FWD to AWD conversion
03-01-2006, 02:07 AM
#1
FWD to AWD conversion
call me retarded, insane, or whatever, but i had an epiphany. i'm not a fan of either front or rear wheel drive. i plan on keeping my car til its death. therefore, is an all-wheel drive conversion possible? if it is, what is the estimated cost and/or work to be done?
03-01-2006, 02:20 AM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: NJ
Posts: 2,461
I am not sure what is involved but I would guess you would need to source another differential from another car and mate your transmission up to it. I am sure many electronics would be involved.
It is not feasible. I won't say it's impossible but it is cheaper and smarter (finance wise) to sell the Maxima and purchase a G35x for example. Otherwise, we would have a few drivetrain swapped Maximas on this site.
Hope this helps.
It is not feasible. I won't say it's impossible but it is cheaper and smarter (finance wise) to sell the Maxima and purchase a G35x for example. Otherwise, we would have a few drivetrain swapped Maximas on this site.
Hope this helps.
03-01-2006, 07:53 AM
#8
Originally Posted by TXT-1
I just had an epiphany. How about cutting the front end off another Maxima and weld it to the back end of your current Maxima. Viola, AWD!
Why go through the trouble? Just put another VQ and tranny in the trunk and you'll have AWD plus twice the power.
03-01-2006, 07:56 AM
#9
i saw this crazy ish on superstreet a long time ago with a tiburon the guy put an engine in the back(trunk) and a seperate tranny so he had to engines one for the front wheels one for the back so maybe a crazy dude with a lot of money can pull it off. imo your insane
03-01-2006, 07:59 AM
#10
Originally Posted by vq356sp
i saw this crazy ish on superstreet a long time ago with a tiburon the guy put an engine in the back(trunk) and a seperate tranny so he had to engines one for the front wheels one for the back so maybe a crazy dude with a lot of money can pull it off. imo your insane
03-01-2006, 08:05 AM
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,383
there is that tib and there is also an eldorado that that has been done to as well.
03-01-2006, 08:09 AM
#17
Do you guys remember that video of the little car in Europe (I believe) that had two engines and steering wheels on both ends of the car? It took two drivers to drive it and the video was crazy because the car was turning and spinning all over the place. It was almost a work of art.
03-01-2006, 08:19 AM
#19
i dont think theres anoyone on here that wouldnt love an awd or rwd maxima. id say get a good set of tires to help with grip issues if u have them and save the money
if ur really truely nuts...
i suppose that if u could find a awd trans froma a g20/primera. i know they made them but thyre rare. ucould pop that in, id drop in the sr20 as well tho. not an easy task, but we all knew that from the first place.if ur gonan go nuts might as well do it right. i think the hardest thing would be the rear axels. if we had indi rears maybe, but the beam meas ud probly have to replace most of whats back there, prob again from an awd g20/primera. i doubt 240/sylvia or j30/z parts would work. and ud still have to have a custom driveshaft made for our long wheelbase, and then where would the exhaust and shift linkage go?
if ur really truely nuts...
i suppose that if u could find a awd trans froma a g20/primera. i know they made them but thyre rare. ucould pop that in, id drop in the sr20 as well tho. not an easy task, but we all knew that from the first place.if ur gonan go nuts might as well do it right. i think the hardest thing would be the rear axels. if we had indi rears maybe, but the beam meas ud probly have to replace most of whats back there, prob again from an awd g20/primera. i doubt 240/sylvia or j30/z parts would work. and ud still have to have a custom driveshaft made for our long wheelbase, and then where would the exhaust and shift linkage go?
03-01-2006, 08:38 AM
#20
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 301
Originally Posted by vq356sp
i saw this crazy ish on superstreet a long time ago with a tiburon the guy put an engine in the back(trunk) and a seperate tranny so he had to engines one for the front wheels one for the back so maybe a crazy dude with a lot of money can pull it off. imo your insane
James
03-01-2006, 09:13 AM
#22
Donating Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,875
I dont blame the guy who started this thread. He is only 18 years old. I remember when i was 18, i came up with all these wild ideas for my Mazda Protege but as I grew older I realized how stupid I sounded to spend that much cash on a car that was worth $25K new. Same being said for a 5th gen max thats now worth less than $15K.... Not worth the time and effort.
