My New Diff Mount and Strap Project

[Captain Obvious]

Yeah, that blue webbing stuff is of questionable origin and specifications, and that's why it's a temporary install. The black stuff I got from McMaster is thicker and has known specs. The black webbing is McMaster P/N 3510T83 - Shock-Absorbing Nylon Webbing, 1-1/2" Web Width, 5100 lb Breaking Strength.

 

I was considering 2" wide material, but I'm figuring that 5100 lb breaking strength of the 1 1/2 inch wide stuff ought to be enough. And I used the shock absorbing rated material to deal with any sharp shock loading.

 

My blue temporary webbing has been in place for about a month and I've been reaching up there to check the tension occasionally, and so far, so good. So even for a temporary installation, it's holding it's own.

[Captain Obvious]

Zed Head, I like your metal mount.

And about that leather looking arrestor band... I don't think that's leather. I think that's Super-Grip Rubber Flat Belting from McMaster - "Commonly used for material handling and light to medium duty power transmission, this belting has a textured rubber cover on both sides for a better grip on material than urethane. Inner layers are cotton. Width tolerance is ±1/8". Color is tan."

Something like McMaster P/N 5753K424. Three ply 1 1/2 inch wide:

I looked at a lot of flat belting before I decided to try my web strap approach.

 

[Captain Obvious]

33 minutes ago, Namerow said:

wins my vote for, 'best improvised maintenance fix of the year'.

Who said chemical engineers can't think outside the box?

Haha!! Thanks! I may have won the "more free time than money award", but other than that, I'm not so sure.

And I'm electrical, not chemical. But what's a discipline between friends? 

[Zed Head]

12 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

And about that leather looking arrestor band... I don't think that's leather. I think that's Super-Grip Rubber Flat Belting from McMaster - "Commonly used for material handling and light to medium duty power transmission, this belting has a textured rubber cover on both sides for a better grip on material than urethane. Inner layers are cotton. Width tolerance is ±1/8". Color is tan."

Something like McMaster P/N 5753K424. Three ply 1 1/2 inch wide:

I looked at a lot of flat belting before I decided to try my web strap approach.

 

You're right, I accidentally ran the magnifier over it on his site and you can see the fibers.  Leather sounds tougher though.

That other one sure does look like a timing belt though.  I was just joking around, 

[Namerow]

20 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

Haha!! Thanks! I may have won the "more free time than money award", but other than that, I'm not so sure.

And I'm electrical, not chemical. But what's a discipline between friends? 

Well, I meant electrical, of course.  Chemical engineers just play with reactions and stuff.  Nothing useful.

[Zed Head]

Somebody once said that he drove a train.  Maybe light-rail?  Electrical?

[madkaw]

It's like tire material -steel belted radial type. Thicker than the original 

[grannyknot]

9 hours ago, Zed Head said:

The leather one?  Won't you need to apply conditioner on a regular basis?  Or the timing belt?  Probably only good for 80,000 miles.

https://zcardepot.com/driveline/rear-axle/differential-arrestor-band-goto-240z-260z-280z.html?search=differential

https://zcardepot.com/driveline/rear-axle/differential-diff-arrestor-band-belt-rear.html?search=differential

I like the nylon strap.  Same material as towing strap, it could be rated for 30,000 lbs.  https://www.amazon.com/Smittybilt-CC330-30-Recovery-Strap/dp/B001CF4UXU

I converted mine to metal.

 

ZH, your metal strap design does everything the R/T mount does but is simpler, easier to install and lighter, thinking of going into production?

[Freez74]

I had the same clearance problem accessing the bolt when I changed my broken original mount.  On the new one, I used a die grinder to remove a little metal from the mount so I could use the original bolts.  Got good access with a standard socket and ratchet.

[Captain Obvious]

Yup. That works. I considered doing the same thing as well, but decided that the SHCS option was easier and a little more forward compatible. I mean... I sure don't expect that I'll need to replace that mount again, but if I ever do, I won't have to grind clearance on each new one that goes in.

[Captain Obvious]

While messing around with the diff straps, I noticed what may be some obscure Z car trivia...

 

Here are the two belts I have. Top is from my old 260 (stamped with P/N 55425-E4100), and the bottom is the one that I just took off my 280 (stamped with P/N 55425-N4300):

 

I wanted to know the circumferences of the two, so I put some tape on the inside like this:

 

And then peeled the tape off and measured the length like this. It's not an extremely accurate way to make this measurement, but was probably good enough. The measurements I got showed that the 260 belt was a little longer than 21 inches in circumference while the 280 belt was a little shorter than 21 inches circumference:

 

But the neat potential trivia part is that there are numbers molded into the ID side of each belt. The 260 belt has a "537" molded in:


And the 280 has a "529" molded into it:

 

And if you interpret those molded numbers as millimeters, you'll find that the math works out almost perfect. So I don't know for sure if those molded-in numbers were in fact the circumference length from the factory, but it sure appears that way to me. It's also interesting to note that the 280 belt seems to be designed a little shorter than the earlier belts, even though it's for a R200 instead of a R180?:

[Patcon]

Good sleuthing...