I just slapped a pair of free nissan pathfinder steels with free desert duelers on them, and holy carp is the gear ratio bad. When you actually get the thing moving, moving at idle in 2wd it is going faster than a human sprint. In the dirt I put it in 4low with the stock tires in the back, but couldn't tell what the low range was like cause the front and back would take turns catching up. With access to a fairly good lathe and a set of 4.44 gears from a newer car, do you think I could get the ring and pinion into a dr tranny? Would there be enough room to set the pinion far enough back to account for the (i assume) larger ring gear? How do they accomplish the ratio, a larger ring gear, smaller pinion, or both?

according to corky (drrx) he told me that you can't do that. you'd be better off doing what i'm doing and putting a divorced nissan t-case. to get a real low range. and then you could put 4.44 front and rear via the 2 rear style diffs.

I know that there are a lot of small measurements and clearances that could mean the end of this, I was just hoping that subaru kept these in common. With the rear diff up front on a t-cased suby, do you use the front half-shafts into the diff, mix-and match shafts and cups, or do you cut and reweld them? If the front axles are easy, this conversion just recquires welding and getting driveshafts made then right? Do newer rear diffs bolt in the same as the old ones, and are the stubs the same?

and a subframe to mount the t-case. 6 inch lift reccomended

Jason, nice site. I was also thinking about the datsun T-case idea, i signed up on a nissan message board so i could get the dirt on their t-cases. even the standard 2:1 is too light duty, i will be lookin for a 4:1 or better with a split shift so i can run 2lo so i can turn somthing like 35's

 

sorry to hijack your post, too bad about the 4.44 that would add some umph.

with the way our axles can break with 28" tires, with 4:1 and 35's I'd think they'd be snapping like twigs if you ever get a wheel wedged, or if you give it gas at full lock.

 

With 2:1 at the transfer case, you can put the dr tranny in 4lo, which would completely make up for a 33" tire. You then have the crawl ratio of a truck. Using front and rear 4.44 diffs you could go up to like 35". I don't think the other components could hold up to 35" much less 33''.

 

I still want to know if the stubs on a 4.44 rear diff the same as a 3.9, and what is used for the front axles with a seperate front diff. Anyone?

The problem is getting a matched set of pinion and ring gears. I'm sorry if I lead you to believe you couldn't do it, you can do anything you want with enough money. There is a ring and pinion gear manufacturing place up by Paine Field in Everett, WA. I'm sure that if you brought in a tranny pinion gear that they could cut you a ring gear to match it with a 4.444 ratio, as well as a rear ring gear to match the rear pinion with the same ratio. I'll bet you right now that it will cost you more then you car is worth, a lot more.

Originally posted by bushbasher

 

I still want to know if the stubs on a 4.44 rear diff the same as a 3.9, and what is used for the front axles with a seperate front diff. Anyone?

 

U use the stubs out of a 3.90 dif, put them into the 4.44 dif.( at least that's what every one I have talked to says) and then use the stock front shafts and joints. The DOJ's have the same inner splines front and rear.