What All Is Involved In Converting Awd To Fwd

[john]

As the description says. I have never done it before but my car needs extensive tuning. Can someone describe it in steps foir me? I know you have to drop the xfercase but that is it. I assume you yank out the driveshaft but do you leave the rear axels in? I have no idea. Someone please explain it to me.

[Goat Blower]

You need to swap in a welded viscous coupling or have a welded center diff already. Then you can pull the xfer case on the dyno and let the driveshaft hang, or removing the xfer case and driveshaft at home. Shane the dyno whore will love you for performing the latter.

i think i heard tom talin about an all wheel drive Dyno on university, I dont remember for sure but yeah, check that out. Unless you just want to convert to fwd .

[Jana]

there is an awd dyno, but sometimes you are better off going to a place that is known for good tuning

ah, i see

[Enes]

tunint wise you are better off going with a known place.. and hence why most local guys go to Elite...

-E

[At-Least-It's-An-Evo]

Originally posted by Enes@May 24 2004, 01:00 PM
and hence why most local guys go to Elite...

-E

The smart ones do :secret:

[JustROLLIN]

On top of all that, the "shop with the AWD dyno" just blew up an STi engine. My friend from work was there when BAM, metal on metal. Also, the STi belonged to Gaborik from the MN Wild.

Bottom Line: Take it to Elite.

[Enes]

you know, its a risk you take, i know my engine will eventualy blow... and for my luck it will be when i'm tuning it, thats why i'd like to have someone with a cam there to record the bitch blow up!!! that way i have some good memories before i tow it home and turn it into a 1year project...

-E

[Jana]

Ok, now that we've established where to go....lol

Can someone actually answer his question about how you convert it to FWD so he can dyno it????

I saw the awd dyno 2 weeks ago. I cannot say what shop, but I am going to stick with the place I usually go too even though I own GSX. Number one reason is they have great ventilation, 2 large fans, computer is right by window with keyboard, so you can watch a/f ratio, plus I trust my friend for help and owner there is helpful as well. I would trust Elite to tune your car too. To answer your question about conversion. Dont even bother welding the viscous. Reason is because I had my viscous welded and it never fit even after it was professionally welded. Plus you need it for street driving. Need a custom machined VCE viscous coupling eliminator. Forces a permanent 50/50 front-rear torque split. Do not drive on street like this, never, but you want 50/50 when going straight 1/4 mile. You can get the viscous coupling from a number of venders. Sorry, I am under the impression I cannot say who, but maybe QPR can help or have you heard of Machv. You want the cnc machined piece because it will take away rotating mass, more importantly easy install. All you will have to do is slide on and make sure clip is in groove. You will need high temp rtv silicone, razer blade, tools, floor jack, etc. Just e-mail me for specifics or I could do it for you, then you will know next time becuase you will be doing this every time you dyno. Have this done before you go dyno. Then all you do is disconnect downpipe and transfer case. Bring electric wire to hold up driveshaft. Re-connect downpipe and connect wideband to exhaust. Now your ready. Give yourself 1hr before dyno and 30 minutes after or tune on a day when no one after you. Then you have no concern about the time. You can get wideband installed in car to tune on street, but I recommend you tune on dyno first, then you can fuss a little on street if you want. I personally use wideband in car for reference and do all tuning on dyno. Actually if you want here is another alternative. Call elite, set up time, I will lend you my viscous eliminator for dyno, then after car tuned put your viscous coupler back on. I will do the install and removal for ya or you can after you see how easy it is. I have this week off and I know how urgent it is to have the car tuned. Just reply if interested or e-mail me, be more then happy to help, but I would have elite do the tuning and your golden. If you dont use me hopefully this information is beneficial fo ya.

Here is some added information if you allready have viscous coupler eliminator. Jack front car up and put lifts underneath control arms, but leave the lift on transmission side of car higher because you dont want 5th gear synchro falling off when doing this. Remove wheel, remove or unbolt the the cover from transaxle assembly or the end of transmission which you will understand when you remove your wheel. I think there are 10-13 and 3 are long. Use flat head screw driver to pry open. Let fluid drop in pan. Difficult part is removing clip. This is where I can show you a quick tip to make easy and you will not break otherwise just work it around with small flat head and it should eventually snap off. Slide viscous off. Install viscous coupler eliminator and install clip back on. Use razor blade to remove rtv, dry, then apply new rtv high temp silicone about 1/4 bead around cover. Carefully install cover so 5th gear synchro does not fall. Ft pound torque bolts down to spec. Use hand pump to add new transmission fluid back. You can get cheap fluid pump at auto store. The plug is in front of transmission or when facing front of car on that side of transmission. I think it is 17mm or 19mm. Once fluid overflows that is enough. Re-install wheel and ft pound torque and your done. If you drive recklessly with viscous eliminated you will do extreme damage to transmission, so even though you will like the 50/50 traction only good for straight line so be careful driving to dyno. AGAIN, HOPEFULLY THIS INFO HELPS.

