I am just curious if any serious Maxima racers are out there that would like to get their hands on a full spool for your Maxima. A spool permanently replaces your differential resulting in a fully locked front end with an equal amount of power to both drive wheels at all times.

Here is what it will look like:


I am thinking about having a custom one made. It will be made out of steel and weigh 5-10 lbs. The stock VLSD unit weighs 31lbs and the stock open diff weighs around 20lbs. Plus, having a full spool will be better than welding your spider gears. And NHRA and IHRA do not allow you to weld the gears. They only allow a type of spool.

I checked the part numbers of the differential real quick. The AT diffs between 92-99 are the same. And the MT diffs are the same between 92-99. But the MT and AT diffs have different part numbers. Does anybody know if the MT and AT differentials can be swapped? Also, I'm assuming that the open and viscous differential can be interchanged as well. If anybody has any ideas, please post.

Ballpark price would probably be around $400 for the spool.

 

More info on how it works? I'm a 97 auto and trying to beef up the tranny but wonder if this acceptable for a DD.

 

It depends what kind of daily driver you consider yourself. For me, I don't mind it at all on the street. Same goes for Jime, the world's fastest.

With a fully locked front end, all tight turning in a parking lot will cause the outer wheel to hop. But once you are moving 20mph or faster, it shouldn't be too different.

But traction will be drastically improved since you will have full power going to each tire.

Maybe Jime will chime in with his two cents on street driving with a locked diff.

 

From what Jim told me on his welded Diff, he likes it, just that in parking lots its a head ache, but once over 10mph you dont even notice its locked.

I was seriously considering locking mine but I drive my car daily too much, and in miami, parking, school parking lots, etc... way to many tight turns on my daily routines. Maybe in the future when my car is track only i'll do it.

 

I wouldn't mind the chirping at all in the parking lots. I'm sure your turning radius would get worse though. That's the least of my worries. I just need traction!

I'm still planning on putting full interior back in my car in the future. I'll only be about 70lbs heavier. (1 tenth in the 1/4 mile)

 

Im interested, I have a 97 5MT.

Will this require different axles? I know you have to get a different axle when swapping from open diff to VLSD..

 

Are you sure you have to change axles if all you do is change out the differential inside your transmission? Or are you referring to swapping transmissions? If so, do you know why you have to change axles? Is it a different spline count? Different axle length?

 

..waiting on jimes response... not sure if it be fun to have in nyc with traffic and all.

 

I just did a quick search and found a sticky pertaining to vlsd transmission swaps. People usually just have to swap the driver's side axle and everything works.

Also, schmellyfart, it shouldn't require different axles. It actually depends if the splines in the open diff are different than the VLSD. I haven't gotten the two diffs side by side yet. But according to Neal, the splines on the driver's side of the differential are different somehow between open and VLSD.

I can produce a spool meant to replace a VLSD or an Open diff, whichever seems to be most popular. If nobody chimes in, I guess I'll just make one to replace my VLSD. The driver's side splines seem to be different and the bolt pattern for the final drive gear is different.

 

6mt's

 

I am definitely down for this if it is for the 6MT

 

Since I am not familiar with all of the parts inside of the transmission this will probably be a stupid question. Will this work on an open diff tranny or do you need to have a VLSD for this to be an option?

 

It will work on them both as the tranny will be turned into a locker.

 

Well, this spool will be copied from one or the other. As I mentioned, I guess I will just go with whatever is most popular. If nobody shows interest, then I will just make the spool for the VLSD unit. The open diff has a different bolt pattern than the VLSD for the final drive gear.

And the bearing on the driver's side MAY be different. Does anybody have a picture of an open differential? I need to see the driver's side bearing. That's the side where the large final drive gear is on. If that is the case, then you can't interchange differentials like I originally thought. Neal mentioned something about that in a thread I found. But he was only referring to a MT I think.

If anybody has an open diff from an automatic RE4F04A laying around, can you please snap some pictures for me? If you have no way to host them, you can send them to me via email to [aaron@nwpengineering.com]. Thanks.

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Edit: I found several great pictures on my hard drive from a member who did a complete rebuild of an RE4F04A. They answered my questions.

 

you can't interchange the diffs dude... the bearing on the VLSD is about 4x the size of the open diff bearing.

were you to do this you'd need different spools for manual open diff and vlsd transmissions. not sure on whether or not auto or manual would also be an issue.

 

Thanks for chiming in. I knew you've done plenty of experimenting with the MT diffs.

I wonder if the bearings can be swapped over to the same size spool. I've never taken apart a differential YET. I hope to get my hands on an open diff from an AT. If anybody has one, please let me know.

 

any updates ?

 

Nope, no updates yet. I was just seeing how many people may be interested in order to reduce production costs over making 1 custom unit for myself.

I still need to get my hands on an open differential to see if it's possible to swap bearings over. If I am unable to easily convert to an open diff, then that means a full spool will be produced that will ONLY replace a VLSD differential.

I am hoping to have a full spool made that will work on the VLSD and Open Transmissions. Hopefully, all you'll have to change is your driver's side axle.

 

Aaron I got a spare Open Diff, problem is, it will cost a crap load to ship that thing. But if your ever in FL again, you can borrow it.

 

Off topic,

Ill be in miramar tomm.

 

Spools are interesting in parking lots for sure..the looks from people who hear the tires screaming from just turning are funny..definitely a good idea for cars that see the track a lot and for those who don't mind the extra work to drive with one at low speeds..

 

Thanks streetz. I'll be in Palm Beach Gardens next week. Maybe Jon can pick it up from you tomorrow and bring it back to PBG.

But, I don't mind driving down to your neck of the woods. I have your number. I'll let you know. Thanks.

 

Yeah, and I am both. Heavy track goer and I don't care how my car drives on the street. My 4000-4500 rpm stall torque converter should be here in a few days! That should tell you how much I care about streetability.

 

well that's what the truck is for......

This mod will catch on especially if you can do it for the sentra guys..

 

Call me or text me, I posted something on your build thread , just an idea lol

 

You saw my Maxima at the last NWP Meet in FL. It's my daily driver. My beater Stanza is gone and now that I have a nice truck, I've been using that as my daily driver lately. My Maxima has been kept in track mode (rear skinnies, no passenger seat, etc).

 

If that would work for my 2k1 auto, I'd be interested. Will I have to remove the tranny ? or can this be installed from underneath the car ? Sound like a newbie question but removing the tranny is not on my list unless I break something...

 

You have to remove the transmission entirely and then remove the torque converter housing. That's it.

I am thinking about my transmission in the next week just to install a different high stall converter. Then, do it again if I get this full spool made. You gotta do what you gotta do in order to make race dates.

 

Id be interested in one for my 00 5 spd.

 

This sounds interesting, def a cool and hopefully cheaper alternative

Subscribing

 

That's what I though but what do I know about that ? I might end up buying one but it's going to stay on the shelf for a little while since removing the tranny is not on my list for now.

Thanks for the answer.

AA

 

hi I am interested in a full spool setup for my 99 Maxima with a 97 5MT swap. please let me know what's up. Thanks!