Diff removal and rebuild
Discussion
Hmm,
Just in this process myself on early LT77 & GKN setup, due to collapsed bearing - diff is currently on Bernies bench, hope to collect tomorrow/this evening (optimist!).
IIRC:
Get car nice & high.
[if you have rear anti roll bar]
Remove rear ARB mounts on one side (bush bracket and mount thru wishbone) & swing out of way. You may want to remove it for cleaning...
Remove exhaust, 6 bolts to chassis on mounting plate, 2 to the rubber hanger, 1 into the engine and the clamp to the cat pipe.
Remove prop shaft, 4 nuts/bolts on flanges at each end (allen bolts on diff flange). Diff may have toothed wheel for speedo sensor (ECU signal from gearbox sender on mine) this should tap off.
Disconnect Drive shafts - 6 allen bolts each.
Loosen rear diff bush mount - transverse at top back of diff. Keep bolt in place until you're ready to drop the diff.
Stick a trolley jack under the diff to support it.
Remove 4 bolts holding diff to mounting plates (they have bushes to the chassis (come to this later). Top bolts may hold Speed sensor, the bracket should come away, be careful not to break wiring - mine was siliconed to sensor, but it should come away complete with bracket.
You may be able to getthe diff out by swinging the diff mounting brackets out of the way, if not remove the brackets, very long longtitudinal bolts thru chassis... These were locked on mine so used a nut splitter, and needed driving out seemed to be an interference fit.
Basically, lift diff nose over the chassis cross member & ease forward. Drop the rear of the diff so that the rear diff bracket clears the back
chassis tubes as you turn the diff on its side so that the drive flanges clear the main chassis runners. Lower the back out, then turn it on its rear and slide the nose out. NOT for the fainthearted!
Book it in with the gearboxman (4 week turnaround at the mo - so try & reserve a slot).
While all is clear, a good derust & POR-15 was done. Fuel filter replaced. Rear gearbox oil seal renewed. I got prop shaft UJ's for £15 the pair (Hardy Spicer HS166) so replaced them & greased the sliding flange. My drive shafts were Ok so didnt touch these. New diff bushes (poly bushes hopefully last forever), I used SP0696 from Superflex. Rear bush - bugger to get out, bracket bushes easy.
Showed Joolz my diff mounting brackets / bushes and he said he'd never seen them so small (The bushes.. FROM THE DIFF!!). The back one is normal. The 2 side bushes 34mm long as is the bush carrier. The normal bushes are about 50-60mm long. They cannot be used since there are diagonal chassis members that restrict the width. I ended up cutting the shoulders of SP0696 bushes and trimming down the steel inserts.
As usual YMMV, but ensure that you WD40 all nuts/bolts before you start. Many of these parts are very tight, make sure you dont round the heads - particularly the allen bolts which are imperial - I still find using imperial allen key with extra lever the safest way to initially break loose.
Let me know if you want more / pictures (PDQ before diff goes back).
HTH, Dave
Credits:
Joolz - endless patience & good advice
Vicky - sorry for the earache :- Wasn't me!
Just in this process myself on early LT77 & GKN setup, due to collapsed bearing - diff is currently on Bernies bench, hope to collect tomorrow/this evening (optimist!).
IIRC:
Get car nice & high.
[if you have rear anti roll bar]
Remove rear ARB mounts on one side (bush bracket and mount thru wishbone) & swing out of way. You may want to remove it for cleaning...
Remove exhaust, 6 bolts to chassis on mounting plate, 2 to the rubber hanger, 1 into the engine and the clamp to the cat pipe.
Remove prop shaft, 4 nuts/bolts on flanges at each end (allen bolts on diff flange). Diff may have toothed wheel for speedo sensor (ECU signal from gearbox sender on mine) this should tap off.
Disconnect Drive shafts - 6 allen bolts each.
Loosen rear diff bush mount - transverse at top back of diff. Keep bolt in place until you're ready to drop the diff.
Stick a trolley jack under the diff to support it.
Remove 4 bolts holding diff to mounting plates (they have bushes to the chassis (come to this later). Top bolts may hold Speed sensor, the bracket should come away, be careful not to break wiring - mine was siliconed to sensor, but it should come away complete with bracket.
You may be able to getthe diff out by swinging the diff mounting brackets out of the way, if not remove the brackets, very long longtitudinal bolts thru chassis... These were locked on mine so used a nut splitter, and needed driving out seemed to be an interference fit.
Basically, lift diff nose over the chassis cross member & ease forward. Drop the rear of the diff so that the rear diff bracket clears the back
chassis tubes as you turn the diff on its side so that the drive flanges clear the main chassis runners. Lower the back out, then turn it on its rear and slide the nose out. NOT for the fainthearted!
Book it in with the gearboxman (4 week turnaround at the mo - so try & reserve a slot).
While all is clear, a good derust & POR-15 was done. Fuel filter replaced. Rear gearbox oil seal renewed. I got prop shaft UJ's for £15 the pair (Hardy Spicer HS166) so replaced them & greased the sliding flange. My drive shafts were Ok so didnt touch these. New diff bushes (poly bushes hopefully last forever), I used SP0696 from Superflex. Rear bush - bugger to get out, bracket bushes easy.
Showed Joolz my diff mounting brackets / bushes and he said he'd never seen them so small (The bushes.. FROM THE DIFF!!). The back one is normal. The 2 side bushes 34mm long as is the bush carrier. The normal bushes are about 50-60mm long. They cannot be used since there are diagonal chassis members that restrict the width. I ended up cutting the shoulders of SP0696 bushes and trimming down the steel inserts.
As usual YMMV, but ensure that you WD40 all nuts/bolts before you start. Many of these parts are very tight, make sure you dont round the heads - particularly the allen bolts which are imperial - I still find using imperial allen key with extra lever the safest way to initially break loose.
Let me know if you want more / pictures (PDQ before diff goes back).
HTH, Dave
Credits:
Joolz - endless patience & good advice
Vicky - sorry for the earache :- Wasn't me!
Spend,
Thanks for all that info,apart from removing the parts associated with the actual diff we did most of that work on our last service so there should be no problem's upto that point.One mod i am going to do is to fit a oil breather onto the diff while i have it on the bench,i fancy overhauling the diff myself,any idea where i can source the bearings and seals?
Cheers and thanks once again
Thanks for all that info,apart from removing the parts associated with the actual diff we did most of that work on our last service so there should be no problem's upto that point.One mod i am going to do is to fit a oil breather onto the diff while i have it on the bench,i fancy overhauling the diff myself,any idea where i can source the bearings and seals?
Cheers and thanks once again
Oil breather - If you feel on the top back left of the diff there should be a little button which is the vent. I did ask Joolz if he thought I should get this changed to a vent tube but he didnt think it was worth it (he knows I never exceed 60mph on a nice day tho).
Bearings & Seals - I just got Bernie to rebuild my diff (only £175 so not excessive), I'd ask him to supply them if I was you (01582840008) sounds as though he is more likely to know of any variances - spotted I had the Tuscan back end of the diff straight away (could be mine was even trickier to get out cos of this? I hope so for your sake).
HTH, Dave
PS spotted dom@tvrpower plastered Green Chim on M1 (near M6) living life in the slow lane.
Bearings & Seals - I just got Bernie to rebuild my diff (only £175 so not excessive), I'd ask him to supply them if I was you (01582840008) sounds as though he is more likely to know of any variances - spotted I had the Tuscan back end of the diff straight away (could be mine was even trickier to get out cos of this? I hope so for your sake).
HTH, Dave
PS spotted dom@tvrpower plastered Green Chim on M1 (near M6) living life in the slow lane.
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