Straightening out J30 Differential Qs?

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ispentallmymoneyontires
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Straightening out J30 Differential Qs?

Post by ispentallmymoneyontires »

ok so now that my car is up and running great the next logical step is an LSD. now on the account am a broke ass mo fo i will be opting for junkyard solutions. prefferably the J30 on account there are many in the junkyard currently. all of which are 93's. ok so heres the confusion on my part.

-the diffs are all from 93's meaning they should be 5bolts not 6 bolts like my axles according to
TheOne:90-94 J30 lsd's have 5 bolt, and you will need j30 axles, as 300z axles are about 2 inches longer.
95-97.5 j30's have 6 bolt lsd's and thus makin those easier to fit on a 240sx, 240's come with 6 bolt axles that are same lenght.
-so if i am to use the 93' J30 diff then i will also need to take the respective axles correct? this seems fine with me cause they are probably stronger anyways?

-now apparently they came with ABS- my car, did not, but i already bought the non-ABS one peice driveshaft sooo i kinda dont wanna have to get another one. are there J30s that came without abs?

-can i just swap the internals from the J30 with my diff to avoid driveshaft problems? how difficult is this? can i still use the J30 axles in my dif housing?

-Q45? omfgbbq i have no knowledge about this swap in an S13 also my car is not a 400+hp beast so this is probably out of the question.

-300z swap? possible? idk if it is apparently it is 5 bolt too, but would i be able to take the 5 bolt J30 axles and use them

kinda alot of questions i know but none of the threads i searched thru had enough difinitve answers on the topic. hopefully this will consolidate alot.
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Post by Crash33 »

As far as the j30 if you can find one that has 6 bolt, 93's might have them, you would want to go with them. In the long run it saves time and all you have to do is change diff covers. as for the drive shaft I can't remember if it is a non abs or a abs DS that you have to use. I don't think you would want to transfer the lsd from the j30 to the 240sx it really would be just a waste of time and if you havn't messed with a lsd before you might not want to. Unless you have the time and tools then go right ahead. For the 300z I think there is a little more you have to do but I'm not sure. Q45 havn't really read anything on it but who knows.

Sorry for little help I could give I havn't read about the swaps for awhile.

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Post by jholman05 »

Hmm, If I was you I would just wait till one of the local yards has a 95+ j30 and steal the diff out of it. As for driveshafts, I have had the open, a j30 abs, and an s14 all in my car and the driveshaft didn't need to be changed. I have also messed around with diffs a little. I took my j30 (it was a 95+) and put it in my open diff housing. I kept the open diff ring and pinon and just used the j30s diff and axles. So I pretty much just added a vlsd to my car. To do this you'll need to crack both covers off, take out the output shafts and slide the diffs out of each housing. Once the diffs are out, unbolt the ring gear and swap them from diff to diff. Slide the diff back into the correct housing, pop the output shafts on, bolt the cover, and fill with fluid. The hard part is keeping the shims in order. You want to keep the shims that go with the diff and put them in the new housing. Make sure you keep the shims in the same location when putting them in you new housing. Also while you have everything apart I would suggest going to your local parts store and picking up new seals for the diff.

So in the end, if you start out with a 95+ j30 vlsd you should have a vlsd, 6bolt axles in your open housing, with 4.08 final drive with the correct 4 bolt diff cover, and another open diff, 6 bolt axles in the j30 housing with 3.9 final drive with the j30 2 bolt cover. If you got another cover you could use the 3.9 open for a fuel saver diff, as there is less drag and your rpms would be lower at the same interstate speeds.

Note-the output shafts will be about 1/4" off center in the open housing j30 vlsd setup, but everything is sealed up and works fine, I had it in my car all summer.
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Post by ispentallmymoneyontires »

oh now if i go with the same procedure, but with the 93 i should just need the axles too? i would much rather wait for a 95 but pickings are pretty slim in these parts :/ what kinda oil should i used for the diff? does it require any weird stuff cause its vlsd? i think im capable of the swap into the different housings im just a little apprehensive i think i could get the diff and axles for 200$
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Post by jholman05 »

Damn there is a place up here, in Cincinnati called upullandpay. They sell the diff for $50 lol, the first vlsd I got I paid $250 for about 2 and a half years ago, but I picked up one from the junkyard for my dads dd for $50. Yea you should be able to use the same procedure. Just any 75w90 gear oil will work, the viscous fluid is completely separate from the gear oil.
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Post by TheOne »

if you can get 93 j30 diff & axles, then you are set, as far as the driveshaft, i used my non-abs 5sp driveshaft and it worked fine, i believe all j30's came factory with abs.

you could swap the guts from 1 to the other, but if you don't put the spacers in the correct way, you'll easily have a dead vlsd.
i've seen q45 diffs in 240's but don't remember what all you have to do, i swapped a 300z(90+) vlsd(or i believe it was) with j30 5 bolt axles and it fit, but z diff & axles will not fit as they're about 2" longer.
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Post by ghostchild316 »

The length on abs differentials comes from the pinion flange itself.Compare to one from a stock non abs 240sx diff and you'll see the difference.The housing looks longer because of the ABS ring/sensor.

