Solid pinion spacer

Post by **SIMMO84** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:05 pm

Yes i have searched and im sure it only came up a few weeks ago but where can i get one from for a hilux.

Post by **mule75** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:48 pm

find a mate with a lathe

Post by **SHANE055** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:52 pm

The three times I've got an airlocker installed I've just asked the diff shop to use one so I'd suggest asking at any diff shop

Post by **SIMMO84** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:02 pm

thanks for the replies actually got them made up today was just wondering if i could get the overall length on the sly

Post by **stampy4x4** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:05 pm

Is there any benefit of the solid spacer over the crush tube?

Post by **SIMMO84** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:39 pm

Im not sure of the exact reason (has been explained before) but I believe they are worth putting in.

Post by **Willy Hilux** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 10:57 pm

It's to stop seperation between the crown wheel and pinion when under load. The crush spacer may crush a little and cause the gears to break.

Post by HG » Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:56 pm

I'm not sure on the solid spacer, I have broken diffs with both types in.
My Cruiser diff I have in now I rebuilt it with a crush tube and it's still going strong.

Post by **DIRTY ROCK STAR** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 4:10 pm

locktup4x4 sell them.
they are dirt cheap, they fit. and they work

Post by **SIMMO84** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 6:22 pm

Had mine made, been in for a few months and no dramas yet, no dramas before they were fit so dont know if they are worth it.

Post by **dumbdunce** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:07 pm

they need to be custom made for each diff, or made deliberately short, and shimmed.

as a diff builder I don't see a whole lot of advantage. they may change how a final drive fails, because they increase the bend strength of the pinion shaft, but if a diff is loaded to the point where the pinion shaft is going to bend significantly, it's going to to tear teeth out anyway. given that most diffs will tear teeth off before the pinion shaft bends enough to break, there's not much if any benefit.

have a search, there are other threads with more ramblings about it, but nobody actually explaining the alleged benefits.

Post by **Auto-Craft** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:14 pm

dumbdunce,

We have fixed many many hundreds with ARB carrier and solid pinion spacer, and on cruiser front for 80/105 the pinion head will flex around that much it will rub on the carrier, but it doesnt break anything in there, when it does.

We have never had a diff back broken we have done with solid pinion spacer and ARB locker, and many were broken when they came to us, and some up to 4 times in 70'000km, and with harder 4wding from that car [its a mates] since then, a turbo, and larger tyres, it has lasted that long again, without breaking.

The comp rock trucks that have broken axles and diff carriers with solid pinion spacers have flexed the bolts that hold the caps on that far, the centre moves, because the bolts stretch, but rocks, a 2200kg truck, and 42" swampers, somthing will give, when you drive it as if its unbreakable.

Post by **dumbdunce** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:48 pm

Assassin_Offroad wrote:dumbdunce,

We have fixed many many hundreds with ARB carrier and solid pinion spacer, and on cruiser front for 80/105 the pinion head will flex around that much it will rub on the carrier, but it doesnt break anything in there, when it does.

We have never had a diff back broken we have done with solid pinion spacer and ARB locker, and many were broken when they came to us, and some up to 4 times in 70'000km, and with harder 4wding from that car [its a mates] since then, a turbo, and larger tyres, it has lasted that long again, without breaking.

The comp rock trucks that have broken axles and diff carriers with solid pinion spacers have flexed the bolts that hold the caps on that far, the centre moves, because the bolts stretch, but rocks, a 2200kg truck, and 42" swampers, somthing will give, when you drive it as if its unbreakable.

given that you state that the pinion head flexes enough to rub the carrier but doesn't break anything, and that you install an air locker, and probably upgrade the flange studs to 10mm? at the same time, how can you attribute the reduced failure rate to the pinion spacer alone? most 80/105 front diff failures are due to the flimsy two pinion hemisphere with a huge hole in the side resulting in inadequate bracing for the crownwheel. I'm pretty sure none of the 80 series fronts I've installed has ever failed, admittedly it's tens, not hundreds. I've never installed a solid spacer although I do give the option. several of those vehicles have however snapped axles, cv's, blown off drive plates or blown up locking hubs. if the diff with the locker alone is strong enough to destroy downstream components, where is the advantage? sure axles and CVs are upgradeable, but where do you want the fuse - a cheap and easy CV for my money.

as always, I throw this one to the engineers - is there any hard data out there to technically support the use of solid pinion spacers or is it hearsay?

Post by **Auto-Craft** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 7:26 am

dumbdunce wrote: given that you state that the pinion head flexes enough to rub the carrier but doesn't break anything, and that you install an air locker, and probably upgrade the flange studs to 10mm? at the same time, how can you attribute the reduced failure rate to the pinion spacer alone?

Dumbdunce, nowhere did I say the solid pinion spacer alone is the worlds savior of broken diffs, its part of a package, that works. You cant use one part of it, and expect the same result.

dumbdunce wrote: most 80/105 front diff failures are due to the flimsy two pinion hemisphere with a huge hole in the side resulting in inadequate bracing for the crownwheel.

The old ones do, they havent had the set up on cruisers since going to the 4 pinion carrier.

And the factory lockers are stronger hemisphere as well, how many of those do you see broken ?

dumbdunce wrote: sure axles and CVs are upgradeable, but where do you want the fuse - a cheap and easy CV for my money.

You are now supporting what I was saying, as I would much rather a stronger diff, and have to change an axle in the bush, than the other way round.

dumbdunce wrote: as always, I throw this one to the engineers - is there any hard data out there to technically support the use of solid pinion spacers or is it hearsay?

I have plenty of good data, but blind men cant [or wont] read it

Post by **beebee** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:05 am

Assassin_Offroad wrote:
dumbdunce wrote: as always, I throw this one to the engineers - is there any hard data out there to technically support the use of solid pinion spacers or is it hearsay?
I have plenty of good data, but blind men cant [or wont] read it

Well bring on the tech data!

My take on the matter is, for the piece of mind, why not install a solid spacer. At the moment I'm running solid spacers, air lockers, chryoed gears and extra tight bearing preloads to try and get my diffs to hold together. As far as I'm concerned, why not tick all the boxes.

Post by **stampy4x4** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:27 pm

No dramas from the tighter bearing preloads Dave?

Mine's no comp truck and I'm no mechanic but it's the first time I've done any diff maintenance on my own.
Got it checked out by a specialist this morning, (as I left the old crush tube in place,) as I torqued the pinion nut back to 145 - 148ft-pd. To me it felt a bit tight but the diff guys said it seems OK.

Post by **DIRTY ROCK STAR** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:45 pm

bee bee you reckon the cryo'd diff gears are worth the money?

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