This is the proper way to tighten struts but without any special tools. The fancy socket there is a 13/16″ Sparkplug socket with the rubber insert removed. Turn the socket with the flats on the outsised using a wrench, in this case 7/8″ Now the tricky parts is using the 1/4″ drive 6 point socket to hold the strut top. A breaker bar would be better here but a ratchet will do just fine also. All these tools were in my basic Craftsman tool kit I have at home. This eliminates the risk of either damaging the strut mount by tearing it with turing torque or over-tightening the strut top. Also make sure to use the Koni supplied nut to hold the damper in the upright on the NG900/9-3. Using the original nut will ruin the damper. The new one tightens with a pin spanner and is commonly left loose causing noise. Hope this helps you.
Ready for action
Exploded View
“Too Tight.. Not warranty” This customers mechanic kept tightening the top nut to fix a clunk he caused by leaving the large lower nut loose that holds the damper in!
So you are putting a quaife in your gearbox, maybe you broke it and want to build it stronger.. Well here we will start on some of the tricks.
First some education, had to start somewhere..
F25, F35 F40 what does that mean? The F25 is a type designation for the gearboxes fitted to the NG900 94-02. They are rod shifted. There were a few different versions of that box also. More on that later.
F35 this is the version with cable shift fitted to the new 9-3 and Cobalt SS/ HHR. But then you ask why does the Viggen and 9-5 use a F35 differential but still a rod shifter. They are simply F25 with the larger diff splines of the F35. The 9-5 has a larger heavier flywheel so it gets a deeper bell-housing. All the internals are the same. Just part of the case.
F40 is the 6 speed in the new 9-3. It is a very robust gearbox with TWO output pinion shafts! this is part of the reason they are quite noisy and clunky. It only in the new ecotec bolt pattern. If you can find one of the super rare euro diesel 6 versions it will bolt up to the B2x5/4 engines.
6speed Quaife F25/35 Gearset
There is nothing Saab specific here. The kit was developed to fit the Cobalt SS and similar F35 cars. it just happens to fit in the F25 cases also. For the NG900/9-3 and 9-5 it is a straight swap. For the 9000 94-98 since the trans mount is part of the end case that is changed you have to fabricate a new mount assembly. This is just the gearset and you need to have some extra parts from Saab to make it all work. The final drive can be selected from the few that we have from 4.05 std in 9-3/9-5, 4.45 and 3.82 so you can move the gearing around. You will need to have the ring and pinion as a set. Not the easiest to swap but still an option.
The biggest reason to run the new gearset is the higher first and closer rest of the gears 6th is acutally about the same as the higher geared 9-3s.
So what breaks them? Wheel hop is the worst killer. The shock load when the tires bite tears stuff up. Same goes for burnouts. Another killer is just simply massive torque overload but that takes lots more power. You know the gearbox really doesn’t care about horsepower right? It only matters how much torque it transmits. How can that be.. HP is only torque by RPM so the more high rpm torque you make above 5250rpm you will make more HP.. Sometimes the crush sleeves collapse releasing some of the bearing preload and this reduces shaft stiffness leading to carnage. The differential is not such a fan of big torque or wheelspin either. Usually when it fails you ventilate the case. Other times the cause is pure abuse..
So you just what to know what to do to the box to make it last. When installing the quiafe it is pretty simple. Use the right new parts, set the bearing preload just perfect and treat it right.
If you have a 9-3 or 9-5 in the following range and any of the following issues: Blocked 2nd gear, Blocked reverse gear, Difficult to engage 3rd-4th gears, Difficult to engage 5th gear, or Difficult to disengage 3rd-5th. Saab even says to update if for any reason you are inside.
o MY99 – MY01 9-3 up to and including VIN 12029080
o MY99 – MY01 9-3 Convertible up to and including VIN 17007508
o MY99 – MY01 9-5 up to and including 13025469
The update kit changes a bunch of parts inside and also gives you some of the one-time items that have to be replaced when you open the gearbox.
