problem: first gear in Q45's sucks and makes a 300hp v8 feel like it has 125hp for a couple seconds starting out, making it not fun to stomp on it off the line.
possible solution: numerically higher rear gear ratio for more oomph off the line
so in researching some r32 skylines came with 4.363 gear r200's, and the gearsets are priced accordingly for the name attached to them.
however i just found out the r200 was available in some pathfinders. does anybody know which years? it was offered in the same 4.363 ratio. it is also significantly cheaper to buy a full pathfinder diff than just gears from a skyline in japan.
next question is does the pathfinder gearset fit the q45 diff, providing we find out what years came with the r200(and presumably qx4 infiniti or whatever the pathfinder based one is)?
i can see bringing the car to the challenge in a year or three, so obviously cheap is good. with a decently steep overdrive i don't see the 3.69 to 4.36 switch doing much of anything for cruising and giving a nice change to acceleration.
I'll look more tonight but are the pathfinders IRS or live axle?
I was told offhand one time when buying 240sx parts from a drifter that swapping the pathfinder gears into 240sx's for improved drifting happens. Not sure what the mechanics are, but I think it has been done.
In reply to Stampie (FS) :
wading through the bs on a pathfinder forum it looks like 05+ are IRS
found a partial thread on the nissan forum about someone putting the 4.63 pathfinder gears in a q45 diff but the pics are half gone and the info never was very concrete. apparently somewhere along the line the solid rear axle pathfinders had a 200mm ring gear diff that almost looks like a ford 8" and an r200 made a baby
Yeah the 2005 plus won't fit. We went down that rabbit hole with the 3rd gen Q45. Yours will have the earlier R200 vs the R200/230 hybrid/I don't know what the Nissan fan boys call it. I might be able to junkyard around the 4th if you want me to look.
Looks like 96-04 pathfinder and qx4 either have 4.36 or 4.63 depending on options and are the ones that fit the r200. If you're at the yard and stumble on one and feel like snagging the center section or just the gears, i see local PAP has a 99 but it could be rotten and a pain to get apart. I don't want to pay for a whole axle, would rather just take the impact and blow apart the thing and pay for just the gears.
I'm assuming you are looking at the early 2000's front diff.
The Front Diff is a R200A and the Q is a R200v. The case is a no go as I'm sure you know. The gears should work. Outer Bearing is the same. They are both R200 gear sets so same size. If the diff was cheap enough from the pick and pull, I'd give it a shot. I think it'd work.
In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :
Any options I can use to quickly identify them before pulling the diff cover? Looks like my yard is $18.74 plus $3 core each for the ring and pinion.
Did the c200 rear axle gear sets match up? If so that opens you up to about a bloogillion trucks to harvest them from.
also the front diff on the 4x4 pre 2005 nissan trucks might work.
pre 2005 on back to the 70's i think, the 4 cyl trucks had the h190 or c200 rears. The v6's usually got the h233b rear.
It looks like the rear works and i also see people using fronts from xterras.
I feel the need to ask, How berkeleying gutless is this Datsun that it needs a 4.62 gear? Or, how bad is the transmission ratio in low gear?
That is absurd.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
it's generally accepted that they were going for the luxury cars don't need to make elevens everywhere crowd when they designed the transmission. Worse yet they were 2nd gear start from 90-92, thankfully john welsh swapped in a 93 trans module that allows it to start in first. It's my only real complaint about the car. Worse yet is the factory diff ratio is 3.69 which is generally enough to get anything moving.
It's not gutless at all, my other one has a 5 speed manual with a much less stupid first gear and it pulls hard immediately
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Or how addicted is Patrick to acceleration that he's always looking for that next bigger kick in the ass?