To the original poster.. When your 28 years old, I bet you will look back and say, WHAT WAS I THINKING !!! LOL
To the original poster.. When your 28 years old, I bet you will look back and say, WHAT WAS I THINKING !!! LOL
03-01-2006, 09:18 AM
#23
Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 63
if you really wanted towast a lot of money I would suggest a trans/transfer case out of a murano or FX but muranos got that cvt bs so if a FX motor is transvers monted I would look into that
03-01-2006, 09:33 AM
#24
Originally Posted by Puppetmaster
What about the AWD dyno files you sent me? We could post those.... 
03-01-2006, 09:43 AM
#25
Mass_Media™
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,812
Originally Posted by ColdSHO
i dont think theres anoyone on here that wouldnt love an awd or rwd maxima. id say get a good set of tires to help with grip issues if u have them and save the money
if ur really truely nuts...
i suppose that if u could find a awd trans froma a g20/primera. i know they made them but thyre rare. ucould pop that in, id drop in the sr20 as well tho. not an easy task, but we all knew that from the first place.if ur gonan go nuts might as well do it right. i think the hardest thing would be the rear axels. if we had indi rears maybe, but the beam meas ud probly have to replace most of whats back there, prob again from an awd g20/primera. i doubt 240/sylvia or j30/z parts would work. and ud still have to have a custom driveshaft made for our long wheelbase, and then where would the exhaust and shift linkage go?
if ur really truely nuts...
i suppose that if u could find a awd trans froma a g20/primera. i know they made them but thyre rare. ucould pop that in, id drop in the sr20 as well tho. not an easy task, but we all knew that from the first place.if ur gonan go nuts might as well do it right. i think the hardest thing would be the rear axels. if we had indi rears maybe, but the beam meas ud probly have to replace most of whats back there, prob again from an awd g20/primera. i doubt 240/sylvia or j30/z parts would work. and ud still have to have a custom driveshaft made for our long wheelbase, and then where would the exhaust and shift linkage go?
I hope that was meant as a joke. Putting an sr20 in our cars is retarded. Going from a 3.0 to a 2.0 is just stupid.
03-01-2006, 10:18 AM
#27
lmao, those burnouts are insane.. tranny for the front and rear.
but everyone has their own dreams.. i personally want to make a 5/5.5 gen rear wheel drive in the future, yes its probably an insane amount of money but im a maxaholic, love the 5th gen body style, and it would be unique, something nobodys ever done. right now i do not have the funds to even think about doing something to that degree but maybe down the road after school it would something to think about... my friend will be opening a garage down the road as well for import racing i guess, not really sure but he plans to have a couple projects like the skyline, but im going to convince him to do the maxima as well.
but everyone has their own dreams.. i personally want to make a 5/5.5 gen rear wheel drive in the future, yes its probably an insane amount of money but im a maxaholic, love the 5th gen body style, and it would be unique, something nobodys ever done. right now i do not have the funds to even think about doing something to that degree but maybe down the road after school it would something to think about... my friend will be opening a garage down the road as well for import racing i guess, not really sure but he plans to have a couple projects like the skyline, but im going to convince him to do the maxima as well.
03-01-2006, 10:23 AM
#28
You are retarded, insane and whatever 
Originally Posted by neville610135
call me retarded, insane, or whatever, but i had an epiphany. i'm not a fan of either front or rear wheel drive. i plan on keeping my car til its death. therefore, is an all-wheel drive conversion possible? if it is, what is the estimated cost and/or work to be done?
03-01-2006, 10:32 AM
#31
When I totaled my 96 se, I was gonna have the BOCES/Votech class at the HS fix it for me. They only charge you for the parts, and they suggest a small donation to the program. Plus if you stick around, you'll be able to learn/help and have the teacher there to guide everything, that is if u can convince them to do it.
03-01-2006, 10:35 AM
#32
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 2,108
Man...I bet this mod would be awesome with a twin turbo..... 
03-01-2006, 10:36 AM
#33
Originally Posted by Maxima570
When I totaled my 96 se, I was gonna have the BOCES/Votech class at the HS fix it for me. They only charge you for the parts, and they suggest a small donation to the program. Plus if you stick around, you'll be able to learn/help and have the teacher there to guide everything, that is if u can convince them to do it.
03-01-2006, 10:44 AM
#35
1. making a car AWD is more than just putting in an AWD tranny/engine. where's the driveshaft going to go? How are you going to mount a rear differential?
