| Here's a quick and general overview of the Leadergears gearset and SPLs solid differential bushings (install/results).
1. LeaderGears.
I had the gears back in Decemeber. I then purchased a spare differential from a forum member in January. In February, the gears were professionally installed.
1A. Keynotes;
1A1. the stock gear sets slipped right out, and the gears slipped right in. Pinion depth, preload, etc we're set per LeaderGears recomendations. During this setup *I* decided to change the amount of side gear preload for a specific reason and under professional guidance. I chose to experiment.
1A2. Dont forget the cost of entry. The gear install was rather expensive for me, but the shop doing the work builds race cars and setups race cars for a living. Also, consider the cost of replacing internal servicable parts such as bearings, seals, and gaskets.
2. The SPL Bushings
I purchased the gears as part of my servicables. I chose to install these bushings knowing how well solid aluminum bushings had worked for me in the past. I like doing things once.
2A Keynotes;
2A1.
Installation. I was initially dissapointed by SPLs "installation Instructions". They are extremely vague and don't offer any kind of hints, techniques, etc to remove the existing bushings. Being an engineer, I finally figured out a method that worked well for all four bushings. (a torch, a hammer, and a saber saw works fairly well). It may take you quite some time to get your stock bushings out. It took me roughly 4 hours combined, as the rear two mounts are difficult to access.
Installing the new aluminum bushings was very much a chore. It cost me two sockets and a ratching wrench. The bushings do not install easily and require persiverance since they are a friction fit. Overall synopsise?
Once I got the gears broken in, i realized something... my Z **HAULS**. It gets into boost faster, it goes faster quicker and is generally much much more friendly and exciting to drive. Infact, it seems to go into gear easier as I seem to be able to match revs better. Here's the bad part. Something is loud, very loud. It's the most incredible sound you'll ever hear. The gears coming alive and screaming as you break wind down the freeway. It's deafening.
It can't be the bushings, although they do add to the overall cabin noise.
I took the car to the race shop and let them take it for a ride. It was determined that *MY* decision to add 5 pounds of preload to the side gears is causing the noise. This is easily determined by the fact that off throttle gear noise is non existant. It is a setup issue only. (it sounds 100% exaclty like this video [ http://www.dgtalpimp.com/m3_gtr_nurburgring.wmv ] 54 megs)
This is by NO means a bad word on the gears. I got exactly what I wanted out of them and they perform exceptionally well. I am eagerly looking forward to getting this car on a race track with turns. Infact, I love how deafening loud they are, however, the race shop and I have both decided to fix the gears in the near future. I just wanted to get this review up soon, as my track event future is unknown and it may be sometime until we get the noise fixed. I want to thank Mark (leadergears) and Kuah (SPLParts) for supporting the Z32 platform with performance oriented parts for the true Z32 enthusiast. Here are the gears as I recieved them from [ www.LeaderGears.com ] ;
 Here are the bushings that are installed into the differential, (linked pic to [ www.splparts.com ] as I didn't take any pictures of the box, the bushings, etc)
 Here are the bushings being installed in the newly geared spare differential, I broke too many tools on this job;
 And here is the NA pinion and part number that will help get your speedometer corrected;
 (oh my,
Welcome back, ni[X]it. Your last refresh was March, 14 2005 at 12:16 PM.
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Petz #3
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Review of LeaderGears 4.10 gears and SPL Solid Diff Bushings - 
