the street. It’s more affordable than a locker...however, requires as much work as installing one. So, if you’re on the bubble and the price of a locker is within reach, and you want max traction, consider getting an actual locker.

Awesome, glad things are good up there and to hear the springs worked out! So, after a little chatting with @R50JR, I think we may build a front mount hitch. It just seems so simple, and I already have all the dimensions for those tie down and radiator support threaded holes from my bumper and skid plate projects. Would just need to CAD the pieces, burn them on the plasma table, get some tube to go in between, and weld'r up.

Yo @microfiz! Hope you've been well! Strato_54's advice is the approach I'd take, too. Basically make a receiver span directly underneath the radiator support and attach to the existing tie-down points. Take a look at "wrangler front mount hitch receivers" and you see how most of them have tall ears for mounting and a cross-tube at the bottom (something like this). Some of them also have support brackets that would allow for mounting to the radiator support. On our trucks, there are a few unused OE provisions for M10 hardware so a design like that would do well. A design like that also wouldn't be too difficult to remove when not needed.

Awesome, glad to hear. We're nearly there! I think you're talking about the 1.75" strut spacers, right? If so, we're holding off on that for now. A redesign to the strut spacer required us to change some part dimensions, making 1.75" impractical and ultimately turning it into a 2" spacer. Also, these parts will fit both 4wd and 2wd parts all the same.

Yeah, US -> CAN shipping is ridiculous, it's so expensive and tedious filling out pro forma documents and such. Seeing as AC is the brand of the retailer (4x4parts.com = Automotive Customizers = "AC"), the only other readily available option is OME. Ironman4x4 has finally established a NA site and they have springs, but the specs put them between the light-duty and medium-duty OME springs, well below the HD springs you have. The problem with inter-strut spacers is that they induce top-out, just like a taller spring does. You gain lift at the expense of extension travel either way. The convenience of a conventional spacer is that the spring and strut travel is unaltered, but then you alter the operating range of the CV. Inter-strut spacers have their own limitations, though. But let's face it: the limitation is not the lift method—it's the IFS.

He's talking about a spacer that goes inside the strut assembly. Rather than just moving the strut away from the body like a normal spacer, it instead compresses the spring (or rather, it occupied space that the spring would have otherwise occupied, however you want to think about it). It used to exist. It went between the strut mount and the strut mount bracket (normally there's nothing between them). Problem with this approach is that it tends to need a machined spacer to either have a shape that supports the strut mount the way the bracket does, or an alternate design above the upper spring perch would need a seat and lip to fit the strut bearing. Both are a bit more complex than normal spacers. You're better served with a firmer/taller spring, in my opinion.

I've had some chatter on a hub before. A little lubricant inside seemed to help. Just don't gob it up with grease.

Nothing new quite yet. If push comes to shove, I can revisit the original design, or see what improvements can be made since my original set. A rear bumper will be the primary focus once the new plasma table is up. Thanks! Never did get around to making/selling them, but as above, perhaps I can whip something up if you want something to build around. Yep, I was on a video from the CANVAZ event in NV last October...complaining about my transmission, no less. he transmission is "fine", though I just hate it sometimes. Truck's pushing 182K and seems to get over anything I point the tires towards. Depending on where you're at in WA, there's several PNW guys that get together. To PM members, just hover over their username (or click it), then you'll see a "Message" link.

Another long-overdue update. Let me start by quoting myself from an FB response I posted earlier tonight, mainly in response to mentions that P2S has been trying for years to do things and will probably not materialize: I'll be honest: if P2S never becomes a legitimate, multi-state corporation, nor has a website or IG or FB page, I'll care very little. ( @TowndawgR50 probably won't let that happen as our Director of Public Relations.) If it remains a hobby, ok. It won't stop us from making things, and it hasn't stopped us either. The discussions and ideas we've had are just as frequent as they've always been. We've not been idle. Yes, it has been over two years since our initial post and we're still not "selling" SFD kits and we don't have a website, or secretary, or whatever. But yeah, we have kits out there already, and we're proud of that. We actually put a partial kit on a member's truck over a year ago; some setbacks prevented us from completing the install at the time, and ultimately led to a small redesign. We were expecting to have completed that installation this year, but the pandemic derailed things; barring some travel plans, we're ready to finish that job. As you've probably already seen here or on IG or FB, @Stpickens and @02_Pathy have been sporting the kits from the latest batch for a few weeks, and @RainGoat's install is coming up. So again, we're not idle. As suggested in my post, we've not needed to push the sale on the extra kits. They hopefully speak for themselves, but at the same time, we're still needing to fully vet our parts and test the waters by gauging interest from seeing real trucks with those parts installed. On the vetting side, we've even confirmed that an alignment shop was willing to adjust our spacers and was able to get the vehicle within spec. We've fully assessed the costs of our kits and the value of our time/work; these aren't rusty steel tubes with holes drilled in them. We've paid heavily into tooling to do this sort of stuff, and compromising on a price to meet all budgets isn't an option. The intention isn't to narrow the market, but it has that effect. Specifically regarding SFDs, we plan to have a new NPORA thread that just covers them. This thread is basically our "overdue update" thread now. The FB post pretty much provides the current state of things (noting that I never reply to things on FB but wanted to curb the bull@!*% there), but I'll add: Obviously, we have SFD kits available and intend to sell them eventually. A few people have messaged us here and on IG; we've not announced any pricing, and we're not keeping a wait list. We'll discuss that stuff in the new thread when ready. The parts for my new CNC plasma table have been delivered, but I have no space for it yet. The plan was to have personally delivered my current 2' x 2' table to @TowndawgR50 by now, but that didn't happen for obvious reasons. The new table gives me a 4' x 2'6" footprint, so dreams of more skids and bumpers may soon become reality (at least on my truck, ha!). When the new table is up, I plan to make a pair of plate-style rear bumpers with integrated tire carrier—one for my truck, another for a buddy's. I may eventually do a front bumper as well by year's end. We're discussing the feasibility of offering re-packed LSDs and/or complete 3rd member assemblies. Jake's already gung-ho about swapping to 4.6's ever since borrowing my truck for a few weeks while visiting AZ, and his swap will include a re-packed LSD and rear disc brakes (geez, finally!). We have the means to re-pack a few LSDs and offer them up, but I also intend to do a write-up about the process in the coming weeks. That's about it. Hope everyone's well given the state of things, pandemic, economy, yada. Take care!