Crush Sleeve
One thing that is not in the upgrade kit that should be in every high output gearbox is the new crush sleeve from the F35. This was even used in the -03 9-3CV with the F25.
Interestingly the new crush sleeve has not come in any of the kits. It has not been superseded but you can and should use the updated part in the older gearboxes as a minimum.
For the next step past level 2 you can machine and parallel grind steel spacers to take the place of the crush sleeve but care must be taken to get just the right thickness for proper preload. This either takes an assortment of shims or the ability to surface grind custom to the application. This can be quite time consuming since you have to chase it and then tear the case back apart to change the shims. With stock crush parts you just squeeze it till the numbers are right.
Article : Sleeve (New, Ridged cone)
PartNo : 55352125
Usage : 2003-,
Here you can see both. Interestingly most of the old barrel spacers crack around the equator from fatigue.
So why should I care about this spacer?
Well in the gearbox it is the taper roller bearings that support the shafts. You need enough preload to keep the shafts rigid, that is not allow them to flex in the middle to keep the gears tight. Since the aluminum case expands more than the shafts you also need a little tension when cold so that is is still tight when the gearbox is hot. But also you can have it too tight and hurt the bearings with cold use if it is too tight and make too much heat on extended use. Normally on the high output T7 cars I setup the cold rev limiter a little lower that 5k just so that the gearbox has some chance to warm before seeing high speeds. The high load when cold is something that the driver just has to care about.
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Tab Bolt
The steel sheet Brace / bracket that holds in the pinion bearing also runs over the diff to reinforce the case. The problem is that it simply has a screw in an oversized hole to clamp it down. Under repeated hard loadings (And thermal cycles due to varying expansion rates of the Steel and Aluminum) the tab actually scoots under the bold fretting and wearing the alu case away loosing effectiveness. The solution for this is to machine it to hold a special dowel pin bolt that fits tight in a reamed hole so that the pin takes the shear load and the bolt threads only hold the clamping tension. You need to open the hole up to 10.00mm This does take a vertical milling machine and some care in the setup to get the new reamed hole concentric with the original threads. The hole must be drilled close and reamed to final fit. The threads much be cleaned up since the drill usually pushes a burr down. This mod takes about 30 min and should be done on all "level 2" gearboxes. Gallery Link
Extra Dowels / Case bolts
The extra holes with no hollow dowels should be filled with new dowels so that maximum reinforcement is possible between the two case halves. Also as Saab fitted to the later gearboxes better case bolts especially around the diff help quite a bit.
..continued
Trans fluid is a compromise between lubricating the bearings and gears while still providing enough friction that the synchronizers will function properly to match the gear speeds. Then there is the stiction that causes detent and syncro problems like the early 9-3 boxes.
So you can see that the oil will not be able to "fix" a crunchy syncro…
The few gearboxes I have taken apart that came with the blue/green MTL had very odd looking syncro’s, they were polished. One about a week after change on a low mileage viggen jammed Reverse syncro ring it would not come off the gear.
There are a few different trans fluid groups that have different combinations of these properties. I stick to the factory 0063 and just work to keep the trans temp within the limits of the fluid. Since after all it is not generally a bearing failure that kills our gearboxes but rather massive overload failures.
Having a couple 500hp one with 500ftlb the first box broke with 400tq.. and no drag strip. New one has a nastier clutch and more 1/4miles than I care to think about. With 8.5" Slicks there is no wheelspin.
Wheel-hop is the primary killer, after that spinning wheels and the associated tq spike when it bites. Has nothing to do with power delivery. You get 10x the spike when shifting hard running too much clutch Put it on a dyno and run it from 3rd to 4th in road mode while logging the tq. ouch. Sure will teach you to shift better after seeing that data. Also you want to run enough clutch to hold the power without being overly aggressive and the resulting shock loads.
Reuse the ring gear bolts? I use ARP bolts for all the ring gears. Cheaper than factory. I have reused the ring gear bolts a single time on low output cars. It is cheap insurance to replace.
