hi
will a pathfinder differential fit under 83 720? will i have to swap the entire axle or can i mate the diff to my h190?
the stock gears just don't cut it anymore even with small 30 inch tires,
if it requires an axle swap will it require retro fitting leaf springs or will i have to leave the coils and 4 link?

in advance: thanks for any help

3rd members arent interchangeable to your H190 - the H233B is much bigger.

Look for a V6 Hardbody with the H233b with matching gear ratios to what you have.

(do you have 4.375 or 4.625 now? - if you don't have those ratios you're kinda screwed unless you swap out to a front diff with the same ratio, and 720 fronts are different.)

But an H233b is leaf sprung so you won't have to try putting a coil rear in a leaf sprung truck.

Or you cold go find some factory wrangler or xj axles (cheap) and swap those in with some 4.56 gears. You have your front tcase output in the middle, so a properly built driveshaft could go to either side.


1998 Frontier 4x4 with ALL the goodies!
2002 Xterra 4x4 still stock

Urban sprawl is the ENEMY! Get active and help stop it.

thanks for the reply.
so basically i can take a harbody rearend and place it under my 720. i just have to make sure that the gear ratio in the rear matches the gear ratio in the front.

That and also measure the distance between the spring perches because your 720 may be narrower. Worst case you'd have to cut and reweld the perches for the correct width.


1998 Frontier 4x4 with ALL the goodies!
2002 Xterra 4x4 still stock

Urban sprawl is the ENEMY! Get active and help stop it.

720 leaf springs are a touch more narrow than a Hardbody

Again thank you for the answers.
Now that we have the rear diff solved. Now comes the front. It apears that the hardbody front diff will not fit under the 720. Does this mean I will have to re-engineer the 720 front end? Or is there a simple swap out there?

Again I do need your help.

Stephen
the 720 front diff is unlike anything you'll see in a truck 4x4. meaning both front CV axles come out each side at equal lengths. the toyota, later Nissan etc IFS front diff has a solid offset axle which a short side and long side so the diff can positioned on either side of the Tcase. In case i'm confusing you (and me) the 720 tcase diff is centered. That's why the Divorced T case is a ground clearance robber.

If you really want to do a swap, i'd recommend you swap to a solid axle. there's a lot of info about it on the net. Anyone with decent welding skills can do it. Besides all the obvious advantages to a Solid axle, there are other reasons to do the swap. The nissan 720 has upper control arms which are located to the frame with two bolts tapped in. This is a terrible and weak design. If alignment is hard to attain the tech may stack shims between the short bolts and upper A arms. Sooner or later the arms will seperate from the frame and your vehicle could crash, effectively ruining your day.
Bottom line is i wouldn't bother trying to regear what you already have. You would be $ ahead to do a axle swap, at least if you're going to keep this truck for a few years.

Rondo
2000 Nissan Frontier SE V6,
front and rear dana 44s, King Coil front suspension, revolvers rear, 5.38 gears, ARB lockers, Warn winch, 4wheel disks, 35" Xterrain tires, custom tire carrier. See at pathfinderoffroad.com
Damage to date: blown hub, crushed steering stabilizer, dented fender, rainbowed step rails, broken winch cable, broken side mirror, 2 downed trees.
Other vehicle: '95 Jeep Wrangler, Detroit and lockright lockers, Ford 9" rear, Dana 44 front under construction, 4.56 gears, 4wheel disks, 4:1 T-case conversion, 8000 Lb Ramsey winch, 33" Mastercraft Courser MTs
See both at maxtire-4x4.com

While Rondo is dead on with the advice for a SAS, I was looking closely at a 720 4x4 in the salvage yard yesterday. The front driveline comes out the center of the truck but is angled towards the diff, which is slightly off center. 720's use UNEQUAL length halfshafts. The driverside one is considerably shorter than the passenger side one. On 86.5+ Nissans, the Tcase output is over to the driver side, as is the diff, but the halfshafts are of equal length, and are interchangeable left to right.

There's also not much in the way of parts available for your 720 front diff including traction devices or gears.

SAS it


1998 Frontier 4x4 with ALL the goodies!
2002 Xterra 4x4 still stock
Stop urban sprawl and advocate multi-use of public lands! It's YOUR past time; get active and help save it!

Andy,
not sure i could argue with you since you just looked at one and i haven't owned my 720(s) in years. But i have had the front end out and the shafts weren't 'considerably different'. as i recall they were about the same length.
My thought was always that the 720 should have more wheel travel than the d21 because the shafts were so long. i never liked the extremely short shafts on the d21.

regardless i'd never try to swap axles and shafts as that would be just too much trouble. worst case: weld the front diff! why not! Then wheel it until the A arms pop out!

