vetteboy99

Just picked up a roller s2000 today with plans of putting a precision 6766 turbo, stock 4.8 with 243 heads and a turbo cam, and a stock t56 in. Everything is good to go except for the whole driveshaft and rear end issue. My plans were to do a cobra irs swap but my buddy has been fighting issues with his ls2000 for years now so i'm passing on it. What other rear ends are there that would work, how much work and fabricating would it be to make it work, and how much $? I could buy a built direct swap ford 8.8 rated at 1000hp for $3600 but I'd rather not spend that kind of money if i dont have to, and i also heard of people having fitment issues with that set up.. My goals are a 700whp street car. Barely any track time. How hard would it be to do a solid rear axle swap?

Tainted

iTrader: (9)

Look into a Nissan 240sx rear end with an Infiniti Q45 differential and upgraded axles.

vetteboy99

They're two completely different subframes (That's what i know). I'd be better off trying to get a cobra irs to work

lsxRanger94

What about a T-Bird 8.8 swap like the Monster Miata's?

Tainted

iTrader: (9)

I remember the rear being fairly small and with axles and the Q45 differential people were pushing 700+hp

if it will fit dimensionally aside from maybe narrowing or widening it then it may not be super hard to rig up a new subframe to work.
Plus they are cheap!

doug118

Just do the cobra rear end and never look back

i r teh noobz

iTrader: (4)

Another vote for the R200. Cheap and strong. I've seen plenty of 700 + HP builds on stock rear ends over the years.

hboy7777

iTrader: (19)

I have the r200 with the inline pro kit and dss axles. I have the viper v10 in mine and it loves it

vetteboy99

Same thing as the cobra irs expect the cobra one is more "up to date"

I'd have to do alot of fabricating and would have to make more support for it. Same thing as the cobra.

That's first on the list, but with a irs hooking will be a major issue for me. I need a solid axle.

I'll look into that.

Does anyone know how hard it'd be to put in a solid rear axle?

lsxRanger94

I don't think t-bird or cobra diif would be hard to do. The front pickup points are pretty close to the same as the s2000 if not the same.

You would have to make bracket or buy one to hold the back of the diff up. a set of custom half shafts and drive shaft mod. Use the rest of your s2000 suspension.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

What exactly are the issues that are associated with the Cobra diff swap. You state that there are "issues"...what are those issues.

I am quite familiar with the various Ford IRS options...but not in the S2000 platform.

Andrew

vetteboy99

I haven't looked into the issues but my buddy recommended I stay away from it. He did the same swap and said it's been 2 years and he's not happy with it.

lsxRanger94

Let's make sure we are all on the same page. Did your buddy do a complete Cobra IRS swap or just center section half shafts and hubs? The only difference between the t-bird and cobra is t-b is cast iron center and has different diff cover. I personally would use an Explorer diff cover because it closely matches your rear Diff cover. A complete Cobra IRS swap might be a nightmare to cut down to fit without excellent fab skills.

lsxRanger94

These brackets would be easy to make out of steel and would be stronger, You wouldn't have to change rear diff cover. The t-bird housing is about 20lbs more than the Cobra and would help you get closer to 50/50 weight bias.

ILOVEMYHATCH

iTrader: (1)

I have a buddy that just installed the FBM ford 8.8 rear in his S2000. No issues so far.

Maybe Full Blown Motorsports made some changes since your buddy purchased his?

vetteboy99

That could be what happened.

If i do the cobra rear dif it would be with an explorer dif cover. How far away from being considered a perfect fit into the s2000 subframe is the cobra dif with explorer rear cover?

I'm honestly not sure. I'm going over to look at his car soon and to see what happened. Maybe he didn't put in enough support or did something wrong? We'll find out soon.

So of right now i have these choices:

q45 differential with axles from dss ($4-500)
z32 differential with a 1.5 way differential and axles from driveshaft shop (1200 but a bullet proof rear end)
Cobra/explorer rear differential, cobra axles with s2000 hub's made by the dss ($8-900)

lsxRanger94

I did a google search on that explorer cover 8.8 in s2000. The guy just had a flat plate 1/4 steel and used the exploder cover and the s2000 mount bolted together. it was on a s2000 forum.

BLKMGK

Forget the Q45! There's a very limited gear selection and if you want to go with something tall like a 3.08 it won't fit, you'll have to go with a truck center section which is larger and longer. There are few LSD and most use the ZXTT which aren't real robust. Lastly, the output shafts from the diff shear - the Z guys have been having some issues on HybridZ and are hunting 8.8 solutions. I'd not go R200 either, it's smaller than then R230! Gear selection is an issue there too....

vetteboy99

I'll look for that thread, thanks man

Thanks for the info! I guess the only two choices left are a cobra or explorer irs

lsxRanger94

Here it is. Kind of crude and could be cleaned up a bit, but you get the idea

You will want the cover only, because the some of the Explorer diffs have only one front pickup point on right side of diff not 2. I think 07-10 have 2 ears on the front, but don't quote me on that.