How much torque can an ea82 rear end take?

[bgd73]

When I saw the photos of the wrx rear being nearly identical to the ea82... and then thoughts of 20 years of hopelessly "LSD" mode on 2 of my ea82s until the unibody had problems because of it....

The EJ swaps surviving it, and wrx sti's breaking trannies before the rear never let go. How much torque could it take? There's even lift kits straining axles with large mudders vibrating away at it ,there are many endpoints smashing into the rear diff. Is it safe to call it a very strong part?

Of course there are rears that break, as with any car there is a majority mainstream "normal" and the ea82's breaking aren't a clear majority. It is normal to last a very long time, even neglecting fluid.

I did have one that got hot, due to a bent body I welded, bent forever (yes it was a stupid thing to do by eyeball)

- yet it still survived, even the highway.until the belly of the body broke its own integrity. Anyway...

 

Does anyone think it could sustain a 200hp/torque v8?

[subeman90]

I heard they are good up to 1000 HP.

[75subie]

a friend of mine tried running rwd in his outback, and we toasted 2 rears, but as of now he's been using the same one for about 3 months. just had to cut back on some sweet rwd burnouts.........

[daeron]

Well, its an r-160 differential. My experience is much more than 200 whp would be over the top... BUT don't forget that only half the power is going to the rear diff at ALL. Nissan put the EXACT SAME rear diff into the 240 and 260Z, but in 1975 when the 280Z came out they switched to the R200. Most of the Zcar guys will upgrade their diff to an r200 if they increase the power of the motor.. even if its just a cheap junkyard swap. The 240 started out weighing in at like 2100-2200 pounds, and by the time they reached '75 they were up to about 2450. the weight of the vehicle also plays a major role.. four wheel drive, divide that weight by two axles rather than by one on a 2wheeler.

 

In other words, the r160 rear end should be able to take 2-4 times the engine output power as a rear diff in a 4wd car, than it could in a straight rear wheeler.

 

You cut the power spinning the axle in half by going 4WD.. you cut the weight the axle has to move in half by going 4WD.

 

I shall also add the caveat that NONE of this is through personal experience... just knowledge. I've never even OWNED an r-160. (except that time with the hydraulic press, but thats not what I meant by "owned" [pwned!!!])

[RavenTBK]

Actually, the R180 was the standard in the 280Z/ZX. Turbo models (82-83) got the R200 in stock form. 300ZXs in 84-up were is where the R200 was the stock flavor. Both R180 and R200 could either use flanges where the halfshafts connect, or later models used CVs. Both diff stubs are interchangeable.

 

R180/R200 are freely interchangeable. R160/R180 can be swapped, but you've gotta swap diff stubs, and/or go with custom CVs.

[Phizinza]

Does anyone think it could sustain a 200hp/torque v8?

I would go with the R180 or R200 if you plan on RWD only. The standard R160 in the EA82 isn't upto that I don't think. But you never know, maybe it is. Only way to find out is to give it ago or hear from someone who already has.

[WoodsWagon]

Not much in my experience. I just toasted another, and I wasn't even trying. The car was in 4wd at the time too.

[daeron]

Actually, the R180 was the standard in the 280Z/ZX. Turbo models (82-83) got the R200 in stock form. 300ZXs in 84-up were is where the R200 was the stock flavor. Both R180 and R200 could either use flanges where the halfshafts connect, or later models used CVs. Both diff stubs are interchangeable.

 

R180/R200 are freely interchangeable. R160/R180 can be swapped, but you've gotta swap diff stubs, and/or go with custom CVs.

No, the R200 was standard starting in 1975. I have one sitting in my driveway.

 

had to be a troll about it, sorry.

[mcbrat]

Does anyone think it could sustain a 200hp/torque v8?

 

depends on how it's driven, and conditions. for normal (non aggressive) driving I'd think it'd be fine, but if you're gonna thrash, no.

[robm]

The R160 was standard equipment in the RWD Datsun 510. They weren't noted for failing with a stock engine, which was about as powerful as an EA82. Even hot-rodded ones didn't usually bother changing to a stronger diff.

 

If you really want to put a v8 in front of it, get the R200. But why would you give up the good handling, reliability and fuel economy of the flat 4? And how would you get the 200 HP to the ground, with 60% or more of the car's weight on the front wheels?

[daeron]

yah, my brain DID fart on one thing.. and I blame the two years I have been soobing instead of playing with datsuns.

 

Two years ago, the phrase "R one-sixty" was weird to my ears.... nowadays, after all the soob research and reading I have done on this forum, the phrase "R one-eighty" sounds odd to my ears.

 

The Zcars started out with a 180, not a 160. the 160 was for the four bangers.

 

My entire posting was pointless, and the result of a long work week and short sleep hours. I got like 14 hours of sleep last night and I feel like a new man.

 

My apologies, I figured since I got the BS card pulled out on my last post, I would just publish a new one with a recant, rather than edit that one and make posterity wonder why robm was "correcting" me on points that I wasn't wrong on... (the 160 vs 180 thing. as far as the r200s go, i know that. there are many different ratios, and a few LSDs out there in a few 280ZXs (83 turbo) and some 300ZXs (i still am not sure which ones) )