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live English axle - will diff come out
mutleylocost - 19/2/16 at 03:46 PM

Quick question
Live English axle Locost, will the diff come out without removing the axle. I know it won't take much longer but just wondered if it would squeeze out with the axle stoll bolted in place

ian locostzx9rc2 - 19/2/16 at 05:32 PM

In most cases I would say probably not .

Fatgadget - 19/2/16 at 07:42 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ian locostzx9rc2
In most cases I would say probably not .

Erm..why so?

It's only a matter of unbolting the propshaft and removing the half shafts and then droppng out the diff no?

Easier said than done - yes.But we used to do it day in day out on our souped up 1200 Anglias back in the day with nothing but a bicycle repair tool kit hey!

[Edited on 19/2/16 by Fatgadget]

rusty nuts - 19/2/16 at 07:51 PM

Easy if you have a slide hammer, remove wheels and drums , take off 4 nuts/bolts attach slide hammer and remove half shafts , undo the prop shafts nuts/_bolts then the diff to axle nuts, remove diff . It may be possible to remove the shafts if you attach an old wheel rim and hammer it

mutleylocost - 19/2/16 at 08:07 PM

I know how to get the diff out of the axle, just not sure if there's enough room to get the diff out with the axle still in the car

ian locostzx9rc2 - 19/2/16 at 08:09 PM

In a locost you don't have the room to get the diff out due to the front of the diff being in the tunnel .

mutleylocost - 19/2/16 at 08:21 PM

Cheers mate, thought that was the case, still only a couple of hours work, sounds like an ideal Sunday morning job...

rusty nuts - 19/2/16 at 08:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ian locostzx9rc2
In a locost you don't have the room to get the diff out due to the front of the diff being in the tunnel .


Should have read the post properly , I can get mine out OK but it's an IRS setup

Brian R - 19/2/16 at 11:04 PM

We would change the diff unit on the race cars occasionally even at the track. Different ratios for different circuits etc.

It's doable in place. No need to take the casing out.

We would generally do it like this.(skip the bits you know :-) )

Jack vehicle and place on axle stands.

Mark the prop and axle flanges with a paint pen/tip ex or similar so it goes back on the same way. Avoids possible mis balance problems. Push the prop forward a bit up the tunnel to get it out the way.

Remove wheels, drums and the four bolts holding the halfshafts in. Pull the shafts with a slide hammer or similar but don't take them right out. Four or five inches will do. This will leave something to support the backplates on. You could thread a cable tie through the bolt holes for extra support if needed.

In the meantime crack all the nuts securing the diff unit to the casing and unwind them to the ends of their threads. Place a suitable container under and wiggle the diff forward a bit so as to drain the oil. No drain bung unfortunately.

Place a trolley jack under the centre of the axle and remove the bolt from the axle end of the panhard rod and the four bolts on the rear of the four link bars. The top one of these normally contains the lower damper mount too. Another way is to remove the front four link bolts and leave the rears attached but loosened. This still allows the axle to move back and clear the tunnel but not rotate fully as it's hung from the dampers. Either way seems to work.

Pull the axle/jack back carefully so the prop flange clears the chassis. Lower the jack slowly observing brake lines and handbrake cables. The axle should now rotate forward clear of the tunnel.

Remove the pre loosened nuts and drop the diff unit from the casing. Lower it with the jack if necessary as it's fairly lumpy.

It's not the cleanest of jobs to do but quicker than removing the whole axle and avoids having to bleed the brakes.

Refitting is the reverse.

Hope this helps.

mutleylocost - 20/2/16 at 10:34 AM

Top man thankyou, will give it a go
Cheers