Bent Diff

[da13ro]

Hey all,
Was up playing on the dunes and got a bit ahead of myself coming down a dune. Sorta resulted in a face plant of sorts in the sand. On closer inspection it seems like I have put a lovely bend in my front diff on the left hand side. It is very noticeable and has caused a nice slant to the zook.

Its my understanding that they are inherently weak to begin with an re-enforcements arnt un-common. So people ever bend them back and re-enforce them? Or is there too much damage done, an i go to wreckers and pick another up.

I would consider hilux diffs or alike but im after an easy swap at the moment as im sorta up in the air about what I wanna do with the zook.

Advice, prices etc much appreciated as always. Its a coily (which may cause for concern)

[joeblow]

only really bend when pushed waaay beyond thier limits. not the vehicles fault. they can be braced but take your time as continuous welds will result in an even more benterer diff.

[rustyzook]

hilux diffs are for hilux's!

as for the diff buy a new housing and brace it nice!

[v840]

hilux diffs are for hilux's!

Sigh.





As Joe said. when welding your braces to the diff, you only want to run a bead for about an inch at a time, then move to other side/end and allow to cool before running another bead.

A continuous bead can quite easily distort the diff due to the heat from the weld. People have set up jigs for their diffs that enable them to run continuous beads but it's not really worth the effort IMO. The softly softly approach works just fine.

It may be unnecessary but I also pack wet rags around the swivel hubs and pinion housing when I'm welding to a diff to protect the seals from heat damage. Don't know if it's really needed or not but I haven't damaged a seal yet.

[GRPABT1]

I'm not that clued up on welding but could the whole diff be heated up say in an industrial oven or something and then welded with continuous beads?

I know it's not possible for the average Joe but just a thought.

[v840]

I'm not that clued up on welding but could the whole diff be heated up say in an industrial oven or something and then welded with continuous beads?

I know it's not possible for the average Joe but just a thought.

I don't see why not but again, there's the whole "why bother?" factor. The inch by inch method works fine.

[da13ro]

Ok awesome, sounds like something I should of done a week ago.

What kind of diffs can I throw on the front of a 96 coily sierra. Only other coily diffs? Im worried it may be hard to get another coily diff, specially from pick 'n' payless.

Danke!

[spamwell]

it will be hard to find one but harder to convert anything else into it unless you want to go really custom

the mounts and everything are completely different aswell as width just everything.

[da13ro]

Thanks spamwell, and I should forget attempting to bend it back?

[Turoa]

no you can bend it back quite easily. Attach a chain at the points where the bend starts (single peice) and a jack underneath the middle of the bend, make the chain run underneath the jack so it stops those bits from moving and jack away.

If you get what im getting at?

[da13ro]

Not sure if this helps, and IMO it looks worse in real life. Going to attempt to bend it back tomorrow night unless anyone strongly advises otherwise.




Suggestions needed/appreciated as always.

Cheers,
Brodie J

[ScrawnC]

There are engineering shops that will bend it back for you and get it straight again. It happens a lot with our Cruisers that get driven by German tourists on Fraser Is. You will need to remove and completely strip it though. I wouldn't be so keen to do it myself, espeacialy while still in place. It could go all pear shaped

[Gwagensteve]

X2

Pull it, strip it, and get it professionally straightened and gusseted. It will have lost some of it's strength once straightened.

If it wasn't a coiler, I might say give it a try, but coil front ends aren't easy to come by and if you stuff it you can't easily get another one.

Odds are, it's not all bent in one plane. (ie vertically) if you jack from underneath, you might get 90% of the bend out but it might still be bent fore/aft a bit.

that's a pretty big bend BTW.

Steve.

[da13ro]

that's a pretty big bend BTW.

I know Serves me right I guess.

I called 2 mechanics who said they wouldn't know what to-do. And the local engineering joint don't feel comfortable fatiguing it.

Thanks for the advice guys, ill peruse more engineering joints today and use bending it back myself as plan b.

Im surprised the internals arn't binding up at all, I would of assumed they would be boned.

[alien]

thats a MASSIVE bend! haahah i bent my front drivers side diff a few years back doing 90km/hr on sand dunes and jumping 1.5m between the sand and the bottom of the tyres (flat ground with a sand ramp). Mine was out about 2-5 degrees at the wheel... you must have hit bloody hard, cos the one that did mine at 90km/hr felt more like a bomb going off than a hard landing.. haha

[spamwell]

mine was bent that bad, because i hit a washout at like 60 got huge air landed and slid into a ditch. i blame it all on standard bottoming out suspension lol

lol

i bend mine back and reinforced it but it does not seem quite right, good enough but not quite right. some of the biggere 4x4 mod shosp you hear about on here should be able to handle it for you

[alien]

bazooked on here used to work for a place that did it in perth - he would know some engineering places that do it - or just ask in general 4x4 tech.

[da13ro]

Ah cheers guys for the advice! Looking too close to Christmas now, so might give it a bash still.

Was a fun drive home, though the carby was more of an issue than the diff.

[r0ck_m0nkey]

Here's just an idea on how to strengthen the housing. This is how mine is done.



just one noticable difference is the strenghening goes right to the end, meaning the lower strut mounts were cut off and refitted back to the top which has provided a little more lift. The radius arm mounts have also been plated with holes redrilled to correct castor.