[Storm]

Who's done it on an RS? How did it go, how long to do? Better off going to the dealer?

We're about to have this done but will do it ourselves if it's not that big of deal!

 

[10th Warrior]

well, i've helped replace a blown diff on a MY99. there were 3 of us, which was good. we also had air tools, which was also good. i wasn't there to remove it, but it took the two guys about 4 hours. putting the new one in took us about 3. all in all, its not too challenging, there's just alot of stuff to do, like unhooking the driveshaft and the entire rear suspension. also, i don't know what year you have, but the rear axles on the non-LSD equipped cars are longer then on the MY00-01 cars. i don't know which one Quaiffe uses.

 

[iBlueVirus]

10th Warrior, thanks on the tip on LSD last time. Do you have any pic on that rear diff replacement? That would be cool to have!

 

[Storm]

Thanks! We took it to the dealer cuz we had a race this sunday and we needed it done right. We found out that the bearings the diff ride on are about, ohh....$81.60....each! I have to believe that this can't be right, but I know it's true.

Also, the circlips that hold the axles in the rear diff. usually get to be toast once you remove them once. Make sure there are some available before you wait till the last minute on a holiday weekend to have it done.

Now here we sit on a rack til tuesday, no car to run in Sunday...my 1.8 is no match for the competition so home we stay to try and refocus for Topeka.....

 

[Storm]

I don't know which axles the Quaife uses either. It seems the stock 98RS axles don't fucking work. So nice to find out after it sat on the dealer rack for 4days over the long weekend and the "new bearings" installed on it will probably be fucked up during removal. I only hope that they didn't even try to remove the original bearings so we don't have to buy yet another set. Them fuckers are $81.60 a piece!

I can see the viscous LSD's using a shorter axle due to the larger center section on the diff, but the Quaife looks to be close to the same size as the stock unit. I guess I won't know until I look at things with my own eyes.

We'll do it ourselves when we figure out the right axle length. I wonder if Quaife can give us the length they designed to? They ought to for the price of their units.

If anyone else has put a rear quaife in, how about some PN's on axles?

 

[10th Warrior]

well, if the 98 axles don't fit, that probably means they use the LSD axles, which makes sense. remember, quaife designed the diffs with the WRX in mind, not the RS. good luck with it.

sorry, no pics of when we did the install. we were more preoccupied with getting shawn's car back in running order as quick as possible. no one even thought of taking pictures. besides, there would have been lots of pictures of what not to do :lol: there was a bit of a learning curve. basically what it all boils down to is you can't cut any corners. everything has to be unbolted. everything. just accept it and do it. it still scares me that there are only 4 little bolts that connect the drive shaft to the diff

 

[Storm]

Well, we got the car back....we had to go back to the original diff, because the Quaife has the groove in the correct spot, it's just not deep enough to seat the clip. And yes, the bearings had to be replaced. They had 4 in stock...we bought them all @ $81.60ea! :curse:

So now we have to decide what were gonna do next. I've already gotten in contact with QuaifeAmerica on the subject. I can only hope that we can resolve this so it doesn't happen to anyone else. They weren't aware of fitment issues on the RS's, just on the WRX as noted on their website.

If we had the factory LSD, the issue would be solved by changing to open diff axles, as that's how they were designed. Since we have the open diff, the issue boils down to this groove not being deep enough.

I'll report what happens next.

 

[Storm]

It seems the Subaru FSM only has one PN for clips to hold the axles in. The Quaife was designed with different size grooves making one deeper than the other. Our problem lies with the shallow groove that won't accept the stock clips. Since the dealer did everything by the book, we still had to pay the labor charge even though the open diff is back in.

Now we have to get quaife to let us know what size clip to use or send them the diff and an axle to be re-machined to fit. Either way we're probably gonna have another labor charge when we do get it installed. We're trying to get this covered by Quaife since it's obviously an issue with the diff design.

Has anyone run into this trouble? Anyone???

 

[Tin-Man]

Yer best bet will be to contact RalliSpec or Teagues Auto and see if they have parts that will help your diff fit. Both vendors have a good past reputation for answering questions and being helpful.