H233 upgrades

[cvdloc]

Hey guys, I'm sure it's on here somewhere but I can't seem to find it, anyways what are the options for strengthening the pathfinder rear axle, h233.

 

I have a parts 95 xe-v6 pathy and I am doing my 87 pickup project including a cummins 4bt swap! Kingman gave me the idea to use the h233, instead of a shortened Dana 60 (would save me quite a bit of money) now my worrys...

 

Will it be strong enough to support the torque of a diesel, almost double the torque of the v6, I know it's stronger than a Dana 44 and I have seen people use them with the cummins motor, in short I'm paranoid lol

 

Anyways just looking for specs, personal experiences, upgrade options, and how hard is it to find gears for it to lower the ratio.

 

Thanks guys!!!

[Slartibartfast]

They came in 4.6 or 4.3 gearing IIRC, but you might be able to find lower (4.9?) gears in an Xterra. Rugged Rocks has several kits for other gearing options. I imagine most of the ratios they sell match up to ratios available for common solid front axles. If you're keeping the IFS, they have two gearsets for the r200a (front diff), a 4.9 and a 5.1. Of course the front and rear diff's ratios should be the same or as close as possible.

 

Here's a comparison of the D44, H233b, Ford 9", and D60: Scroll down, it's the last post on the page. I have yet to read about somebody breaking an H233b. The only problem I've read about anywhere (just now actually) is that the axle can twist a little under high torque loads (big motor, big tires, low gears). Here's that thread: (It kind of turns into a pissing match towards the end, but there's good info near the start). Apparently you can prevent this by trussing the axle.

 

I don't have personal experience with any of this but hopefully the research helps. I'm looking forward to your build thread.

[fleurys]

if you are not changing your internals (diff core, spider gears etc... ) for a stronger one (like ARB, Yukon etc..), then I would invest in metal treatment. http://www.thermetco.com/en/node/37 Contact these guys or other similar companies and try discussing with them what treatment would be adequate for a ring gear or even axles... etc... I also remember steevo here (rugged rocks) offering at one point some chromoly axles...

[cvdloc]

Damn that's a lot of info, I like it, thank you very much slartibartfast! I would just like to quote this...

 

Dana 44

Ring Gear: 8.5"

Axle Diameter:

Axle Splines:

 

Nissan H233B:

Ring Gear: 9.17"

Axle Diameter: 1.31"

Axle Splines: 33 (on the Xterra)

 

Ford 9"

Ring Gear: 9"

Axle Diameter: 1.33"

Axle Splines: 31

*Pinion has additional bearing for support which adds significant strength under load.

 

Dana 60:

Ring Gear: 9.75"

Axle Diameter: 1.50"

Axle Splines: 35

 

It looks like its a bit better than a ford 9", and in-between a d44 and d60, so a 44 is out of the question. But the issue that got brought up is cost.. I'm looking to locker it, upgrade shafts etc, and aftermarket parts are expensive, question is, how expensive?

 

I have the axle, stock of course, but the cost between getting a d60 w/ locker, splines and shafts (shortened) would be threw the roof compared to expensive aftermarket parts for h233b? I never looked into the cost as well as shortening a d60, it might be out of my league.

 

Also, anyone upgrade to 33 splines? That might be a good option as a Dana 60 is 35

 

And lastly it seems like twisting and bending due to high torque and high hp, well if I throw the 4bt in there... High torque And I also want to dual tcase or something to lower the crawl ratio (I want to be able to walk faster than my truck in its lowest gear to give you an idea lol) it seems like you can add bars or something to it, I didn't read too much into the details on that, to stop it from twisting which sounds like a must for me.

[cvdloc]

I will have to look into that fleurys, but I am going to swap the internals out, and upgrade that way. I assume the parts I would get would alrighty be treated, but doesn't mean it would be useless for other parts, thanks!

[AndyC]

They do a fine job behind small blocks. I would imagine, with judicious use of the throttle, it would hold up to a 4bt no problem. Also depends on tire size of course. An unmodified D60 will cost you quite a bit of clearance also.

Build it, wheel it, if it breaks, fix or replace it as necessary!

[Kingman]

Heres what it took to break my H223. 5 years of my hard driving plus whatever else was done before me... redline clutch dump burnouts/donuts, 4lo wheelies again clutch dumping from redline, banging gears, etc on the original fluid. No mercy! It finally blew up at I think 218k and I've owned the truck since 171k. It blew up on another member on here after a hard wheeling trip. They are strong, but I'm sure with double the torque if you did that kind of stuff on a regular basis like I did you'd wad it up into a pretzel.

[cvdloc]

Lol well I know I won't be doing an redline clutch drops, I guess it comes down to how I drive it, if I'm rough on it, well ill be replacing parts. If I drive it, for lack of better words, smart, ill be able to extend the life, basically I'm counting on breaking it lol

 

Just curious here, I know the h233b is 61" while the Dana 44 is 63" for axle length, what is a Dana 60 for length?

[jhamelin819]

1997 r50 xe, open diff stock manual trans, anyone know if its a 4.6 or a 4.3 rear end

 

[cvdloc]

1997 r50 xe, open diff stock manual trans, anyone know if its a 4.6 or a 4.3 rear end

 

Check the plate in the engine bay on the passenger side. Should say something like HG 46 or HG 43... I know my 87 d21 says CA 43 (anyone know what ca means?) and my 95 wd21 xe is HG 46

[Precise1]

^exactly. It is on the firewall, by the passenger inner fender and the info you are looking for will be on the bottom right of it.

 

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