DIY locked diff

Drivetrain articles (gearbox, torque tube, diff)
macca_loto
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DIY locked diff

Post by macca_loto »

* I do not condone this nor do i take any responsibiliyt for your actions after completion of this mod*

Ok first things first to remove your diff centre. Jack the car up and take off the road wheels. Remove the handbrake adjuster from the brakes and undo the 4 retainer nuts for the brum backing disc. These are 9/16 nuts and can be acessed by the holes in the axle. Now grab a slide hammer or put your drum on backwards with 2 wheel nuts and hit the axle out. Drum might crack though. Do this for both sides, diff oil will elak out also. Get under the car and undo the bolts that hols the rear cover on, 13mm. Be ready to catch the oil that will drain out. Then undo the 4 dif centre retainer bolts from memory are 17mm. Now using a big screw driver or similar pry the centre out, it is fair heavy too.

The fun part degrease your centre using something suitable. Use either kero or i use "yuk off brake and pars cleaner". Now its all clean spray some anti spatter on your axle splines and turn the mig up full hot and weld away. I weld the diff gears to each other then weld them to the outside housing. Once that is done i weld the lot together. After this is done repack your diff bearings with grease as they will be dry from the cleansing. A good tip i do now is slide the axles back into the splines to make sure they will go back in and chip off any little spatter dags. An option is to take out the bar in the diff centre and weld some pipe in as if you break an axle they can be a pain to get out and this will aloow the other axle to come out and poke something through the centre to push it out.
Installation is a reversal of the removal procedure being carefull to torque everything up to the specified setting.
Remember to be carefull!

CHRIS...
STREET WISE PERFORMANCE ~ "Coming to a suburb near you"

TG- Latest Project plans not sure
WH Caprice daily driver- Tune, Exhaust, auto, stall, diff gears, Valve springs, U/Dirve pulley, OTRCAI 12.7@ 108 MPH
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Crumz
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Post by Crumz »

Frist, this is ILLEGAL for street use.
There, thats the disclaimer.

Second, an easier way to remove axles that WONT crack your drums:
Just take the drum off and put the wheel on. Use stockies, not rims. Now put two nuts on only, and only screw them on enough so they grab. Use the wheel as the slide hammer. Push it hard up against the axle and then pull hard back towards you. I'm not a hugely strong person but it has worked every time for me (although it's often ended in quite the sweat). Be prepared for the whole lot to come out, which could mean falling over if you aren't careful.

Third, remove the rear cover before the axles, therefore getting all the oil out first :D

Finally, when removing everything, keep it left and right. From the wheels to the spacers in the diff. Mixing bits up can lead to problems.
Another Quality Post by Crumz

Fix the roads, not the fines.
macca_loto
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Location: The Gul, VIC

Post by macca_loto »

Crumz wrote:Frist, this is ILLEGAL for street use.
There, thats the disclaimer.

Second, an easier way to remove axles that WONT crack your drums:
Just take the drum off and put the wheel on. Use stockies, not rims. Now put two nuts on only, and only screw them on enough so they grab. Use the wheel as the slide hammer. Push it hard up against the axle and then pull hard back towards you. I'm not a hugely strong person but it has worked every time for me (although it's often ended in quite the sweat). Be prepared for the whole lot to come out, which could mean falling over if you aren't careful.

Third, remove the rear cover before the axles, therefore getting all the oil out first :D

Finally, when removing everything, keep it left and right. From the wheels to the spacers in the diff. Mixing bits up can lead to problems.
Thanks for that Adem never thought of using a rim lol. And yes if you dont do the rear cover first the oil will come out the axle tubes lol.
STREET WISE PERFORMANCE ~ "Coming to a suburb near you"

TG- Latest Project plans not sure
WH Caprice daily driver- Tune, Exhaust, auto, stall, diff gears, Valve springs, U/Dirve pulley, OTRCAI 12.7@ 108 MPH
Buggzy
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Location: Ballarat

Re: DIY locked diff

Post by Buggzy »

macca_loto wrote:* I do not condone this nor do i take any responsibiliyt for your actions after completion of this mod*

Ok first things first to remove your diff centre. Jack the car up and take off the road wheels. Remove the handbrake adjuster from the brakes and undo the 4 retainer nuts for the brum backing disc. These are 9/16 nuts and can be acessed by the holes in the axle. Now grab a slide hammer or put your drum on backwards with 2 wheel nuts and hit the axle out. Drum might crack though. Do this for both sides, diff oil will elak out also. Get under the car and undo the bolts that hols the rear cover on, 13mm. Be ready to catch the oil that will drain out. Then undo the 4 dif centre retainer bolts from memory are 17mm. Now using a big screw driver or similar pry the centre out, it is fair heavy too.

The fun part degrease your centre using something suitable. Use either kero or i use "yuk off brake and pars cleaner". Now its all clean spray some anti spatter on your axle splines and turn the mig up full hot and weld away. I weld the diff gears to each other then weld them to the outside housing. Once that is done i weld the lot together. After this is done repack your diff bearings with grease as they will be dry from the cleansing. A good tip i do now is slide the axles back into the splines to make sure they will go back in and chip off any little spatter dags. An option is to take out the bar in the diff centre and weld some pipe in as if you break an axle they can be a pain to get out and this will aloow the other axle to come out and poke something through the centre to push it out.
Installation is a reversal of the removal procedure being carefull to torque everything up to the specified setting.
Remember to be carefull!

