quick question
 

i was talking to my brother who is pretty mechanically inclined and was telling him about the manual conversion and rear axle swap...to which he seem to say that the tranny would eventually break due to the different ratio's b/w the front and rear axles...He said it would be putting great stress on the gears in the tranny or something along the lines of that, and after a while the gears would eventually go out and would need to be replaced...just curious as to what you all think...

rear differenital
 

want-a-fast-svx,
It is necessary to get the rear differential with the correct gear ratio which matches the front otherwise you could have incredible transmission and rear differential failure. This is a necessity and not an option...

Megan

ok thats what he was saying, but the thing is everything that ive seen so far as far as the swap goes, no one has switched the front axle only the rear so it would match the tranny...so my question is did everyone replace both axles when they did the tranny or no???

The axles (half shaft) go into the front diff. In changing the transaxle (and, either the TC or the Flexplate), you've automatically changed the "front axle." Right guys? Or am I flawed in my logic?

When my car was running with the Legacy transmission, the only problem was with the rear end (Legacy trans, SVX rear end = mismatched transfer ratio). The (mom and pop) dealer had already changed the flexplate to match the TC on the Legacy transaxle, so, I had no problems at all, once I put in the FWD fuse and (in essence) converted to a front wheel drive SVX.

No fair.

That question wasn't quick at all.

And I'm afraid the answer will be even longer. :eek:

ok
 

so basically when you change to the new tranny it bolts up with the front axle...but doesnt the front have 3:54 in it just like the rear???or no...sorry turned out to be a longer question then i thought

Re: ok
 

The transmission has three sections: The front section carries the front diff and the TC (called the Torque Converter Case). The "front gearing" you speak of, is carried within this section of the transaxle (thus the name transaxle), so, in essence, you carry the gearing with the replacment transmission. The second section houses the "guts" of the transmission, and the third section (extension case) carries the rear transfer elements. Since, at this point, the "front gearing" has been changed by the replacement of the entire transaxle, the flexplate has been replaced to match the replacement transaxle (or the TC has been rebuilt to match the SVX flexplate), the only gearing that will be mismatched is the rear diff. Change the rear diff to match the ratio contained in the extension case of the replacement unit, and you have "matched gearing" throughout.

That's the way I understand it. Again, I may be wrong, but, I think that's the way it goes. I'll defer to someone with more knowledge than I, to confirm.

Check the "How To" locker and read Huck's description of his 5-speed swap. This may also help you understand it a little better.

fantastic
 

i appreciate the help in understanding everything...i think i was getting confused because i was thinking it was the same principle as my jeep wrangler's 4wheel drive but now i understand about the three different parts...that makes sense, i truly appreciate the time helping me figure out how everything works tryign to learn as much as i can about this car...thanks again

Randy is correct!!! ;)

Mike

Re: fantastic
 

Always happy to help. I'm still learning too, although I already know more than I ever wanted to know about the SVX (and the Legacy) tranny. :rolleyes: :D

Randy is correct in his logic :)

Megan

I took a cutaway diagram of the SVX's transaxle and labeled the major components. I also placed lined to show the three parts that Randy described.

The image is in my locker.

that diagram really puts the icing on the cake for me now i totally understand what you all are talking about...i had no clue thats what the tranny was like, the only other thing with 4wd ive ever looked at and worked on is my jeep but its totally different than this..makes sense i guess since its a sports car and not a jeep...thanks again

Yes, your logic is skewed by the "transfer case" type of 4 Wheel Drive. Happens to the best of us, 'specially us southerners who are used to equating 4-Wheel Drive vehicles with Mile High Tires. :D:D:D

It's really not that different in operation than the part-time 4WD on your jeep. Here are the main differences:

Instead of the locked transfer case on the back of the tranny, the SVX's transfer clutch adds two features. The first is to shift torque to either the front or rear, depending on the detected wheel slippage. The second is to act like a differential. As I'm sure you know, it's the lack of a center diff that makes part-time 4WD systems unusable on pavement.

Instead of having the transfer case attached to the front diff via an external driveshaft, the SVX's shaft goes through the body of the tranny to the diff. The diff is inline with the tranny, which is inline with the crankshaft. Among other reasons, this means that the drive axles can be the same length.

These are the main differences. Most of it is packaging - the same components are basically there, they're just all stuffed into one case and bolted to eachother instead of spread out on the vehicle and connected via external prop shafts. The biggest functional difference is the multiplate transfer clutch instead of a transfer case.