AE86 4A-W58: G'box x-member.

[Sprinter-Saurus]

Hey all there was a guy on the old forums and I was suppose to give him the measurements and pics of the custom gearbox crossmember I'm using in my 4A-W58 conversion in my AE86, but I didn't get them to him before the old forums closed down, and I don't know his username on here so I thought I'd post it up for everyone's benefit. Enjoy.



















Just a quick side note though, in that first crossmember drawing/diagram showing the crossmember from side on, I've drawn it as though both the angled sections are even, like a dead-straight line, but actually the shorter side that's 6cm long is slightly higher as you can see by the different measurements of the angled sections which are 8.5cm and 7.5 cm fromt left to right respectively. I think it was manufactured like that to compensate for the lean that the motor would have when bolted into the engine mounts, therefore making the gearbox tilt slightly aswell.

I've lined the crossmember upto the hole on the rubber mount on the bottom of the rear of the W58 and the holes line up, but when I lined it up against the holes in the floor of the Sprinter it roughly looked like 1, MAYBE 2 of the holes weren't exactly lined up 100%, so they might need to be slightly redrilled if you copy the diagrams to a tee. I obtained the crossmember from an adaptor plate kit a long time ago from the old forums, and to say the least the adaptor plate didn't go anywhere near letting the W-58 bolt to the back of the T-50 bellhousing, but it does seem like this custom crossmember does loosely resemble something that might actually work once bolted in lol.

Just another thing, in case someone doesn't realise the crossmember actually bolts in upside down compared to the way I did the diagrams, with the lowered "bowl" section to the bottom like it's cupping the bottom of the gearbox.

Cheers, Daniel.

[Big T]

Very useful post dude. If i remember correctly, you're using a Niteparts bellhousing right? I'm curious as to whether the different bellhousings are the same length. I've got a dellow and it seems to make the W5* the same length as a T-50 like this...



Was this the case with your bellhousing? Although dellow might not be the best indication seeing as 2 of the same bellhousings are different in length Bigworm had a little problem with his being 7mm shorter than this one so his tailshaft had to be modified again.

Eddie.

[takai]

Hm, can you by any chance change the initial post so that the pics are a bit smaller.
Good information though.

[gianttomato]

Ideally, you'd want to gusset that for additional strength.

[WDE_BDY]

These pics are from a W55 in a KE70 Ute with an 18RG, but may still be useful.















This was made by a mate when he owned my ute, with a different engine you may want to sit the engine/gearbox back a little. The 18RG needed a bit more firewall clearance.

Callum

[reecegze]

Hey guys sorry for digging up a old thread.. Ive just gone through a w58 to hilux diff coversion on my sprinter and i am wondering how do i get the exact pinion angle to the w58 gearbox ? Do i needa space the gearbox x member down to suit the diff flange ???? Reason i ask is after i bolted the gearbox mount to the member and bolted it to the chassis the gearbox looks like it sits higher then the diff flange... Could someone please correct me here..

Appreciate it

[Sprinter-Saurus]

The 2 universal joints on the tail-shaft will solve the problem, as long as the gearbox isn't ridiculously higher than the diff for some reason. What is the height difference between the 2 points?

Are you going to be using a custom 1 piece tail-shaft or a 2 piece?

[turbo4agte]

Hey guys sorry for digging up a old thread.. Ive just gone through a w58 to hilux diff coversion on my sprinter and i am wondering how do i get the exact pinion angle to the w58 gearbox ? Do i needa space the gearbox x member down to suit the diff flange ???? Reason i ask is after i bolted the gearbox mount to the member and bolted it to the chassis the gearbox looks like it sits higher then the diff flange... Could someone please correct me here..

Appreciate it

As far as I remember the industry standard is 17 degree pinion angle limit on a single piece drive shaft, and 15 degree limit on a two piece.

[reecegze]

I am going to use a single piece tailshaft mate without a center bearing.. My gearbox looks slightly higher then the diff so i assumed i gotta space it down, i used this exact xmember you made on here so i will get some pic's to show you guys the problems.

Appreciate it people

The 2 universal joints on the tail-shaft will solve the problem, as long as the gearbox isn't ridiculously higher than the diff for some reason. What is the height difference between the 2 points?

Are you going to be using a custom 1 piece tail-shaft or a 2 piece?

[reecegze]

Hey guys i am having problems i need some with lining the w58 up with the diff ive got some pics to show you guys whats been done.. but it seems i gotta space the xmember a great deal to mate it with the diff.. anyone got some pics of where the shifter location is meant to sit after you bolt the gearbox up ???? it seems i bolted the gearbox up to high

Appreciate it

REECE

[reecegze]

[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=158&i=008kt7.jpg][IMG]http://img158.imageshack.



[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=513&i=010ww2.jpg][IMG]http://img513.imageshack.us/img


[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=402&i=009ee2.jpg][IMG]http://img402.imageshack.u


[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=395&i=006fj7.jpg][IMG]http://img395.imageshack.us/i

[reecegze]

As You can see ive spaced it down already but does it need more ? its on a angle of 5-10degress i think.

At the moment the rear is lower around 40mm and the front standard height could lowering the front fix this also ?

[turbo4agte]

Well first issue is you have to measure pinion angle with all the wheels on the ground... The only way to do this would be an allignment rack with all wheels level. It looks like you have the rear of the car on a jack or jacks stands.

Next, like I told you before 5-10 degrees is within spec. Im pretty sure its over 15 degrees where your universals start to fail.

[reecegze]

Hey mate all 4 wheels are all on the ground theres diffenatly a decline from the input shaft to the universal maybe 5- 10 degress. If i were to lower the xmember say 10mm could i get away with it ? Ive heard from many others that the front piece doesnt have to be 100% level is this true ?

Also how do i get a allignment rack lol ? What do you recomend i should do ? measure up the 2nd piece and get one made ? or try to take it to a diff specialist like tow it there?

Well first issue is you have to measure pinion angle with all the wheels on the ground... The only way to do this would be an allignment rack with all wheels level. It looks like you have the rear of the car on a jack or jacks stands.

Next, like I told you before 5-10 degrees is within spec. Im pretty sure its over 15 degrees where your universals start to fail.

[turbo4agte]

Just asked a couple guys in my shop today, and my fault... they told me 15 degree total (transmission & pinion) was the limit they would run on a heavy trucks because their operating RPM was usually below 3K rpm, but 15 was far from ideal for a normal passenger car. It should actually be around 2.5-3 degrees downward pinion angle to allow for suspension travel and u-joint longevity. As well the combined transmission and pinion angles shouldn't be over 7 degrees.

I mentioned the allignment rack because thats the only way to get all four wheels at the same level on the rack, and beable to walk underneath and measure the pinion and transmission angles with the gauge.