Diff Lock for Safari H233B?
Posted: 15 Aug 2009 12:36
My Nissan Safari have a H233B rear diff with limited slip. In many cases, the limited slip helps a lot, but it cannot take me over much more than a level piece of axle twister where one wheel may hang. There it always works, but the moment the trouble is on an incline, it cannot do the job any more.
To sum it up. My buddy have a V6 Colt Auto and we all know they are not very gifted off roaders. But the maths don't work. Where I go up easily, he battles a bit. Where I have it hard, he have to try 10 times. And where I don't make it... he goes over! hehehehehe.... OK, not always, but the locker does help a lot.
I would like to try and convert to a rear locker but run into a lot of troubles.
From what I could find, one get H233B diffs with limited slip carriages and ones without it. Then of course there are the spider gears with different numbers of splines depending on the side shafts. Seems that you even get carriages with 4 and 6 spiders gears on this same model diff. Mine have 6. Then you get different ratios as well.
How does this works? The same model number on a thing that differs quite a lot on the insides? Why a model number then? Not even something that indicates the variations.
This makes it extremely difficult for me to start looking for internals to adapt for this diff.
I will definitely have to replace the carrier and since my spider gears are for the limited slip model, I need to find them with the same number of splines as what I have. Don't know how lucky I will get there. Say I do find it, would the crown gear I have now, fits? I doubt that I would be able to put my splined and clutched spider gears in a lathe to fit in an open H233B.
Some of the Nissan Hardbodies do have those Gearmax locked diffs at the rear but they often have the H233B. Could it be that there was a Gearmax locker for the H233B or are these local lockers a different thing?
This answer from Gerrit Loubser on the LCCSA forum.
The Nissan differential nomenclature system only serves to indicate the size class of the differential. The number 233 in the H233B differential indicates the diameter of the ring gear in mm.
The gears within the differential case consist of the side gears that are splined to the side shafts and the pinion gears that are pivoted on the differential case itself. All differentials have two side gears, because there are two side shafts (output shafts). Open differentials often have only two pinion gears, but locking and limited slip differentials normally have four pinion gears due to the fact that the pinion gear teeth are subjected to much greater loads when these latter two types are used to enhance tractive effort.
I think you will find that your sideshafts are different lengths than the ones used in an open diff version of the H233B axle. This is because there are clutch packs on either side of the side gears, which offsets the centerline of the differential case.
Locally manufactured bakkies often use locally manufactured Gearmax differentials in a quest for higher local content. The Gearmax differentials are based on American Dana differentials and have nothing in common with the orginal Nissan/Mazda/Toyota/WHY differentials other than the fact that the final drive ratios are obviously identical. This means that you might find a Gearmax axle with the right ratio and a vacuum actuated diff lock, but that the diff lock components will not be compatible with your H233B axle.
You could of course fork out the money for the ARB RD134 differential lock, which is designed for the H233 axle with 31 spline side shafts. You could also get the a Powertrax LockRight 3220 autolocker (I think).
I hope that helps a little.
To sum it up. My buddy have a V6 Colt Auto and we all know they are not very gifted off roaders. But the maths don't work. Where I go up easily, he battles a bit. Where I have it hard, he have to try 10 times. And where I don't make it... he goes over! hehehehehe.... OK, not always, but the locker does help a lot.
I would like to try and convert to a rear locker but run into a lot of troubles.
From what I could find, one get H233B diffs with limited slip carriages and ones without it. Then of course there are the spider gears with different numbers of splines depending on the side shafts. Seems that you even get carriages with 4 and 6 spiders gears on this same model diff. Mine have 6. Then you get different ratios as well.
How does this works? The same model number on a thing that differs quite a lot on the insides? Why a model number then? Not even something that indicates the variations.
This makes it extremely difficult for me to start looking for internals to adapt for this diff.
I will definitely have to replace the carrier and since my spider gears are for the limited slip model, I need to find them with the same number of splines as what I have. Don't know how lucky I will get there. Say I do find it, would the crown gear I have now, fits? I doubt that I would be able to put my splined and clutched spider gears in a lathe to fit in an open H233B.
Some of the Nissan Hardbodies do have those Gearmax locked diffs at the rear but they often have the H233B. Could it be that there was a Gearmax locker for the H233B or are these local lockers a different thing?
This answer from Gerrit Loubser on the LCCSA forum.
The Nissan differential nomenclature system only serves to indicate the size class of the differential. The number 233 in the H233B differential indicates the diameter of the ring gear in mm.
The gears within the differential case consist of the side gears that are splined to the side shafts and the pinion gears that are pivoted on the differential case itself. All differentials have two side gears, because there are two side shafts (output shafts). Open differentials often have only two pinion gears, but locking and limited slip differentials normally have four pinion gears due to the fact that the pinion gear teeth are subjected to much greater loads when these latter two types are used to enhance tractive effort.
I think you will find that your sideshafts are different lengths than the ones used in an open diff version of the H233B axle. This is because there are clutch packs on either side of the side gears, which offsets the centerline of the differential case.
Locally manufactured bakkies often use locally manufactured Gearmax differentials in a quest for higher local content. The Gearmax differentials are based on American Dana differentials and have nothing in common with the orginal Nissan/Mazda/Toyota/WHY differentials other than the fact that the final drive ratios are obviously identical. This means that you might find a Gearmax axle with the right ratio and a vacuum actuated diff lock, but that the diff lock components will not be compatible with your H233B axle.
You could of course fork out the money for the ARB RD134 differential lock, which is designed for the H233 axle with 31 spline side shafts. You could also get the a Powertrax LockRight 3220 autolocker (I think).
I hope that helps a little.