Rondo
2000 Nissan Frontier SE V6,
front and rear dana 44s, King Coil front suspension, revolvers rear, 5.38 gears, ARB lockers, Warn winch, 4wheel disks, 35" Xterrain tires, custom tire carrier. See at pathfinderoffroad.com
Damage to date: blown hub, crushed steering stabilizer, dented fender, rainbowed step rails, broken winch cable, broken side mirror, 2 downed trees.
Other vehicle: '95 Jeep Wrangler, Detroit and lockright lockers, Ford 9" rear, Dana 44 front under construction, 4.56 gears, 4wheel disks, 4:1 T-case conversion, 8000 Lb Ramsey winch, 33" Mastercraft Courser MTs
See both at maxtire-4x4.com

Again Thank you for all the good info.
The axel ratio I had was 3.70's.Not common said a axle repair shop.
How ever the the 83 1/2 and 1984 did have 411's.
I found a complete set of 411's to replace the weeker ones"3.7's". I now turns the 30 inchers. in second gear from a stop.

now the next question is to put positract or limited slip? followed by: how to get more power power from the Z24.

Is the stock radiator adaquate for crawling? or will i have to get a larger core?

Thanks again.

I believe the first couple years of the 720 have the lowest gears. The 1980-81 have 4.375 and the 4x4 longbed has 4.625.
The rear is always the H190, same as the 620 truck which you can also find in 4.625 and even 4.8? But the 4.8 is very rare and the 4.375 is very common.

Late 1981+ went to higher gears. 4.11 and then 3.9 as I heard. I didn't think that any of the 4x4 720s had a 3.7 I had heard only a 2wd had gears that high. The larger 2.2 and then 2.4L engines are what allowed the higher ratios. The front differential is an R180, found in other Nissans, but you won't find any lower than 4.11 in the cars. (rearend) I have heard of 240Zs using the 4.375 front diff out of a 720 4x4 in the rear of their cars for some fast acceleration. I think they have to swap the gears over or turn them over inside to reverse them or something like that. If you've got a 4.11 now, then that seems good. If you go with a bigger tire set, then it is possible to find a 4.375 gearing. 4.625 would be way too hard to find both front and rear.

Ok this is going to be a bit long. There is some false information here about what fits what for rearends. Following is the real scoop on what goes where and such. This is compiled from Team Tiger Racing which races a 720 exclusively.


The H190 rear housing was used in the '80-'82 4WD 720's which had a 4.375 ratio ring & pinion, so that is why I mentioned it, as it is a good source for those that want to swap a 4.375 pumkin into their 2WD 720's (for example: 240SX engine swaps in the 2WD 720 need at least a 4.111 or 4.375 rear gear to get the engine RPM up into it's powerband on launch off the line). It is true that the '83-'86 4WD 720's used the C200 housing (which is a salisbury type of housing with rear removable cover), and the gear ratio in those models is a 4.111. I might point out that the C200 housing was resurrected again by Nissan in the '98 up 2WD Frontiers, and the ones behind the auto trans version have a 4.375 ratio (which could be transplanted into an earlier '83-'86 4WD 720 C200 housing by pulling the ring & pinion with spider gear carrier out of it for those who might want to change to the 4.375 ratio). There is also now a C200 housing variant in the '02 up Desert Runner and 2WD Crew Cab model Frontiers (available in only some of the models, the others still seem to have the H233 housing in them as well...who knows what Nissan is up to with such variations within the same model vehicles?) that has, I believe, a 4.625 ratio and a 4.9 ratio in them (it appears to be dependant on tire diameter and not transmission type), so those may offer some more gear choices for those of you that have the C200 housing in your '83-'86 4WD 720's.

Also, all the pumkin center sections of the H190 housings used in the '86 1/2-'97 2WD Hardbody trucks and the '98 up manual trans model 2WD Frontiers will bolt-in to the 720's H190 housing. They do however, have 1 1/2" longer pinion gear input yokes on them that use a larger bolt pattern for the driveshaft u-joint connector (the pinion gear shaft length, diameter, spline size, and bearings are still the same though), so in order to use a late model pumkin in the 720's, you will have to either change the input yoke out with the one on the 720's center pumkin pinion gear shaft, or shorten your driveshaft 1 1/2" and use a pinion yoke flange to u-joint adapter from a 240SX driveshaft (they use the smaller u-joints of the 720, but the larger flange bolt pattern of the Hardbody trucks). The ring & pinion itself can also be installed in the 720's pumkin center section as well, but keep in mind that you will have to use the spider gear carrier that the ring gear is bolted to from the later model versions because Nissan changed to a larger bolt diameter on them (the bearings on them are still the same however). If the longer pinion yoke is used by shortening the 720's driveshaft, then the optional '96 up rear wheel antilock brake ABS system can be added to a 720 pickup due to the ABS sensor integrated in the pumkin center section on the pinion input yoke on those optional center section castings (that is what I did on my '85 2WD 720). That also paves the way to add the 4 wheel ABS system that have now come out in the '03 up 2WD Frontiers (requires also adding the front hubs & spindles from it on the 720 as well!).

This should add more data to conversions possible on the 720 pickup!!!

Oh, I forgot to mention that the Toyota rear end I measured was in an '88 Toyota truck.

