custom 80 front diff help

[Toyholden]

Wow fella's 80x60... 60x80... cut, join etc, whats wrong with just beafing up an 80 front diff?
While im here i also have a Q?...
Im fitting an 80 ser diff & coils under my Surf front to eliminate the IFS garbage... i have a complete 80's front cut to work with... Now my Q? is;
I need to shorten the longside & i was wondering whether you have to cut the swivel ball off the tube> clean off all the link brackets> shorten tube the required amount then stitch it all together again... OR ... Can the tube be cut & shortened in the square mid section of the longside tube then just stitch it together again & brace it to strengthen, so to avoid having to clean of & replace the coil perch> radius cradle/link & panhard link bracketry.. then order a shortened longside axle from? ... Longfields or?
What are your thought's?

Cheers, Duck

[brad 93hilux]

Wow fella's 80x60... 60x80... cut, join etc, whats wrong with just beafing up an 80 front diff?
While im here i also have a Q?...
Im fitting an 80 ser diff & coils under my Surf front to eliminate the IFS garbage... i have a complete 80's front cut to work with... Now my Q? is;
I need to shorten the longside & i was wondering whether you have to cut the swivel ball off the tube> clean off all the link brackets> shorten tube the required amount then stitch it all together again... OR ... Can the tube be cut & shortened in the square mid section of the longside tube then just stitch it together again & brace it to strengthen, so to avoid having to clean of & replace the coil perch> radius cradle/link & panhard link bracketry.. then order a shortened longside axle from? ... Longfields or?
What are your thought's?

Cheers, Duck

You can buy the longfields with a custom long side (will be 4" shorter to match ifs rear)
I'd take some measurements of degrees balls are sittin on, cut off 4" machine up a sleeve to slide inside of either tube, grind a champher either side leave a small gap and stitch it back up evenly without over heating tube which will help keep it straight. And as said brace and weld on new mounts.

[MudVayne]

So how do you guys get around the crappy knuckles, when you run hydro steer?

Im running 80 front with longs, full hydro steer pushing 40's, but i keep shearing the 2 piss weak knuckle bolts.
You can't run the TG six shooters with an 80, so the only option i can see is the Hellfire hi steer knuckles from the states, but they'll be up to 4 months wait.

Besides Longfields, trussing/bracing and solid pinion spacer, what else can you do to an 80 front to give it MORE BEEF ?

Cheers Gus

[Toyholden]

Wow fella's 80x60... 60x80... cut, join etc, whats wrong with just beafing up an 80 front diff?
While im here i also have a Q?...
Im fitting an 80 ser diff & coils under my Surf front to eliminate the IFS garbage... i have a complete 80's front cut to work with... Now my Q? is;
I need to shorten the longside & i was wondering whether you have to cut the swivel ball off the tube> clean off all the link brackets> shorten tube the required amount then stitch it all together again... OR ... Can the tube be cut & shortened in the square mid section of the longside tube then just stitch it together again & brace it to strengthen, so to avoid having to clean of & replace the coil perch> radius cradle/link & panhard link bracketry.. then order a shortened longside axle from? ... Longfields or?
What are your thought's?

Cheers, Duck

You can buy the longfields with a custom long side (will be 4" shorter to match ifs rear)
I'd take some measurements of degrees balls are sittin on, cut off 4" machine up a sleeve to slide inside of either tube, grind a champher either side leave a small gap and stitch it back up evenly without over heating tube which will help keep it straight. And as said brace and weld on new mounts.

Thanks for the reply & good advice Brad,
I gather your saying it ok to cut a 4" section out midway on the long side & fit a sleeve inside to couple the tube ends (how deep into each end does the sleeve need to go), Then champher joining cuts, 3-4mm gap & stitch...
If thats your recomendation then i dont need to cut off mounts/links etc, which i'd prefer not to also when stitching the seam/join am i better off to spot right around before fully seaming it & should i stop @ like 1/4 sections to allow it to cool before carrying on with the seam.. Is forced cooling with water good or bad idea??
I plan to make up some dropbox/radius link mounts, attached to the Tranz X-member for proper caster correction, i thought i might aswell drill out 2 or 3 lots of bolt holes (ladder adjust) & when im happy with caster & articulation of the arms (no foul play), i can lob off the excess material...

[brad 93hilux]

Wow fella's 80x60... 60x80... cut, join etc, whats wrong with just beafing up an 80 front diff?
While im here i also have a Q?...
Im fitting an 80 ser diff & coils under my Surf front to eliminate the IFS garbage... i have a complete 80's front cut to work with... Now my Q? is;
I need to shorten the longside & i was wondering whether you have to cut the swivel ball off the tube> clean off all the link brackets> shorten tube the required amount then stitch it all together again... OR ... Can the tube be cut & shortened in the square mid section of the longside tube then just stitch it together again & brace it to strengthen, so to avoid having to clean of & replace the coil perch> radius cradle/link & panhard link bracketry.. then order a shortened longside axle from? ... Longfields or?
What are your thought's?

Cheers, Duck

You can buy the longfields with a custom long side (will be 4" shorter to match ifs rear)
I'd take some measurements of degrees balls are sittin on, cut off 4" machine up a sleeve to slide inside of either tube, grind a champher either side leave a small gap and stitch it back up evenly without over heating tube which will help keep it straight. And as said brace and weld on new mounts.