Minimum parts to install a Quaife?
Quaife depends on app
Differential bearings 2x 12788353 ($39.45 ea)
Crush sleeve 55352125 ($58.05)
Locknut, Pinion 12755195 ($9.56)
Gasket kit 8781494 ($82.00)
MTF-0063 2x 93165290 ($10.50 ea)
ARP Ring Gear bolts Set of 12 KIT ($64.00 kit)
(Prices Feb 2009 MSRP our price -15%, all these parts are stocked even though they may not be in the catalog.)
There are quite a few special tools required to keep you from chipping 5th gear or aid in calculating preload for example. I would leave gearbox rebuilding to someone that has done quite a few of these gearbox especially if you are running a high output car where the margin for error has been reduced with high loads. How long? Well depends on the car and the technician. Around 10 hours is quite reasonable. If there are more updates than just a diff count on a bit more time.
Some of my upgrades can only be done if you have access to a machine shop. Pinning the pinion brace, using a spacer instead of the crush sleeve etc.
No reproduction permitted
Nick Taliaferro 2009 Any questions just email me.
What do I have to do to use a viggen transmission into my 97 900se?
Well the biggest hurdle will be the driveshafts. The Viggen uses the F35 differential and the splines are not the same. So the quick answer is to get Viggen driveshafts right, partially. The Viggen also used the larger 9-5 outer CV joints. They have a larger diameter ABS ring too and will not clear the normal uprights. You could get the Vig ABS sensor mounts and have a local machine shop clearance the upright for the cv joint. Not sure how reasonable this is but probably the only easy option. Otherwise you can put a F25 diff inside with a gearbox rebuild and it will drop right in.
For more gear ratios etc look in the gearbox pics Gallery
After seeing quite a few cars with excessive wear on the inner bushings I decided it was time to work on a replacement. The factory bushings are only available with the arms $$$.. Well a few hours in the machine shop and a little urethane later i had some decent prototypes to try.
I decided to install them in my Viggen since it has about 20K miles no wear was expected. I found a decent about of wear on the factory bushings which was a little amazing in this short time. I would guess that many of the higher mileage cars are far worse.
The actual install was pretty easy took a leisurely 30 min. Basic hand tools. I used a long 10mm bolt and a 34mm 1/2″ drive socket to pull the old bushings from the arms. This is probably not necessary for the higher mileage cars. Installation was very easy once the old ones were out. I did it with the car on the ground making it a little harder than necessary. It took a helper to get the arms aligned and the bolts into the steering gear. Used a little thread locker there too just as a precaution.
Initial feelings are improved on center feel and less of the mushy steering response. I will see after the road trip to StLouis tomorrow.
Once we started playing with e85 and the higher volume needed it was apparent that the stock fuel pump even at 20K miles was not up to the task. I installed a Walbro 340 pump one of the high pressure variants It makes a little more sound. That is you can hear it in the car at idle with the radio off, but hey this is a 400hp monster right.
Check this for the before and after fuel pressures. Fuel pressure is labeled OilP. Data Plot
Had the Viggen out on the track AT SOC07 in Michigan.
You can hear the rear brakes later in the video. Seems the factory pads were not really happy. They were starting to glaze on the way up there. I did not have time to switch the rears to the Hawk blacks. After many years of karting and SCCA autocross including class championships this was the first time on a road course.
This was also the first time having the Viggen on regular street tires. 225 Kumho MX It would get front ABS much faster than with the Pzero corsa slicks. It was a bit difficult to adapt too. Power was around 365hp on Gas 91 with the flex fuel soft. Could not find E85 on the highway there. Found a station on the way out of town though. Just the luck. Not that I needed any more power. You can hear it spin all the time.
Thanks ED and GM.. Was a blast. Now we need about 4 other people down here and go rent a local track for the day.
The vig is now running top mount manifold gt2871r .64 making 312wh but running low on fuel press should have a lot more with proper fueling. More updates soon
Balance of sway bar to other chassis mods
spring rates and how the total rate is shared by springs and sway bars.