2. Whoever said it would be great to put an SR20 in a maxima...wow...that's really lame. The VQ30 can make far more power than an SR20DE. And how lame would it be to have a 4-banger in a big sedan like ours? If you're going to talk about SR20s, you may want to differentiate between the various SR20 models. The SR20DE is just a NA 4-banger that came in the INfiniti G20. Yeah...tons of power
3. There is already a RWD and an AWD version of the maxima out there for anyone to buy. They go by the name of "G35 Sedan and G35x Sedan"
FTW
2. Whoever said it would be great to put an SR20 in a maxima...wow...that's really lame. The VQ30 can make far more power than an SR20DE. And how lame would it be to have a 4-banger in a big sedan like ours? If you're going to talk about SR20s, you may want to differentiate between the various SR20 models. The SR20DE is just a NA 4-banger that came in the INfiniti G20. Yeah...tons of power
3. There is already a RWD and an AWD version of the maxima out there for anyone to buy. They go by the name of "G35 Sedan and G35x Sedan"
FTW
03-01-2006, 11:29 AM
#36
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,868
Not happening.
Go buy a wrx/evo/g35x
Go buy a wrx/evo/g35x
03-01-2006, 11:36 AM
#37
Supporting Maxima.org Member
iTrader: (17)
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Montreal, Qc, Canada
Posts: 5,437
You would have to use the AWD Axxess drivetrain. It shares the RS5F50V 5-speed manual transmission with us. Just the differencial and bellhousing that is different. Basically get an AWD 5-speed Axxess transmission from a junkyard and bolt your stock VQ bellhousing to that transmission (replacing the KA24 bellhousing). It will bolt up.
Use Axxess axles up front (They would fit in their current position, Axxess/Altima wheel hubs/control arms/front suspension is basically the same as the 95-03 maxima). The VLSD Axxess also has a 4.47 final drive instead of your stock 3.82, so the extra weight of the AWD drivetrain would be cancelled out in acceleration by having a more aggressive final drive ratio (Which is precisely why Nissan uses the 4.4:1 final drive on the AWD version and 3.8:1 on the FWD version).
You could use the stock Axxess rear differential and a custom driveshaft (or stock Axxess AWD driveshaft) running in the exhaust tunnel under the car. Custom length driveshaft isn't really a problem, domestic guys get them all the time.
The rear suspension could remain pretty unchanged as we already have a straight beam that pretty much acts as a live axle differencial (i.e you would have an F-body/Mustang GT-ish rear suspension), except maybe for custom, higher spring rates in the rear (and thus in the front too, coilovers would be ideal, you can order them with your desired spring rates).
Perhaps just replace the stock trailing arms with radius arms (rod ends on all ends) so you'd have something that's an awful lot like a 4-link suspension (ideal for drag racing).
You would also need subframe connectors similar to the ones Warpspeed used to make for us to beef up the maxima frame.
The exhaust would need to pass under the car on either side to leave the exhaust tunnel to the driveshaft.
Electronics wise you could probably get away with not having to change anything and leave the ECU thinking it is still FWD. All work would be mechanical/fabrication.
That is the most feasable way to do it.
Use Axxess axles up front (They would fit in their current position, Axxess/Altima wheel hubs/control arms/front suspension is basically the same as the 95-03 maxima). The VLSD Axxess also has a 4.47 final drive instead of your stock 3.82, so the extra weight of the AWD drivetrain would be cancelled out in acceleration by having a more aggressive final drive ratio (Which is precisely why Nissan uses the 4.4:1 final drive on the AWD version and 3.8:1 on the FWD version).
You could use the stock Axxess rear differential and a custom driveshaft (or stock Axxess AWD driveshaft) running in the exhaust tunnel under the car. Custom length driveshaft isn't really a problem, domestic guys get them all the time.
The rear suspension could remain pretty unchanged as we already have a straight beam that pretty much acts as a live axle differencial (i.e you would have an F-body/Mustang GT-ish rear suspension), except maybe for custom, higher spring rates in the rear (and thus in the front too, coilovers would be ideal, you can order them with your desired spring rates).
Perhaps just replace the stock trailing arms with radius arms (rod ends on all ends) so you'd have something that's an awful lot like a 4-link suspension (ideal for drag racing).
You would also need subframe connectors similar to the ones Warpspeed used to make for us to beef up the maxima frame.
The exhaust would need to pass under the car on either side to leave the exhaust tunnel to the driveshaft.
Electronics wise you could probably get away with not having to change anything and leave the ECU thinking it is still FWD. All work would be mechanical/fabrication.
That is the most feasable way to do it.
03-01-2006, 05:42 PM
#40
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 2,836
Originally Posted by Puppetmaster
Why go through the trouble? Just put another VQ and tranny in the trunk and you'll have AWD plus twice the power.