Thanks for the reply & good advice Brad,
I gather your saying it ok to cut a 4" section out midway on the long side & fit a sleeve inside to couple the tube ends (how deep into each end does the sleeve need to go), Then champher joining cuts, 3-4mm gap & stitch...
If thats your recomendation then i dont need to cut off mounts/links etc, which i'd prefer not to also when stitching the seam/join am i better off to spot right around before fully seaming it & should i stop @ like 1/4 sections to allow it to cool before carrying on with the seam.. Is forced cooling with water good or bad idea??
I plan to make up some dropbox/radius link mounts, attached to the Tranz X-member for proper caster correction, i thought i might aswell drill out 2 or 3 lots of bolt holes (ladder adjust) & when im happy with caster & articulation of the arms (no foul play), i can lob off the excess material...

I've only ever cut the tube on the outer part of housing just because I could
I'd put sleeve in 100mm either side if possible, so 200mm long total, that way it will help centre tubes to each other.
Put a decent tack in 4 opposite points then weld like 30mm top/ bottom and let cool. Then either side and let cool, then fill in the gaps.

Don't use water just let it cool as it is, even better if you can pre heat it s little so it's not cold before you start welding and put a fire blanket on it after you finish to let it cool slower.
You don't want large heat changes in the steel -ie cool with water as the housing will prob bend slightly from temp change.

But that's what I'd do but I'm no expert, there is plenty more knowledgable people here that might tell you.

Brad

[evanstaniland]

If your going to shorten it your better fringing off the knuckle weld and removing the length from the end then re fitting the ball!

As for beefing an 80 front.
I run a v8 and 5:1 atlas, 4.88 diff gears and 40"
Stickys with no real issues.
Longs with drive flanges. Solid pinion spacer and locker.
Been running it for 6 yrs

As for steering I don't know how you would be snapping 2 bolts as the arm uses 4 studs on the lower side.
Your options are hellfire knuckles or I run the Slee Offroad setup. Makes it dual sheer (7 studs) and have been running it for 2-3 yrs

[MADSHORT]

if its only a buggy use 80 series housing and diff they can be built strong and then its all factory items
avaliable every where
thats all im doing in a full bodied 73 series just stuff it with ratios solid spacer (with minimal back lash set up and heel toe right)chromoly axles and cvs
no need to order custom nothing
just my two bobs worth
oh and im running a LS1 with cruiser auto

[MudVayne]

If your going to shorten it your better fringing off the knuckle weld and removing the length from the end then re fitting the ball!

As for beefing an 80 front.
I run a v8 and 5:1 atlas, 4.88 diff gears and 40"
Stickys with no real issues.
Longs with drive flanges. Solid pinion spacer and locker.
Been running it for 6 yrs

As for steering I don't know how you would be snapping 2 bolts as the arm uses 4 studs on the lower side.
Your options are hellfire knuckles or I run the Slee Offroad setup. Makes it dual sheer (7 studs) and have been running it for 2-3 yrs

Cheers Evan, i should of added that its set up with hi steer on the top side 2 bolts, think it was just a "that'll do" attempt at hi steer by previous owner.
The slee arms look the goods, i like the double shear idea.
Cheers for the heads up, might have to give em a go. Ill only have to track down some abs knuckles then

Well sounds like mines pretty well beefed then , was just seeing if there were any other tricks out there.
Cheers.

[TheBigBoy]

So how do you guys get around the crappy knuckles, when you run hydro steer?

Im running 80 front with longs, full hydro steer pushing 40's, but i keep shearing the 2 piss weak knuckle bolts.
You can't run the TG six shooters with an 80, so the only option i can see is the Hellfire hi steer knuckles from the states, but they'll be up to 4 months wait.

Besides Longfields, trussing/bracing and solid pinion spacer, what else can you do to an 80 front to give it MORE BEEF ?

Cheers Gus

Hellfire high steer... All the way. Is locktup4x4 out of them?

[evanstaniland]

the only thing i dont like about the hellfire knuckles is the upper arm hasnt been made to line up with the lower arm giving the option of double sheer.

[SCANAS]

Here is some info on the 80 diff, not 100% relevant but worth a read

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/viewtopic ... 3&start=30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HANCOCK]

If your going to shorten it your better fringing off the knuckle weld and removing the length from the end then re fitting the ball!

As for beefing an 80 front.
I run a v8 and 5:1 atlas, 4.88 diff gears and 40"
Stickys with no real issues.
Longs with drive flanges. Solid pinion spacer and locker.
Been running it for 6 yrs

As for steering I don't know how you would be snapping 2 bolts as the arm uses 4 studs on the lower side.
Your options are hellfire knuckles or I run the Slee Offroad setup. Makes it dual sheer (7 studs) and have been running it for 2-3 yrs

Did'nt you do a set off gears at tuff trucks?

[evanstaniland]

I did do a set of gears but that was from PROMAC at Cardiff not doing a carrier bearing nut up and the crown wheel walked off the pinion! Then they refused to look at it! Fuck heads

[HANCOCK]

I did do a set of gears but that was from PROMAC at Cardiff not doing a carrier bearing nut up and the crown wheel walked off the pinion! Then they refused to look at it! Fuck heads

Arse holes.. Its held up really well then.