When selecting a rear anti-roll bar diameter and consequently it’s stiffness the entire suspension package needs to be analyzed. Basically you are trying to keep the car from laying over with the increased cornering loads generated with grippy tires and other mods. The need roll rate is dependent on both the road springs and the bars. When the road springs are stiffer there is less need for huge bars. With soft springs, ex original base model, you can get away with the really stiff 25.5 bar. If we take the opposite limit of that and for example have a modified Viggen convertible with Koni suspension for street use it will only take a little more sway bar the 19mm will be great and was developed for this application.
This is not a case of if a little bigger is good lots bigger is better, you need to make sure you balance the total rate (spring rate + bar rate) to reach the desired effect. For a street car the 22mm bar is a good compromise and will work great with just about any setup. With the 25mm bar you can count on quite a bit of over-steer if you are not careful, on the track this can be ok but on the street with no runoff area it can get ugly.
In my attempts to make these NG900 and 9-3 autocross well I have tried as many differnt combinations of suspension to get the desired results. Some worked great others, not so well. For a while I ran a 1.5” tubular rear bar of various wall thicknesses, this was the hot setup for the base model when autocrossing. The problem came when it was installed on the rear of my new stock Viggen, It was too much rear bar when combined with the Viggens 25% stiffer rear springs and softer front bar. Also the tubular bars were too expensive to manufacture, at this point I began to experiment with solid bars larger than 22mm and found the 25.5 (1 inch) to be about the maximum limit.
For most cars with stiffer aftermarket lowering springs a 22mm bar is almost perfect. If running the 300mm rear brakes you will probably want to stop here unless you have lots of track time.
Hope this helps to eliminate some of the confusion about selecting a rear anti-roll bar for your NG900 / 9-3 ensuring it will work best for your application. Your comments are welcome.
Well it finally happened, the gearbox went on vacation. Some parts hanging out, lots of crunching.
At this time I am going to lighten a spare flywheel, remove the balance shaft chain and swap in the new gearbox. Then figure out what to do to the next one so that this does not happen for a while.
I finally made some time to get an engine side mount prototyped and running in my Viggen to replace the severely violated factory one. It has just a slight bit more vibration at idle cold with ac on (around 9f this morning) The feel during normal driving is improved but it is really noticeable when driving aggressively.
This one was lots easier since I was able to apply all the knowledge gained from the half dozen or so prototypes of the transmission mount. If only saab had used the same bolt spacing on both sides. Next time it is on the dyno I will get some video. I used to be able to snap the throttle and get the exh to hit the floor now it will not. Also the odd torque steer since a drag launch months ago is now gone. The gear changes at full throttle are also much nicer. We should have these for sale soon. It is almost like a new car again. After analyzing how the engine and gearbox move under load it was obvious how the upper torque link was making the problem worse. By having both of the front mounts matched it keeps the driveshafts in better alignment.
Continuing the brake stories.
After trying the Hawk HP+ rear pads also known as Hawk Blacks, a mild race pad I can announce that they will not be sold on the GenuineSaab site. The performance is great but they squeal horrible. I originally installed them to help with the undersized brakes before the huge fronts. With 308mm fronts it was possible to fade the factory rear 9-5 pads. This was only a band-aid solution and now with the big fronts I am going to go back to stock 9-5 rears since the fronts now do their job.
After getting used to the superpower brakes I may put the grippy pads back on the rear but will try and see if the stock pads cut it now. Until the power is uppped once again and the fronts will no longer be capable.
WOW, after trying more and more agressive pads with the stock calipers and adding more power the thermal limit of the front brakes was reached. At this point I needed larger rotors.
After being in contact with WinnerPower out of Taiwan I got a set to test. 336mm and much thicker than factory. But with the alloy hats they are not much heavier than factory. In the excitement no weight was measured for the different parts.
