Everyone-
I am rarely one this forum. But, when I am, I am reminded of the gear-head mentality that is not present on the Club Lexus forums that I frequent daily.
I own a 96 SC400 with 69k miles. The original owner babied the car. I am looking to push it a bit.
My build is intended to include three stages:
(1) 4.27 ring on a Torsen diff
(2) R154 swap using Neil's kit from down under
(3) Powerdyne centrifugal supercharger for 6lbs of boost (to dial up to 12psi)
I am half way through step one. I felt compelled to share my results as I know LSD's and gearing is a strong topic of discussion on Lextreme. Ultimately, I wanted the 4.27 gears for that added whip off the line. Likely never to hit the speed limiter, I would rather have my power available on the street. The Torsen diff should be perfect for so many reasons.
I was told by a Toyota tech that the 4.27 n/a Supra differentials which included the factory LSD option utilized a clutch-type differential that has been proven to be prone to failure. This Toyota tech, a Supraforums guru that put together a hell of a drag car, cautioned me to not use the Supra n/a diff, but rather to piece together the diff myself.
Here is my progress to this point...
This is the starting point: a 97 SC300 a/t differential 50k miles new with 4.27 gears from the factory.
It took me a day of trials and a few emails to Brad Pyle from Supraforums (a Toyota tech) to realize just how rough you could get with the axle stubs on the diff. The advice was to wedge in a pry bar or two and bludgen it with everything you've got:
(I would be nowhere right now without Brad's LSD and Brad's advice. The guy is a class act)
The stubs were literally out fifteen minutes after reading Brad's email that came attched with the above photo:
The next cylindrical piece inward, the carrier retainers, needed to be removed:
A gear/pulley remover would have been nice to have, but some ambidexterity was equally effective at removing the carrier retainers:
A reinactment to show just how high-tech this stuff really is:
All told, these four units -two each side- hold the differential unit itself in place. Removing them was key for the LSD surgery:
Now, the back plate needs to be removed to allow the differential unit to be accessed.
After draining the oil, this is what you are left with:
I am rarely one this forum. But, when I am, I am reminded of the gear-head mentality that is not present on the Club Lexus forums that I frequent daily.
I own a 96 SC400 with 69k miles. The original owner babied the car. I am looking to push it a bit.
My build is intended to include three stages:
(1) 4.27 ring on a Torsen diff
(2) R154 swap using Neil's kit from down under
(3) Powerdyne centrifugal supercharger for 6lbs of boost (to dial up to 12psi)
I am half way through step one. I felt compelled to share my results as I know LSD's and gearing is a strong topic of discussion on Lextreme. Ultimately, I wanted the 4.27 gears for that added whip off the line. Likely never to hit the speed limiter, I would rather have my power available on the street. The Torsen diff should be perfect for so many reasons.
I was told by a Toyota tech that the 4.27 n/a Supra differentials which included the factory LSD option utilized a clutch-type differential that has been proven to be prone to failure. This Toyota tech, a Supraforums guru that put together a hell of a drag car, cautioned me to not use the Supra n/a diff, but rather to piece together the diff myself.
Here is my progress to this point...
This is the starting point: a 97 SC300 a/t differential 50k miles new with 4.27 gears from the factory.
It took me a day of trials and a few emails to Brad Pyle from Supraforums (a Toyota tech) to realize just how rough you could get with the axle stubs on the diff. The advice was to wedge in a pry bar or two and bludgen it with everything you've got:
(I would be nowhere right now without Brad's LSD and Brad's advice. The guy is a class act)
The stubs were literally out fifteen minutes after reading Brad's email that came attched with the above photo:
The next cylindrical piece inward, the carrier retainers, needed to be removed:
A gear/pulley remover would have been nice to have, but some ambidexterity was equally effective at removing the carrier retainers:
A reinactment to show just how high-tech this stuff really is:
All told, these four units -two each side- hold the differential unit itself in place. Removing them was key for the LSD surgery:
Now, the back plate needs to be removed to allow the differential unit to be accessed.
After draining the oil, this is what you are left with: