Subaru Rear Wheel Drive conversion - the centre diff // Subaru Project WRX Drift

This time we crack open a WRX STI centre differential so we can figure out what to weld. Our plan is to lock this up permanently so the power goes to the rear wheels only. Climb on board as we journey towards skids.
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[@alexanderenericavanwyk9909]

As far as i have been able to find out that sticky stuff is a type of silicon. As soon as the front end of the diff moves faster than the rear end (when the front loses traction) the silicon becomes hard due to temperature caused by the plates moving past one another and locks the rear part of the diff. This sends power to the rear wheels untill the wheels all spin at the same speed and the silicon becomes a fluid again. That way there is always power to the non spinning wheels. Thats why its all wheel drive. The diff between left and right takes care of the speed difference between those wheels on the axle, and the centre diff takes care of the difference in speed between front and rear axles. A very neat mechanical solution that other manufacturers solve with complicated electronic gizmos and doodads that break and are expensive.

[@anthonyday2419]

Finally, someone showing how these come apart and whats inside them. Didn't come here for the drifting side, although you do have a good point about a Subaru making a cheap drifter. I just wanted to know how these things are put together as mine is nackard. Good video, I enjoyed the learning process 😂

[@vPerformance]

Glad we could be of some assistance!

[@qballz69]

Just found your channel! I'm building a GD chassis Driftaru as well. Built EJ235, R200 rear end, RWD converted 6speed, E85 blah blah. Love the videos, love the laid back, having fun style! Keep it up fellas. Cheers from NZ

[@vPerformance]

Brilliant! Sounds like your budget is higher than ours - what car did you take the R200 from?

[@qballz69]

@@vPerformance nah my budget is a tight one, just search for parts that i want and save. I've been building it for about 2 years now. I found an ex drift project and harvested parts from that. The r200 was from a Nissan Skyline from Japan, came with a 2 way Cusco LSD. The rear sub frame has been modified to take the r200. The front diff cross member is a custom tube deal. If i hadn't of found the donor it'd still be r180.

[@purgetonix1415]

Yaay!!

[@JohnnysSpeedShop]

That's a very very orange onesie Dave's waring....... 😁 can't wait to see you guys drifting the subi.... "when in doubt, flat out"......

[@vPerformance]

Oh we've got matching onesies now! Just you wait!

[@DjOMARi876]

What CST viscosity do you have to use in order to get the 4Kg rating? Is it only 10,000 cSt or a mixture?....

[@tommysutton9361]

Looks like a normal centre diff. The smelly plates you took out would be the clutches that allow differential slip between front and rear axles

[@vPerformance]

We were certainly expecting a normal centre diff. We'll crack open the other one to compare.

[@justincampbell1333]

Lsd doesn't have the 4 spider gears interconnected like on the other piece of it

[@ep82chris]

The sticky oil and plates are part of the viscous lsd mechanism

[@vPerformance]

So does every centre diff have some sort of LSD then?

[@unrestrainedfamily9356]

Totally recognize this workshop from Chinese diesel heaters.

[@vPerformance]

It's a small world 😂

[@olds1964]

Late to the party here but this is not a LSD - it's a normal (non-LSD) Subaru viscous coupling (center differential). The sticky goo inside is 100,000 cSt (not 10,000 cSt as some people say) silicone fluid (polydimethylsiloxane). Nice deconstruction vid!

[@vPerformance]

Fantastic! Finally someone who Subarus. How do you know this? Are you a diff wizard?

[@mungewell]

Have one of these diffs sitting in garage since I fixed my Forester.... should a bearing be kept to support the front drive shaft as it will be turning from road forces?

[@vPerformance]

We kept the bearing in for good measure

[@WoodyBmx25]

Its an lsd but its standard. Nothing special since most center diffs are that way. Also i welded the lower ring in the housing first just to give the splined section extra support to stay centered.

