Quick question about the bearings on the rear differential. Are the carrier bearings different for the cases with bolt on cups and star shaped thread-in cups? I want to put a fresh XT LSD into my 96 Impreza. The diff came out of a case with the bolt on cups but will be going into a case with the thread-in type. I've done one into a 98 Impreza with no problems as they both had the same type of setup but now I'm reading that the thead-in type uses smaller bearings. I wanna make sure I have the right bearings on the diff before I tear anything apart.

 

Thanks for any insight. PN's welcome if they are different....

 

Jay Storm

Welp....according to the parts diagrams, the bearings are different. I ordered a pair to fit the case I have and got all excited when they came in. Now I see that inner bore of the new bearings are also smaller than the diff.....$91 and 3 weeks down the drain.

 

I'll update this thread once I figure out a solution to this. Hopefully nobody else has to learn this the hard way....

 

 

Jay Storm

Small update to this as now I know that the 96 Impreza uses the "VA" type R160 while others use the "T" type. The VA carrier bearings are smaller than the T type and won't go onto a diff for the T type.

 

I had a spare T type case from another LSD swap but it's got the 3.70 ratio. I sourced a 3.90 R&P to match my front final drive ratio and made the swap but have a question about the pinion depth. I don't have the dummy shaft or the special gauge to measure the depth and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one to do this without the special tools. Can anyone tell me what the depth should be from the machined end of the case? The special gauge looks to reference from there.

 

I kept the pinion bearing and washers from the new pinion on the new shaft, with the adjusting washer in place and used the preload washer from that pinion as well. Would I be better off using the washers and sleeve from the pinion I pulled out? I have the preload correct but I can't verify the depth being correct to allow the carrier to go inplace with minimal shim relocation.

 

Any insight is helpful!

 

Jay Storm