It seems my problems never end. I ordered a rebuilt 5 speed from a company, and indicated I needed one that was compatible with my LSD, because they didn't include the differential. According to the receipt, they sent the correct tranny. When my mechanic tried to reinstall it today, he found the driver side axle doesn't fit correctly. When he tried to put the original tranny back in, the axle fit perfectly. He said something about the inner shaft didn't fit, but I don't really know what he means.

He called a local junkyard, and they told him there is some difference between the 5 speed for 95 and for the 96. I was unaware of this. Is there ANY difference between the two? Or for any 4th gen tranny? I thought they were all exactly the same, except for the LSD vs. non-LSD of course.

My mechanic ordered two different axles today (a LSD, and a regular I think) to see which will fit.

If anybody has ANY ideas about what is wrong, please help me.

 

you got a non lsd tranny if your lsd axle didnt work on the drivers side. send it back

 

well, on the order form it said "LSD compatible", so i assumed it was. are there any visible markings on the tranny to tell the difference?

 

look at the axle hole openings where the axles slide in. if they are the same size or about the same size then its a regular 5spd. If the drivers side if bigger than the passenger side opening its an LSD. try that

 

also one more note to add...

i had originally ordered an LSD for my conversion but it came to me and was a regular 5spd. So I ordered another for a different place and it was ...guess... ANOTHER regular 5spd. So I gave up on LSD and settled for a good ole regular 5spd.

 

i know you are 4th gen guys, as i am amassing parts to do a flywheel, clutch, tranny thing, but i have the 3rd gen SE 5spd with the VG engine. and i have some info about that which may apply to you >>> the "VE" engines, the later ones, had the option with the 5spd to have VLSD. those trannys will mate to the VG block fine (earlier engine). but the half-shafts and hubs must be swapped out, too, from the VE and installed onto the VG car. so do not assume at this point that you can just swap the axles only. look into the hubs, too. the original ones may not work either with different half-shafts. good luck, man. and give us an update.

 

does it make any difference that the LSD bolted right up to the tranny?

 

just got some more info/questions...my mechanic said the drivers side axle is too big to fit in. he thinks the company sent a regular tranny, but since its compatible with the LSD, there probably isnt a whole lot i can do about it, but hes calling them now anyways.

also, would i be harming the differential/tranny by using axles off a non-LSD maxima? cause it looks like those are the only kind that will fit. HELP!!!

 

make the whole system match. lsd tranny comes stock with such and such parts. get that set up.

 

for the regular non LSD trans the axle seals with be about the same size, on the LSD trans the driver side axle seal will be like 2x bigger. you might have gotten the non LSD trans, happened to be like 3 times and finally got one brand new from Nissan.

 

well, would it be harmful to any part of the car to use non-LSD axles in place of my stock LSD axles? i really dont want to have to send the tranny back to the company where i got it....

 

even if the axles fit, i would be wary of tensile strength rating. you could sever them in half with an aggressive launch.

it may be "too late" at this point, but getting a brand new LSD tranny from nissan is, to me, more worthwhile than piece-mealing a rebuilt this, used that, etc. the cost is like 2300 for new. not rebuilt. new. if you got fresh, new OEM VLSD parts across the board, you save headaches, money and time. overall. and you will have a sound driveline. and there is no paranoia if some axle or bearing will fail or not.

but this is all part of the learning process. i just got burned on fuel injector stuff recently because i simply did not know enough about them. and my questions on the forums were only half-answered until it was "too late."

 

yea, its too late to get a new tranny, i just bought this rebuilt one for like 1300 with a 1 year warranty. how much stronger are the LSD axles than the non-LSD ones? what do you think the odds are that they would break? wouldnt this also be a problem for people who install LSD into their non-LSD car? or do they somehow replace axles? although i dont see how they would do that. ive heard of a company called Raxles, do you think they or some other company makes stronger axles?

 

IMO, from other posts about this, speaking only for the 3rd gen, to "upgrade" to the VLSD tranny, both half-shafts and hubs must be replaced along with the tranny. this entails, too, most likely, the bearings. you cannot keep the old half-shafts when you upgrade. at the very least because they will not bolt up. this is what you have experienced. i would assume, then, that the upgraded half-shafts are designed as such for a reason by nissan engineers. they did not do it "just because."

as far as strength, i would be paranoid to keep the other axle that apparently, per what you described, does fit. i would not want to mismatch axles. there are aftermarket companies that make insanely strong carbon fibre half-shafts, but i question the availability for the maxima, and i would assume that would be overkill: you are not going to have 350-400 hp or beyond in your car. but VLSD puts extra demand on the axles most certainly.

in other words, your tranny's bearings would fail before the half-shafts would shear in half (making them 1/4 shafts!) if you are running primarily stock stuff with typical bolt-on items. but i would not just "live with" incorrectly matching axles. all systems are interdependent and create chain-reactions. often in ways that we cannot predetermine easily. it may be more expensive, but i have learned to things all at once if at all possible, and to do it cleanly. this way the structural and mechanical integrity is preserved and you have a solid car all the way.

 

thank you for the clear description. so what would you reccomend i do since i already have the tranny? send it back and try to get the right kind, even though i already asked for the correct kind? even though ill only be running boltons, you still think there will be excess stress placed on the axles? the way i think of this is my car is basically a stock maxima w/o LSD, with a LSD bolted up to it. do people who bolt up a LSD unit get new axles as well? if they do, how do they fit in over the non-LSD tranny?

 

send it back if you want a LSD one. The one you got is NOT LSD. if you just put your reg. axles in, then your tranny is not a LSD one anymore. Defeats the whole perpose.

LSD - HAS to have a bigger shaft on the drivers side.
NON LSD - REGULAR axles only

 

ok. let me see if i am understanding you clearly: you have a rebuilt 5spd tranny. and you have your original tranny >>> 2 trannys. now is the LSD *in the rebuilt* or does your mechanic need to install the LSD in the rebuilt?

in other words, is the tranny a stock LSD unit? or is it "normal" and you had a quaife LSD (or something like that) that was put in it?

i get that your mechanic tried to install the *rebuilt tranny with the LSD in it* and the driver's side half-shaft did not mate up to it, yes? but the passenger's side axle is fine? this is what is going on?

if that is the case, then i take back something i said, as i somewhat confused myself. you have a non-lsd tranny with the lsd put in it after-the-fact. first off, confirm this is true.

 

im not sure if the passenger fits up or not. we took the LSD unit out of the stock tranny, and put it in the supposed LSD-compatible tranny i bought, and the drivers side didnt fit up; it was too big. i think i really need to send this ish back.......AHHHHHH

 

95maxrider,

do not panic. you are ok.

this is the deal >>> listen to me: use an VLSD half-shaft for the driver's side, either OEM new from Nissan, or scrounge for a used one. i would just go to nissan parts service and cough up cash for a new one. it will be costly, though. probably about 600. otherwise, you must be absolutely sure that a used one is VLSD spec. the 4th gens from canada came with these. look there. go to carpart.com or something and tap into the canadian market. then USE THE ORIGINAL STOCK AXEL for the passenger's side. nevermind the spiel i gave you about strength and all of that. it is negligible in this case.

this is the hard-core truth. now go do it.

-bonzelite

 

FWIW if car-part.com doesn't have any then try either Raxels or Carquest but make sure it's a VLSD drivers halfshaft. Either one should be able to provide a rebuild < $200.

And congrats if you are/do figure out the LSD swap into a non LSD tranny