The kit installed easily with no surprises. The pads supplied are nice. ok cold bite with it getting better as they get warmer. To date they seem to hold up to any abuse thrown at them.
Here is the BUT, you knew it was coming right, The brakes are now traction limited. I can lock them anytime. At 80+ it will make for all wheel ABS action that is a bit unnerving when giving it full brake pedal. Made enough tire smoke I was sure the engine blew.
The other problem came when the temperature dropped and the Competition tires would no longer work at low temps. Normal winter tires for me are All season Michelin. With 17″ wheels there were only a few of the factory wheels that clear. The RK BBS would not. I settled on 17″ BBS CH with OEM Michelin off the 9-5 Aero.
Anyway if you are still reading you probably know this already but braking performance is mostly related to tires. Well the first stop from silly speeds anyway.. On the following that is where the thermal capacity helps. Gallery Images of the Install
This -03 9-3 of ours continues to amaze me. In the beginning it seemed that there was going to be little to gain suspension wise. Stock they are so much better than the old generation 9-3 94-02. Then we put some 17s on it and it began. After that on went the larger factory SportsChassis rear sway bar. This was a step in the right direction. With the increased grip we had a bit too much body roll. On went a set of H&R springs. One aspect that was lacking was the on center feel of the steering. You could also call it steering response when just going down the road. After analyzing the subframe that holds the front suspension and isolates it from the body I decided that some form of triangulation could help the problem. A few prototypes later we had a solution.
In search of further refinement I decided to analyze what was deflecting. I found the inner control arm bushings to have the most deflection. Using this info to make some new bushings about 50% harder with a lower ratio of bushing by using a larger metal insert, they were fitted and it was immediately apparent on the first drive. There are a few of us that regularly drive these project cars. The main thing my father noticed was the stability under braking. I noticed mostly the improved steering response. Mom noticed nothing. that means it is still quiet. She only notices more power and the bad noises..
There you have the short version of how a new part came to life.. There are a few secrets left out and also some tools like hardness tester for the rubber, the machine shop to make the molds and most importantly shop cars to play with so we are not testing on customer vehicles. More images in the Gallery
The suspension is finally getting closer to race ready. The blue part there is new springs with adjustable ride height. Also by doing it this way I was able to choose my own spring rates. These are much harder than factory. The added stiffness helps with roll in the corners. This helps keep the camber from going negative and chewing the tires allowing lower tire pressures that help traction. I cannot wait till the next autocross. During “testing” on the street feel is completely different. It is of course harder and tends to crash a little over bumps. The 18s do not help this too. I stil cannot get over the steering response change. Now the balance is a bit off, the rear springs need stiffened up just a bit to get it back. Now to work back towards a “normal’ street sport spring rate for most of the cars out there. Once cool part over most cars and the one place that our goofy steering rack helps is with the center placed pickups and very long tie rods there is little toe change with ride height adjustment. We will have to wait till the 9th / 10th to see how it does on the track.
Not many changes this time around. It got some new front tires a while back. We decided on a front spring rate for the new coilovers. That should make a huge difference to get more stiffness in the front. Also I have a set of Hawk autocross rear pads on the way. That should further help it rotate when trail braking. I think my driving style has killed the factory rear pads The fronts are also showing the abuse.. but more on that later. More Images
Finally after only having one Tech2 here at the shop we discussed how bad it would be to loose it. Plus not to mention how nice it is to have one on long trips and planning to make the drive all the way to SOC 06 I bit the bullet and bought it. Not thinking that the same amount of money would get me one of the new Apple laptops..
One of the best tools for tuning is a wideband o2 sensor. After dealing with the large Innovate box wedged in the dash I finally decided to get their standalone wideband cable and gauge combo. It installed very easy. Only just a little trimming in the headlight switch hose was needed. It can all be removed with no traces. Since I hardly ever turn off the lights I just left them on and secured the switch back in the dash.
I need to reprogram the led colors but aside from that it is not too distracting. Don’t confuse a wideband with the cheaper narrowband gauges that tap into the factory sensor. Maybe one of these days I can get the data-logging box with accelerometers.. You can click on the images to get to a few more in the gallery.