If you have to go to the trouble of removing the spring perches off, and rewelding them in the right spot for the springs to fit, then why even use the Toyota rearend? You can just as easily do the same to a V-6 Hardbody H233 rear housing, and then transplant a Pathfinder center pumkin section that has the limited slip carrier in it, and the gear ratio you already want! The brakes will also be more compatible then. Both the Toyota and Nissan V-6 Hardbody rearend are about 2 inches wider than the 720's rear housing is though! (so the tires will most likely hit the wheel wells with those swaps).

Yes, the '80-'82 4WD 720's use a R180 front differential that has a 4.375 gear set in them. As a matter of fact, I just bought a low 52K mileage rear pumkin (it had supposedly been sitting in a Washington State wrecking yard for over 12 yrs) out of an '82 4WD 720 (which have the H190 type rear housing) to get a 4.375 ring & pinion for an upgrade on my '85 2WD 720 since I blew two teeth off the pinion gear of my 4.111 gear set (the higher power of my 240SX engine was finally too much for the over 300K mile ring & pinion!). Unfortunately, the dumb asses sent me the front differential by mistake (I got it for $100), so if you want it in order to upgrade to a 4.375 ratio, I can get the wrecking yard to sell it to you instead, and have them ship it to you direct (the wrecking yard is going to have to recall the item back via UPS and then reship the proper rear differential pumpkin regardless because of their mistake!).

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Oh, and to be more accurate about the hub-to-hub dimensions on all the rear ends, all of the 720 H190 housings (both 2WD & 4WD) are 55", the Hardbody & Frontier 2WD 4 cyl housings are 56 3/4", and the Hardbody 2WD V-6 H233 housing is 57 1/2". The 4WD Hardbodies (both 4 cyl & V-6) H233 housings are also 57 1/2", except the spring perches are on the top of the housing rather the bottom like the 2WD models (the 720 4WD's are similar in that the rear housing mounts on the underside of the leaf springs too, and the 2WD model housings mount above the leaf springs).

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The easiest way to convert your '86 4x4 720 to the 4.375 gears is to swap your entire rear end out for the earlier '80-'82 4x4 720 model H190 housing, since it has the 4.375 gear ratio already, and it has the correct hub-to-hub width and top side mounted spring pads (although it may well be difficult to find a low mileage unit in reasonable shape, and it will require a driveshaft change as well!). The next best option is to find a '98 up 2WD auto trans type Frontier, as it has a C200 housing with a 4.375 ratio, and pull the ring & pinion out of it and transplant it into your '86 C200 housing. A low mileage unit should be fairly easy to find, but since it is a salisbury type housing that doesn't have a removable center section like the H190 type housing, you will most likely have to buy the entire rear end just to get the ring & pinion (unless you can find one with a bent housing from a wreck), so it may be cheaper in the end to buy a brand new ring & pinion from Nissan (I don't believe that anyone makes an aftermarket ring & pinion for the C200 housing...and I know that there are no aftermarket ring & pinions for the H190 type housing either!).

Keep in mind that you will also need to get a R180 front differential from a '80-'82 4x4 720 as well, to get the 4.375 gear ratio. I have a fairly low mileage one (51K miles) that I will sell for $100 to anyone that wants it, since I got it with the rear H190 housing center section from out of an '82 4X4 720 in order to get a 4.375 gear ratio to put in my 240SX powered 2WD 720. This would be cover the front half of what is needed to convert your '86 4x4 720 to the 4.375 ratio anyway!

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No driveshaft mods are required to change the '80-'82 R180 front differential out for the '83-'86 one (they are both physically the same, just different gear ratios in them). As for the rear differential I am not sure if the u-joints are the same size, and the driveshafts are the same length between the early 4x4 720's with the H190 housing & the later 4x4 720's with the C200 housing. I do know that the 4x4 720's use a larger u-joint than the 2WD 720's, but the input yoke flange on the H190 center section is the same on all model 720's (whether 2WD or 4WD). The driveshafts are larger in diameter on the 4x4 720's when compared with the 2WD 720's (thus the reason for the larger u-joints). If anyone of you out there has a '80-'82 720 factory service manual, it has a chart in the PD section of it that gives the driveshaft length, diameter, and u-joint size. Let me know what it is and I will compare it with the data in my '85 720 factory service manual to determine if any driveshaft mods are required on such a conversion.

Editor's Note: Although it states above that no driveshaft modifications are required to change the '80-'82 front diff out for the '83-'86, being both physically the same size, I have found differences in the front flange patterns even between a '85 and '86 model year. My '86 had a square 4 bolt pattern, and my '85 had a rectangular pattern which had a smaller OD than the '85. Of course this can be dealt with in two ways, swap the output flange on the differential or the shaft end. But, I'm sure if there were differences between an '85 and an '86 (which were practically identical in every other area) then there could be other variations out there for earlier years. If swapping out/in different year front diffs, it might be a good idea to get the front drive shaft as well... Corey Amundson

9/26/05 New Information! The 1987-89? 4 cylinder 4wd versions of the Stanza wagons and Vans have the R180a front differential and C200 rear with a 4.625:1 gear ratio!


I hope you find this information useful.

Michael