CHRIS...
May i add that there is spacers between the center and the outter diff housing, these arnt the same size and if put in on the oposit sides it will cause diff noise and make it wear bad. All bolts are 14mm not 9/16 using a AF spanner may strip bolt. When putting center back in take a few breaths and take your time.. use a plastic mellet and put the spacers in a bit first on an angle and then just try to get it to all slide in. take me on a good day about 30 mins.
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macca_loto
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Re: DIY locked diff

Post by macca_loto »

Buggzy wrote:
macca_loto wrote:* I do not condone this nor do i take any responsibiliyt for your actions after completion of this mod*

Ok first things first to remove your diff centre. Jack the car up and take off the road wheels. Remove the handbrake adjuster from the brakes and undo the 4 retainer nuts for the brum backing disc. These are 9/16 nuts and can be acessed by the holes in the axle. Now grab a slide hammer or put your drum on backwards with 2 wheel nuts and hit the axle out. Drum might crack though. Do this for both sides, diff oil will elak out also. Get under the car and undo the bolts that hols the rear cover on, 13mm. Be ready to catch the oil that will drain out. Then undo the 4 dif centre retainer bolts from memory are 17mm. Now using a big screw driver or similar pry the centre out, it is fair heavy too.

The fun part degrease your centre using something suitable. Use either kero or i use "yuk off brake and pars cleaner". Now its all clean spray some anti spatter on your axle splines and turn the mig up full hot and weld away. I weld the diff gears to each other then weld them to the outside housing. Once that is done i weld the lot together. After this is done repack your diff bearings with grease as they will be dry from the cleansing. A good tip i do now is slide the axles back into the splines to make sure they will go back in and chip off any little spatter dags. An option is to take out the bar in the diff centre and weld some pipe in as if you break an axle they can be a pain to get out and this will aloow the other axle to come out and poke something through the centre to push it out.
Installation is a reversal of the removal procedure being carefull to torque everything up to the specified setting.
Remember to be carefull!

CHRIS...
May i add that there is spacers between the center and the outter diff housing, these arnt the same size and if put in on the oposit sides it will cause diff noise and make it wear bad. All bolts are 14mm not 9/16 using a AF spanner may strip bolt. When putting center back in take a few breaths and take your time.. use a plastic mellet and put the spacers in a bit first on an angle and then just try to get it to all slide in. take me on a good day about 30 mins.
Thats weird cos i had used a 14mm and the nut jammed in the socket hence its too small for it, anyway 14mm and 9/16 are that close it wont do s*#t to the bolt. Another note i forgot to add is make sure you blow the housing down as to not add any little bits of swarf or mig wire bubbles into your roatating diff assembly.

CHRIS...
STREET WISE PERFORMANCE ~ "Coming to a suburb near you"

TG- Latest Project plans not sure
WH Caprice daily driver- Tune, Exhaust, auto, stall, diff gears, Valve springs, U/Dirve pulley, OTRCAI 12.7@ 108 MPH
tbo77
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locked diff

Post by tbo77 »

Hey Im a new member here, I just bought a 77 gem coupe and was thinking of locking the diff, does anybody know how much horse power a std diff will take, or a locked std diff will take? as I have big planes for the wee gem, also what are the 28 spline axcles out of? thanks.
drift_puppy
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Post by drift_puppy »

I can hear the sounds of many lighters flicking....
dude try and search first, there is a gem with around 340kw running a welded stock diff.
it is your driving style and habbits buddy.
hope i helped ya, try search!
dp
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tbo77
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28 spline axcles

Post by tbo77 »

sorry man I did try to search but there was so manny posts and I couldnt find what I was looking for, I still cant find what the 28 spline axcles are out of, I gues I will keep looking thanks for the info, cheers
ROTAHAVIK GEM
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Post by ROTAHAVIK GEM »

hilux,ford,commo :wink:
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Previously Known As gemzilla1
Buggzy
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Post by Buggzy »

stock locked diffs area hell of a lot stronger than not locked ones... that saying once its locked you then have to worry about bent touque tubes and snapped axles all the time so up to you. I run a locker in my gem with the supercharged g200 for a ages and all i woul dbreak was axles now and then.. everytime would be when i was doing skids and didnt give it enough herbs, which then caused diff bounce..
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tbo77
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locked diff

Post by tbo77 »

cheers ill lock it up and if it brakes ill just put a hilux diff in it and lock that up. does any body konw what the 28 spline axcles are out of, (piazza turbo?)
Buggzy
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Post by Buggzy »

no ideas but i wouldnt mind knowing myself? also what needs to be modded to make them fit??

Just remember the car handles totally different with a locker and if your not expecting stuff u will find yourself wrapped around a tree... just a hint.
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ice-boy
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Post by ice-boy »

yer it changes the braking steering and corner grip wat else?
Buggzy
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Post by Buggzy »

the whole way the car handles is changed dramatically... in some ways good others bad. braking if anything a bit more controlled, and power sliding around is greatly improoved as the car slides very predictably around and doesnt change power wheel half way through a drift sending u into a mad pannic to get the tail back.. seems to increase body roll around corners and is prone to gettign side ways heaps easier. Is good off the line it will just stay straight and the ass will follow the contour of the road. It will skip around corners roundabouts, make squeeling noises and wear out tires really fast... will also do the best dounuts ever!!!!
cheers..
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yldgem
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Post by yldgem »

cant beat a tightly shimmed lsd :lol: "steer with the rear"
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