Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Middle of a trip in Tassie, just about to hit the good stuff - hey what's that funny noise. Drop the diff plug to find small chunky bits on it. No big bits yet. I had heard some new noised under decel on the trip down, but had put it down to the new tyres. Now it's a nice clicking one per rev and the crownwheel gets tight at one spot. The live axle's are supposed to be the reliable one's....

It'll have to wait to be pulled apart till I get back, have disconnected tailshaft and drive hubs in meantime and have to keep out of water / dirt to keep bearings safe.

The whole front end was rebuilt 14mths ago with new ARB Locker, crown wheel, pinion, bearings seals etc, but the business has since changed hands (BOAB 4x4 Lawnton).

The locker is still under the 2 yr warranty from ARB. The rear one had to be fixed under warranty with a failed seal.

How would I prove the metal came from the locker and damaged the crownwheel (assuming it's damaged, a faily safe bet). There was no trigger or event, I think it's something breaking down as opposed to a catastrophic crownwheel failure. No big chunky bits. No significant load
applied since I have had it installed. All been easy stuff.

Locker still operates btw.

Further, would an incorrectly setup diff (excessive lash) cause a crownwheel to fail, or would it just be loose and noisy. It was always a bit sloppy, but I put it down to being normal for the ARB's to have some slop in the internal gears.

Basically, i'm kinda screwed and can't figure out how it could have failed.

Finally, if metal has gone through it, does that automatically mean new bearings, air locker seals, gears? Anything else? Hwo do you clean the metal out of the axle housing and guarantee you got it all?

Thanx
Paul

sounds like crownwheel & pinion to me shouldn't have damaged to much else maybe bearings you'll have to wait till its stripped to find the extent of the damage .You say it had a new ring&pinion when the locker was fitted what brand was it .Incorrect backlash will cause premature wear to the gears.How many kms has it done since the rebuild

I doubt it would be the locker, they are almost unbreakable.

I had the same 100 set up as yours with the same problem taking teeth of the crown wheel. Unfortunately the live axle is also prone to failure and the locker can add to the strength of the assembly to help avoid this. I wouldn’t think the locker would need fixing other than a complete strip and clean to remove any metal particles. Cant say the same about the crown and pinion though.

Good luck.

Genuine Toyota gears. Done about 25,000KM.

Paul

Typical 105 series . i am on my fourth front diff

me3@neuralfibre.com wrote:Genuine Toyota gears. Done about 25,000KM.

Paul

have you contacted the 4b store in question to let them know your diff has died?? See what they say to start with, and take it from there.. they may say take it to a local place in tassie for inspection...

maybe stay at Flat_zooks while you wait

OK - had the diff stripped and was told the following.

Several teeth chipped, bearings damaged. Several ENTIRE teeth found in bottom of the diff that were NOT from this ring gear.

ie. The axle housing wasn't cleaned properly last time, and it's stuffed it.

There are $1000 parts going into it, and 2 parties involved. The diff company, and the 4wd shop. Labour at the 4wd shop is TBA.

The 4wd shop changed hands 8 months ago. It appears to be a registered company.

The Job was done (shoddily) 14 months ago.

Does anyone agree the new owner liable for all costs, as the fault was the company, and he bought the company.

Thoughts?

I should add, all parties have been helpful so far, although none have broached it being free of course. Further, this is the second locker that failed. The rear failed 6 months after install with an air leak internally. ARB blamed the install there as well, but wouldn't provide evidence or information to back this up.

Thanx
Paul

me3@neuralfibre.com wrote:OK - had the diff stripped and was told the following.

Several teeth chipped, bearings damaged. Several ENTIRE teeth found in bottom of the diff that were NOT from this ring gear.

ie. The axle housing wasn't cleaned properly last time, and it's stuffed it.

There are $1000 parts going into it, and 2 parties involved. The diff company, and the 4wd shop. Labour at the 4wd shop is TBA.

The 4wd shop changed hands 8 months ago. It appears to be a registered company.

The Job was done (shoddily) 14 months ago.

Does anyone agree the new owner liable for all costs, as the fault was the company, and he bought the company.

Thoughts?

Change of ownership has no effect on the 'business' being liable for their work. Thats one of the risks in buying an existing business

me3@neuralfibre.com wrote: I should add, all parties have been helpful so far, although none have broached it being free of course. Further, this is the second locker that failed. The rear failed 6 months after install with an air leak internally. ARB blamed the install there as well, but wouldn't provide evidence or information to back this up.

Thanx
Paul

which part of the front locker failed? from what you have posted sounds like C&P thats failed due to shrapnel in the housing?

What part of the locker failed?

Got the car back yesterday.

The original failure was abuse leading to crownwheel failure 14 mths ago (6 hrs after owning the car)

The current failure of the rebuilt diff was due to contamination.
There were 4 whole teeth and 30+ small to medium bits pulled out of the diff housing a couple of days ago, none from this diff. Bearings and Gears were pitted and edges slightly chipped. Possibly re-useable, but likely noisy in an AWD application. I have all the bits in a bag. Replacement was recommended and I agreed.

I've coughed for parts and some labour. $1300 thanks for coming.

On a positive note - Duncan at Top Cog in Caloundra did the diff rebuild. He was exceptionally helpful and only charged for parts. It's not even guaranteed he did the original work, and he stood by it anyway, as he did most of the diff's for the old owner of BOAB. So far, I am very impressed and recommend him highly. He stipped the air locker as well, fitted new seals, cleaned it out, and re-shimmed the planetries as ARB tends to have them a bit loose for an AWD car in my opinion. (3 diffs = a little too much lash). His bill was $1000.

Wayne at BOAB was polite, but still hit me for $305 to strip and refit the diff. Considering his subbie was more considerate than that, and he has the branded business name that did the shoddie job, I won't be supporting that particular company. You guys can make your own call on that.

Now to go playing again.

Catchya
Paul

Ouch!

Could have had a proper (Nissan) diff fitted by the time you've stumped up for that whole exercise!

Seen soooo many 80 and 100 series front cw&p shit themselves that its not funny. Yet people still insist on fitting lockers to the front instead of the rear

the reason they lock the front is the arb carrier has ALOT more meat ant there fore reduce cw&p failures