SR swap...now driveshaft doesn't line up

[youngmanvr4]

I'm doing my s14 sr20 into my 95 s14.

When I took the KA out the driveshaft was fine. It bolted up and all was great. Now with the SR in the carrier bearing bolts dont line up. The holes are about a inch away.

Now here is the thing. The last owner put a vlsd in. The car does not have ABS. But you jack the rear up and spin the wheel, the wheel on the other side spins in the same direction. So that confirms that it has a vlsd. But...I dont know for sure how to tell if its a r200 diff. case or r200v case. I looked where the driveshaft bolts to the diff. but I dont know what it looks like so I cant tell for sure.

But even at that...everything bolted up when I took it off but now that the SR is in there it doesn't. Can someone help?

I would get a one piece but I'm running out of cash to complete the swap so a $400 driveshaft...I dont think I can do it. On top of not knowing if I should get a ABS one piece or non ABS.

Please people help me out. I searched and searched for hours every thread I could find about this but found nothing to help me out.

Also when measuring driveshafts from where to where do you measure from?

[broken240sx]

that happened to me when I did my swap, s13 but it sounds very similar

the driveshaft I used was from an ABS car, it didn't line up until I installed the ABS diff housing, which is about an inch longer because it has a sensor in it.

its weird that it worked fine with your KA though


in the meantime I just pulled the tranny part out a little and drove around, it leaked a little but nothing too noticeable

[youngmanvr4]

Ok I need to go a little more into detail.

When I first tried to put the driveshaft on I slid the shaft into the tranny then bolted up the carrier bearing. That fit ok. Then I tried bolting up the rear piece (driveshaft to diff.) and it was too long. So I notice that the "rubber dust collar" around the end of the SR tranny was there and there is no such thing on the KA. So I looked closer and saw it kept the driveshaft from pushing in about half inch or so; so I took it out. I then retried putting the driveshaft into the tranny. But before I bolted up the carrier bearing I lined the driveshaft to diff. yoke up first and put one bolt in to hold it. Then I move the carrier bearing up into position and it came short. And even if the carrier bearing did line up that way it still felt like things were tighter than it should have been.

Taking a inch out of the rear driveshaft would probably fix it. But what I'm so confused by is why it worked before and doesn't now.

[projectRDM]

If the diff has a sensor in the front snout, it's an R200V case. Simple.

As for it not lining up, there's almost an inch of play if you consider the crossmember, motor mounts, transmission mount, transmission crossmember, carrier bearing, and the diff/subframe mounts. You've installed a completely different engine and transmission and removed a lot of those bolts, so a lot of the freeplay you had is gone. Try loosening everything and adjusting, sometimes all you need a hair in one place to free up room elsewhere.

[sleepy_s13]

I know it probly is, but just checking.......your car was stick before right?

[youngmanvr4]

Yea it was originally 5-speed.

If my measurements are correct (from center yoke to center yoke) my front section is just over 16 1/2. FSM says MT front section is 16.57 so thats really close. I'm sure I have a 5-speed front.
Now the rear section is a different story. Measurements show 25 5/8 and the FSM says for non ABS rear is 25.59. So thats pretty close too.
So as its showing I have a MT front and non ABS rear.
I think the .55" difference between the ABS and non ABS would give me enough room but...my question is on the ABS rear does the carrier bearing mount further back than the non ABS?
I understand your theory R240NA and think you might be somewhat right but I just looked at everything and I do see how everything can move that far back. The tranny crossmember lines up perfectly.

While I was under it I took some pics on the diff. I'm pretty dang sure what I'm seeing is the ABS for R200V.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/221/diffsmall2pc6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[aznpoopy]

you have a non-abs driveshaft and an abs diff.
the rear section is too long.
the solution is one of the following:
1. get a 1 piece (for an ABS)
2. get an oem abs rear d/s section
3. use brute force and force the center bearing brackets into place so you can bolt them in. that's how it was in before.

[youngmanvr4]

Or...
In the older days for custom engine swaps and even dragsters they would just cut and remove/add the needed amount.
Why cant I just cut out the amount I need and weld back together? People weld diff's...I cant see welding a driveshaft would be much different and would hurt anything. The driveshaft it hallow inside, it would be a quick, cheap and easy fix.
One day I would like a 1 piece but for now I cant until I get more money and I would like that have this running.

And if it didn't would it would only be the rear section and I could just get a ABS rear if need. But if it works I would save time and money. Anyone have opinions?

[aznpoopy]

if you want to save money just brute force it.
plenty of ppl have driven around like that for a while, myself included.

[SlowCoupe]

Or...
In the older days for custom engine swaps and even dragsters they would just cut and remove/add the needed amount.
Why cant I just cut out the amount I need and weld back together? People weld diff's...I cant see welding a driveshaft would be much different and would hurt anything. The driveshaft it hallow inside, it would be a quick, cheap and easy fix.
One day I would like a 1 piece but for now I cant until I get more money and I would like that have this running.

And if it didn't would it would only be the rear section and I could just get a ABS rear if need. But if it works I would save time and money. Anyone have opinions?


if you cut and reweld, you should rebalance it also.

[youngmanvr4]

I found a guy with a ABS driveshaft and I am now just waiting for his paypal to put the money in for it. I'll then resale mine and will come close to breaking even.

I think this is the better route to go. Hopefully it all lines up ok then lol.