Diffs For Ke55 Coupes

[ke55 rally]

hello.

I am looking for a diff for my ke55 rally car and was wondering if you could help me out. I am after a diff that is about 4.5:1 or 4.7:1 or there abouts. limited slip would be good but not essential at this time. i currently have the standard(?) 4.1 in there at the moment and the car definately has lost acceleration compared to the previous 4.3 (which i broke) which was also not the greatest for acceleration.

 

The corolla has the 2t motor and 5 speed gear box and runs on 14 inch 4 stud rims with drums on the rear.

 

Any help on what diffs fit in to the ke55 or what has to be done to make them fit would be most appreciated.

 

 

Thanking you in advance.

 

Pat.

[Redwarf]

Is it a standard KE55 diff, or is it a Celica?

 

Standard KE55 diff about the best ratio you will get will be a 4.5:1 ratio, that will still be a little ordinary behind a T50 box.There are others around, but they're hard to find. A mate has 5.1's in his KE70, but I've no idea where he found them. I've seen 1 LSD to fit these diffs in 13 years. Don't expect to find one this decade.

 

If you have a Celica diff, you can buy TRD/Cusco centres for them. Around $1200 for the diff plus around $600 to $700 for 4.77 ratios. 5.1 would be better, but really hard to find. 5.375;1 are also available, but not advisable.

 

Hope this helps....

 

R

[demuire]

I've found some 4.77 gears for the T-series (Celica/T18/AE86) diff for about USD399, which is marginally better than Palmside NZ. Postage will probably be more though, so it will probably end up about the same price.

 

I'm ordering my Cusco RS center tomorrow or day after, $1280 inc shipping. They're usually about $1500. Cusco MZ and TRD usually go for about $1300 inc shipping, but I think if you get in before the end of this week coming you might be able to pick one up for about $1100.

 

Heh, then I can sit and stare at my nice new LSD for awhile while I save up for some new gears...

[ke55 rally]

Thanks guys.

 

I believe it is a standard corolla diff but not really sure as they came with the car and the previous owner never had to change them so doesn't know either. Is there an easy way to check if they are corolla or celica diffs?

 

I had heard about putting complete hilux or similar diffs into corolla's but i believe that requires quite a bit of work to mount it and make it fit (which would be out of my mechanical ability.)

[Redwarf]

Unless you're making OBSCENE aounts of horsepower, don't go with the Hilux option, it's a lot of diff to be having slamming around in the back end of a Corolla. Fook and I both have Celica diffs in our 35/55. Unfortunately they're a bit untested at the moment, but to me it's a far better option. I'm suprised that you haven't had diff issues previously, as my red car with the 1360cc motor has been having large drivetrain issues, and wouldn't have as much stick as a good 1600. A bit of screwing around to make them fit, but not that bad.

 

Cheers

 

R

[demuire]

The Celica diff (T-series, 6.7" CW) is the same diff that came out in TE37's etc, and if you have the original workshop manual (yellow book) it shows these diffs too.

 

Celica diff is reasonably easy to put into a Corolla, as they are more or less the same width. All I did with mine (It's an RA28 diff) was cut the existing mounts off, and get some leaf spring mounts put on in the correct places. When I was doing mine I found it easier to simply make new mounts than to cut off mounts from my old diff and modify them to fit...

 

Once you have the mounts done, it's pretty much bolt in. The only thing that needs attention then is the tailshaft, which will be shorter (shortening tailshaft is simpler than making it longer) and with a different yoke on the end to suit the diff. Bear in mind that different Celicas had different yokes, so make sure you get the right one. I learnt that the hard way.