I just swapped the stock pinion flange to my Q45 differential,now I can reuse my stock non-abs driveshaft in my S13
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Post by Kfred »

ghostchild316 wrote:The length on abs differentials comes from the pinion flange itself.Compare to one from a stock non abs 240sx diff and you'll see the difference.The housing looks longer because of the ABS ring/sensor.

I just swapped the stock pinion flange to my Q45 differential,now I can reuse my stock non-abs driveshaft in my S13
I had to swap my pinion flange on to the q45 diff as well.
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Re: Straightening out J30 Differential Qs?

Post by scarceas »

ispentallmymoneyontires wrote: -so if i am to use the 93' J30 diff then i will also need to take the respective axles correct? this seems fine with me cause they are probably stronger anyways?

-now apparently they came with ABS- my car, did not, but i already bought the non-ABS one peice driveshaft sooo i kinda dont wanna have to get another one. are there J30s that came without abs?

-can i just swap the internals from the J30 with my diff to avoid driveshaft problems? how difficult is this? can i still use the J30 axles in my dif housing?

-Q45? omfgbbq i have no knowledge about this swap in an S13 also my car is not a 400+hp beast so this is probably out of the question.

-300z swap? possible? idk if it is apparently it is 5 bolt too, but would i be able to take the 5 bolt J30 axles and use them
I found this link to be very helpful with my own LSD questions.
http://www.ka24development.com/vlsd.html

Based on that info, you either need the axles from the J30, or change the output shafts.

Most people resolve the ABS/driveshaft by swapping the internals, as you suggested. Unless you are a die hard DIYer, it seems the consensus is to let someone else handle that headache.

The link above mentions the Q45 and the Z32 LSD swaps, as well. Basically the Q45 is a lot of work, and don't try the Z32 twin turbo models.

One swap that is not mentioned on that page is the S15 helical diff swap. If you're not into drifting, this could be a nice option.
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Post by jholman05 »

Haha, I also have an s15 hlsd in my car right now with 4.08 fd. It's in an s14 housing with energy suspension bushing in the housing. I love the hlsd, although as mentioned before it is not good for drifting, but rather road or drag racing. So right now I have HLSD with 4.08 FD, J30 VLSD with 4.08 FD, J30 3.9 FD, about 4 open diffs, and another HLSD with the incorrect output shafts. When buying an s15 hlsd you need to make sure to get the 30 spline output shafts.
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Post by R34SR »

just for the record, i have a s14, bought the s14 ABS driveshaft from shaftmasters on ebay, and im using the 6 bolt j30 diff with no problems. Although you will probably getaway with using a non abs shaft, it will be shorter, meaning that the splines will be slightly extended out of the transmission. I dont know if this will have any impact on durability/reliability but i simply didnt like the idea of it and made sure to order the ABS shaft even though my car does not have ABS.

hopes this helps somewhat.
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Re: Straightening out J30 Differential Qs?

Post by jawbreykr »

1st- Whats up guys/gals..... need a little help.... I have a 95 240sx se, manual with no ABS.... Had an open diff and i found the matching vlsd form a J30. After the install and a few miles, i found that the Trans had a small leak getting passed the input shaft seal. I discovered that the input shaft entering the trans was in as far as it would go. Not sure how this was missed on the install but here we are. As a Porshe, BMW guy, i am a little a miss. Is there a simple fix here. Shorter half shaft, install secret. 800+ for a nissan drive shaft...

2nd- The vlsd from the j30 was extreemly dry and in good shape. The fluid in it looked pretty fresh. and no grinding or flakes of any kind. Yet it seemed a bit tight to me. Almost feels like it drags a little. Doesnt coast like it should.

Any input on either subject will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance...
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Re: Straightening out J30 Differential Qs?

Post by Marcus »

Quick response is all. I've used driveshafts that "shouldn't" work. 1/2 inch isn't much on the driveshaft (especially with suspension changes); However, If the driveshaft was rusted on this tiny portion that wasn't riding on the seal before it will cause this. As far as a new driveshaft go with a one piece not an OEM. First response summary would be that if I had all the money in the world I would match everything like it should, but that isn't the case for me or many others.

Second what was dry? And not to offend your knowledge or know-how, but this past two weeks I'm really tired of running into brake jobs having to be redone or calipers rebuilt do to the rear brakes not being done properly. What all was apart and replaced on the rear suspension setup?
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Re: Straightening out J30 Differential Qs?

Post by street_240sx »

I have a q45 diff in my s13 with a one piece driveshaft for a ka. I have j30 5 bolt axles on z32 hubs. I like it but the gearing is too tall for stock trans.
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Post by 1991240sxhatch »

jholman05 wrote:Haha, I also have an s15 hlsd in my car right now with 4.08 fd. It's in an s14 housing with energy suspension bushing in the housing. I love the hlsd, although as mentioned before it is not good for drifting, but rather road or drag racing. So right now I have HLSD with 4.08 FD, J30 VLSD with 4.08 FD, J30 3.9 FD, about 4 open diffs, and another HLSD with the incorrect output shafts. When buying an s15 hlsd you need to make sure to get the 30 spline output shafts.
I have some 30 spline 6 bolt output shafts what u want for that hlsd lol
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