Laxman's 2001 R50 LSD Modification and Install

[vengeful]

The ARB is a great product, Alex. You'll really like it, especially with what you're using your truck for.

 

Hopefully this thread will give everyone, no matter if you're doing an LSD rebuild, or an ARB locker, the confidence to tear into your diff and just go for it. It's really not as hard as people make it out to be.

 

If you're going to do the install yourself, and have any questions on getting the gears setup, don't hesitate to ask.

[laxman0324]

i ordered a rear ARB, so i don't need the friction discs. thanks for the offer though!

enjoy it, as Dan said I think with your uses locked is probably better for you...

[laxman0324]

So i took advantage of the wet roads and drove it in the rain...it is tight! Pretty much any semi aggressive throttle inputs sends you sideways, its great!

[new4x4r]

I'm doing this right now... Steevo is about 3 years too slow with his Lock-rite locker!!! hahahaha

[PaMountianbiker]

Yea I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rear of mine right now . I'm not sure if I can get 5.38's or just stick with 5.13's ???? I have been considering an ARB

[new4x4r]

I'm not so much worried about the gearing at this point, as much as I am the "ONE WHEEL PEEL" bullflop that I have to put up with the Xterra 3rd member I installed to GET the 4.9 gearing. To rectify that somewhat, I'm taking my R50 Diff.(carrier) and putting it in the X 3rd member with the ring and pinion. While I'm at it, I'm going to add more clutches. Not sure how many. As per usual, every forum with info on this Mod contradicts every other. You have to sift through it to find one guy who has done it and loves it. Otherwise you get all the "Know it all-Done nothings" hahaha

[mjotrainbrain]

Where can you get additional friction plates and discs to do this? I tried looking online with no luck. Do I just buy factory parts from an auto parts store? Can you just add additional friction plates and discs to the stock LSD without changing anything else? Mine doesn't appear to work at all, so I'd like to rebuild it, and I'd like to make it better while I'm at it. How much could I add while keeping it reasonable on the street, specifically without making full-lock parking lot turns impossible? This whole LSD issue is kind of confusing to me, so sorry for all the questions!

[hawairish]

You can get them from any Nissan parts dealer. I got mine from courtesyparts.com, but there are plenty others. When I did my project last year, a few sizes were on national backorder or otherwise NLA (er, no longer available). All the part numbers are in the FSM, and the pieces run about $35/ea...not cheap when you generally will swap them in pairs for this project.

 

Ideally, you don't just add pieces, but instead swap pieces out depending on the configuration and specs of your specific LSD.

 

Unfortunately, you can't really know what to replace until you know what's in it. The FSM does indicate the specific configuration for your model, but it doesn't tell you the thickness of each plate, since that spec is "adjustable" by using thicker or thinner pieces. It also doesn't have a means to determine what thickness will equate to what breakaway torque...that is very much trial-and-error.

 

W/D21s had mid-to-high 200 ft-lb breakaway torques, which I've understood as being streetable. The pair I rebuilt ended up and 180 ft-lbs and 170 ft-lbs, but it was relatively easy to hit 300 ft-lbs (I stayed at those lower numbers because I needed to ration my parts and build two similar LSDs). Both have performed quite well.

 

My take on things:

http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/40280-was-the-factory-lsds-breakaway-torque-any-good/?p=758726

Edited September 26, 2016 by hawairish

[mjotrainbrain]

You can get them from any Nissan parts dealer. I got mine from courtesyparts.com, but there are plenty others. When I did my project last year, a few sizes were on national backorder or otherwise NLA (er, no longer available). All the part numbers are in the FSM, and the pieces run about $35/ea...not cheap when you generally will swap them in pairs for this project.

 

Ideally, you don't just add pieces, but instead swap pieces out depending on the configuration and specs of your specific LSD.

 

Unfortunately, you can't really know what to replace until you know what's in it. The FSM does indicate the specific configuration for your model, but it doesn't tell you the thickness of each plate, since that spec is "adjustable" by using thicker or thinner pieces. It also doesn't have a means to determine what thickness will equate to what breakaway torque...that is very much trial-and-error.

 

W/D21s had mid-to-high 200 ft-lb breakaway torques, which I've understood as being streetable. The pair I rebuilt ended up and 180 ft-lbs and 170 ft-lbs, but it was relatively easy to hit 300 ft-lbs (I stayed at those lower numbers because I needed to ration my parts and build two similar LSDs). Both have performed quite well.

 

My take on things:

http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/40280-was-the-factory-lsds-breakaway-torque-any-good/?p=758726

 

Don't know how I missed that article in my search for information, thanks! I'm still in the midst of reading it, but it's got some good stuff. Sounds like it will be a little more expensive than I had anticipated though, I may push this back to next spring/summer and do other things this fall/winter.

[hawairish]

Yeah, it adds up pretty quickly if you want to start fresh with new parts. Another option is to get a donor LSD and repurpose parts of it. All the H233B LSDs used the same parts, so in theory, you could get an older W/D21 diff and salvage the parts from it. No guarantees it'll boost your numbers, but good possibility it'll help. The R50 diffs were rather weak to start with.