[@802Garage]

Last comment on this vid I promise, but basically all Subaru manual transmissions use a viscous LSD center diff like this one, except for the STI which has a more complicated mechanism. I was pretty sure that was the case, but researched it just to make sure I wasn't full of it. I found a pretty cool page that goes over all the types. youwheel.com/home/2016/08/07/subaru-awd-system-fully-explained/ I am slightly confused though. Why do you need to weld anything if just gutting it means all the power will go to the rear wheels? I feel like I'm def missing something despite looking at many diagrams.

[@vPerformance]

I'm sure Dave will add further info, but basically the larger end plate does not attach to the prop shaft unless you weld it up. It would just spin and you would have zero wheel drive. Also - I saw a man on the internet do it and it worked, so I hoped it would work!

[@802Garage]

@@vPerformance Ah yes. That's what I was thinking is perhaps it would just allow the power to go nowhere. Duh, obvious in retrospect. Thanks!

[@DavidMcLuckie]

@@802Garage Dave here - Pretty much what Paul said. The input (narrow end) usually connects to the output (fat end plate) via the gears inside and the friction plates. Once these are all removed there is nothing connecting the two parts. So if you clipped the end plate back on you'd have zero wheel drive. :)

[@802Garage]

@@DavidMcLuckie Right! I should have thought about the fact that it would be transferring all the power into the empty case. Thanks for replying!

[@1978JWJ]

I would think that if you turned the center diff into a spool then it would lock the torque to 50/50 split front AND rear. Not sure how it is bypassing the front this way???

[@justincampbell1333]

You take the front driveshafts out and make plates to cover the holes in gbox

[@WoodyBmx25]

The. Other end of the spider gears has a spline that runs to the front diff. No spiders, no connection to the front shaft.

[@GarethStirlingCruisers]

Over engineered I say, better off in the bin lol let the skids commence 👌😉😉🔰

[@bakihanma7247]

Phase 2 center diff.?

[@RossOgilvie]

Yeah looks like a clutch type LSD just quite small scale in comparison to others 😬

[@vPerformance]

We've got a couple more to pull apart so we'll see how they compare to this one. These others are definitely non-lsd

[@3hpbiggsy]

Its a viscous lsd

[@802Garage]

FINALLY! Someone else who says gear oil smells like cat pee! I always say it smells like cat pee and burnt sugar. Gross!

[@vPerformance]

The problem is we can't get it out of the clothes. Doesn't matter how many times we wash them.

[@802Garage]

RIP. 🔥

[@davekelly2567]

Defo an LSD, I can almost smell that grease from here....

[@oldleatherhandsfriends4053]

Scottish are easily the best mistake god ever made.

[@vPerformance]

Well okay then. Thanks. I think.

[@802Garage]

Hey, Jason from Engineering Explained does not hate Subaru. He owns a Crosstrek XV as his daily driver! He does give a lot of good info, but I can understand why he wouldn't be your favorite. Scotty Kilmer is the real scourge of the automotive KZbin world though. :P Also, it's not EE, and no American accent, but it does have a white board. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIPQqHt7n6qsjK8

[@vPerformance]

Yes I do like a bit of Kyle Engineers. I'm not much of an engineer (Paul here) but he manages to explain things in a way even I can manage!

[@vPerformance]

PS - Jason lost me with "Hey guys you really don't need more power". Ha! HAahaha! Good one!

[@802Garage]

😂😂😂 I getcha. Thanks for the replies gents! Can't wait to see this Subaru slide.

[@dylansimpson7832]

Just pulled my centre diff apart to be welded. Now my house absolutely stinks!

[@dylansimpson7832]

@@vPerformanceAlso thanks a lot for making this video. Without it I probably wouldn't have been able to figure out how to gut the diff.

[@vPerformance]

Glad we could help! We had the same problem trying to figure it out. In a couple of weeks we'll have the video ready for the full conversion

[@RosskoPeeko]

It wouldn’t be a project if you weren’t throwing the best parts of something totally useful into the bin to make it totally ridiculous

[@vPerformance]

I think you understand us now :D

[@RosskoPeeko]

@@vPerformance i live life by the same logic :P not only have you ripped the gubbins from a £600 centre diff and horsed the LSD straight in the bin. you have also made an imprezza RWD, and to 99% of the world thats just insanity. and its exactly what i would do :D