Front Diff ordered, fitting help/advice please

[VidaMusic]

Some of you may remember me cocking up my front diff off roading a few weeks ago, well i just bought a replacement, and it should be with me by the end of the week.
I was hoping some of you beautiful people might be able to help me fit it with your vast knowledge and illustrations?

I have the use of a decent workshop, and there will be 2 of us fitting it.

Below is a vague description from DannyBoy77 (thanks mate) on how to do it, this was posted in my earlier thread.


From DannyBoy77 ;

"front diff is easy in the sense undo both CV from diff and remove front prop then undo 3 bolts to drop front diff but in reality its a pain as its heavy and unequal in weigh distribution unless you are gtting a garage to do it? 2 of you is best. it took us about 1.5hr to remove and fit it, if you get a piece of 4x2 either side of the diff bricks one end of the wood then both of you can lever it up and let it slide down the wood. you will see it more clearly when you are under the car! thats how we did it as back yard mechanics!"


Can anybody else please help me with this? Anything will be appreciated and duly noted (for those attending Avalanche)

Cheers guys!

[puddlesurfer]

That seemed clear and succinct to me! I don't think it would be that hard - just heavy and awkward.

[Calos]

An1mal_69 has swapped his a few times, and I'm going to be using swapping his old one (with an Auz locker fitted) soon-ish he did mention some of the bolts are too long to come free on part of it so he cut them shorter, other than that it wasn't hard, bear in mind he's a 6 foot 6 firefighter and fit as a fiddle lol

peace
cal

[VidaMusic]

Is there anything I can do to check it when it arrives before I fit it? Like any bearings or the crown wheel etc?

[Growler]

Just settle on the fact it's gonna take you 30 mins to take the original out and a good half good half day minimum to get the new one in if you don't have help and a ramp to raise truck

[VidaMusic]

Diff has arrived. I have checked all moving parts, and all seems ok, nothing loose or making funny noises.

It's the complete front diff, with the ADD etc on it.

Been under the truck and checked everything against the new one, and i think i'm good to go. Doing it on Sat at my mates garage, can get it up in the air on the lift, should make it easier.

Is it really just a matter of un-bolting old, and replacing? Seems quite straight forward. Anything to keep an eye on whilst doing it?

cheers

[slobodan]

Diff has arrived. I have checked all moving parts, and all seems ok, nothing loose or making funny noises.

It's the complete front diff, with the ADD etc on it.

Been under the truck and checked everything against the new one, and i think i'm good to go. Doing it on Sat at my mates garage, can get it up in the air on the lift, should make it easier.

Is it really just a matter of un-bolting old, and replacing? Seems quite straight forward. Anything to keep an eye on whilst doing it?

cheers

Double check it has the same amount of teeth when you pull the old one.

[KERRSURF]

I just lay on my back and bench pressed the fecker on as someone else lined it up.
tell em to watch there fingers.!

[an1mal_69]

On you pic there..see the (x6) bolts on either side that bolt onto your driveshaft..knock these out and grind off the splines so they're not captive (this is what Cal' was describing). This allows you more room to 'slide' the shafts in without having to split ball joints etc

*edit*

You're going to have to split the BJ's anyways to get the old one out, so it's irrelevant. Worth doing for future repairs tho.

[VidaMusic]

On you pic there..see the (x6) bolts on either side that bolt onto your driveshaft..knock these out and grind off the splines so they're not captive (this is what Cal' was describing). This allows you more room to 'slide' the shafts in without having to split ball joints etc

*edit*

You're going to have to split the BJ's anyways to get the old one out, so it's irrelevant. Worth doing for future repairs tho.

Split bj's??? Oh crap. Is this gonna damage them? Just when I thought it wasn't gonna be that bad. There's no way of doing it without p1ssing about with bj's??

[Ambobeer]

You could remove the drive shafts without splitting the BJs.

Splitting the BJs shouldn't damage them however.

[an1mal_69]

IMO you'll struggle without splitting, even with the removable studs I mentioned it's still fiddly. The ARB gets in the way too (I don't have one on any more) which just makes it fiddly'r.

That's just my personal experience, have a go and see how you get on. If you do have to split the BJ's it's only the bottom ones, get a BJ splitter from Halfruads or similar and it's a doddle..may as well look at replacing them if you are going to split tho

[VidaMusic]

IMO you'll struggle without splitting, even with the removable studs I mentioned it's still fiddly. The ARB gets in the way too (I don't have one on any more) which just makes it fiddly'r.

That's just my personal experience, have a go and see how you get on. If you do have to split the BJ's it's only the bottom ones, get a BJ splitter from Halfruads or similar and it's a doddle..may as well look at replacing them if you are going to split tho

They're brand new!! Only fitted em bout 6wk ago.. Shit!

[an1mal_69]

lol..that's ok, they'll pop easy enough then

[Albannach]

Don't use a fork splitter if you want to re-use them. Keep the nut (loosely) on them as well, to protect the threads.