A while back I made a stainless delivery pipe for my car.Runs from the intercooler all the way to the throttle. I have not seen or been able to measure any decent gains. Quite disappointing. Sure does look pretty though. On the dyno I recorded much more heat soak than before with the rubber / plastic factory pipe. It is on the pressure side so the restriction is not so bad. Also stainless has much better insulation properties than aluminum. I do run Aquamist on sometimes. On the dyno it seemed to counteract some of the increased charge temp. I plan to make a heat shield of .031″ stainless sheet to keep down on radiant heat from the DP especially before it starts getting warm here.
Now the story is a bit different for the T5 cars. They have a 2″ aluminum pipe that will have more heat soak than the stainless. So for those cars maybe a 2-1/4″ pipe would be good. Plan in to make one and test it to see. Probably will keep the lower rubber portion for now. This will help insulate it from the radiant exhaust heat.
As you can see here the factory 9-5 Aero pads are not up to countering the 340hp. There is obvious breakdown of the friction material. Not to mention the cracks… The new Hawk HPS street / track pads are great. The initial bite is good and then builds from there. Need a few more miles of breakin before full testing. I think these are my new favorite pads. The EBC green were ok until just purely abusing them. Once you get some really sticky tires like the Corsas the brakes have no hope. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will have the 13″ brakes done. 330mm fronts with the 300mm rear brakes should make a nice balance.
So comparing after cat pressures at the same power output it starts to get interesting… With the 3″ JT we had 4.4 psi max after the cat. With the Remus 3.2 psi max. This one is 60mm or almost 2-3/8″ Both of these are the same configuration. One muffler in the rear. Straight through center pipe and a flex after the downpipe. The sound is so much nicer with the Remus. I still have to find time to test a factory exhaust with and without middle muffler and with and without the downpipe.
I have been double checking all this data just to be sure and get very repeatable results. Not exactly sure why My old cat flowed so poorly with no visible damage to the core. After cat measurements are my main point here. Just trying to compare different size apples… Also as a side note While playing all this exhaust I left the 6point subframe brace off. Thinking I would be going back to all 3″, No way. So a few days of driving without the 6pt reminded me how much of a change it actually makes for steering feel and tramlining. Had to put it back on. this sort of power and plain old P6000 “winter” tires just won’t play well together. I also posted some more photos in the the http://GenuineSaab.com/Gallery
Since I am not one to just listen to the mainstream and I always wondered about the need of 3″ exhaust on our 4 cyl engines I decided to do a little scientific research. The main measure of exhaust system effectiveness is Back-pressure. Too much back-pressure hurts turbine efficiency and affects the power output and Knock sensitivity. Noise is also a factor but not my main concern. Read on to find my suprising results…
Crush Sleeve 
I ran a 1.5” tubular rear bar of various wall thicknesses, this was the hot setup for the base model when autocrossing. The problem came when it was installed on the rear of my new stock Viggen, It was too much rear bar when combined with the Viggens 25% stiffer rear springs and softer front bar. Also the tubular bars were too expensive to manufacture, at this point I began to experiment with solid bars larger than 22mm and found the 25.5 (1 inch) to be about the maximum limit.
I originally installed them to help with the undersized brakes before the huge fronts. With 308mm fronts it was possible to fade the factory rear 9-5 pads. This was only a band-aid solution and now with the big fronts I am going to go back to stock 9-5 rears since the fronts now do their job.
The brakes are now traction limited. I can lock them anytime. At 80+ it will make for all wheel ABS action that is a bit unnerving when giving it full brake pedal. Made enough tire smoke I was sure the engine blew. 
Finally after only having one Tech2 here at the shop we discussed how bad it would be to loose it. Plus not to mention how nice it is to have one on long trips and planning to make the drive all the way to SOC 06 I bit the bullet and bought it. Not thinking that the same amount of money would get me one of the new Apple laptops..