[MustGoFaster]

Originally posted by JasonR@May 24 2004, 03:55 PM
Do not drive on street like this, never

Can if you want. Just relize that you are putting ***a lot*** of extra strain on driveline parts while making sharp turns. Search on a few sites, I remeber people talking about the things they had to replace (u-joints mostly).

Replacing the stuff is a nut busting 20hr session of drive shaft rebuild, replacing carrier bearings and u-joints and expensive and what ever else you will mess up in the driveline. My drive shaft is not looking good and will need to rebuild because I have drivin like this for short periods on the street even though I was careful. Viscous eliminator in, go straight, vicous coupler in, turn on street or auto cross, what ever you want.

[At-Least-It's-An-Evo]

Originally posted by MustGoFaster+May 24 2004, 06:06 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (MustGoFaster @ May 24 2004, 06:06 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-JasonR@May 24 2004, 03:55 PM
Do not drive on street like this, never

Can if you want. Just relize that you are putting ***a lot*** of extra strain on driveline parts while making sharp turns. Search on a few sites, I remeber people talking about the things they had to replace (u-joints mostly). [/b][/quote]
Drove mine around all summer last year and to the DSM shootout/Ohio... no problems.

[john]

Thanks for the help and the offer (JasonR) but I am not ready yet. I still need to install the ARP's and get a clutch put in that will hold. While the tranny is out, it will get rebuilt so that will take some more time.

So, just taking off the t-case and driveshaft will give you FWD right? Putting in the welded VC allows for a 50-50 split between the front wheels. So the car would drive without the welded VC in FWD mode? if so, why would you need the welded VC then? Wouldn't it just be like a one wheel honda on the dyno?

[Super Bleeder!!]

this is what you do, you jack up your car's right front end, take out tire, take off end of transmission, take out VC. you either borrow someones welded VC or you get one from a junkyard to take to qpr to get welded. slap that bich in there, drop the X case, you are ready to dyno.

99.999% of the awd peeps that have dyno'd at elite have done exactly what i have said.

get er dun

I am going to explain in detail so this makes sense. Awd drive GSX has a center differential and Viscous coupling with Limited slip differential. When GSX encounters slippery conditions, power is apportioned to the wheels with the best traction. All of this happens seamlessly as the driver rockets around a corner in control. When you dyno you need the viscous coupler eliminator, otherwise you will destroy your viscous coupling. You can weld the center differential, but then tranny comes out and more costly and time consuming. Easier to get viscous eliminator. The problem with AWD cars is you can't run them on a 2-wheel drive dyno. If you tried, you would destroy the center viscous coupler that transfers power from front to rear. Viscous eliminator is easy, install in place of your viscous coupling (which I mentioned before to keep for street driving), so you can simply disconnect the rear driveshaft and run the car on a two way wheel dyno as a front-driven. Now the VCE will give you a permenant 50/50 front-rear torque split, which is good for launching or rally, but not turning. The car on the street under conditions when turning or slipping changes torque split from 50/50 to 70/30 or 30/70 or whatever it supposed to do and the center diff and lsd help control traction. If you turn with vc eliminator in, the car will suffer and shutter allot cornering and that is hard on drive line as I mentioned before. Viscous coupler is a silicone liquid in a casing connected to shaft with inner and outer plates around a hub in the coupling housing. Use regular differentials in conjunction with the vc where the vc functions as a diff lock that acts automatically when conditions need it. Where AWD (which is superior to fwd), a permanently engaged 4-wheel drive system needs to have differentials to enable it to apply power to four wheels and be able to turn without resistance. The distance traveled by turning front wheels is not the same as the distance traveled by the non articulating rear wheels. The vicous coupling limited slip differential divides the torque splitting between front and rear. This is why it is damaging to run on street with the VCE in, but fine going straight. Hopefully this clears up why need VCE. Get it through Machv and I can show you quickly before you drive to dyno. Only takes 1hr with tools.

[john]

Ok, thanks for the information.