strengthening front diff housing. pics? and advice?

[sidewayz]

hey

while my gq is of the road i wana pull my front diff out and strenghten it up.

my plans are to weld some 10mm plate top end bottom in the skinny section of the housing beside the swivel hub. weld some 'c'section over the of the tube sections of the housing and probly get one of those bash plates for the 'pumpkin' from superior or someone then weld that on as well.

is this the best methods? or is there anything else i should do?

wil i need to strip the housing back bare to do all of this or wil pulling the centre out and leaving the swivel hubs on be ok?

please post up any pics you have of strenghtened up diffs

cheers

matty

[nastytroll]

check the build ups mate, there are plenty of pics there.

[Nev]

Superior will sell you a set of all the little bracing tabs for the end of the housing near the swivel hubs and the rhs bits to weld along the top of the housing all cut to size ready to weld.

[steveoo]

Superior said its about $250 - $300 for the kit

[tj81]

one word of advice, try not to add to the hight of the diff housing on the top half, if you get what im saying.

A fellow member had welded a heap of steel on top of the diff housing, and the first time he went out, the top of the diff housing went through the sump.

[chunderlicious]

half of a tube of 6mm steel underneath or a bit of 75x75x4 or 6 rhs ontop. if you go ontop dont go any higher than 60mm high in the rhs touching the ale tube.

[sidewayz]

thanx for the reply's. just had a look at the superior site and for $200 for the kit all cut to size i think that is the easiest option.

planing on removing the centre before i weld it up but, will i need to remove all the swivell hubs etc? or will the be far enough away from the heat of the welds to not cause damage?

cheers

matty

[Hoonz]

you will need to strip the diff down to nothing

do small welds and keep the heat to a minimum

[nastytroll]

I did my GU's complete in vehicle.

[chunderlicious]

i only ever remove my swivel hubs as i consider it a great time to renew bearings and seals. ive done 3 now. 2 nissan 1 toyota hilux (which was the hardest to do knucles) depending on who you talk to some people will stop the weld on the swivel balls on the weld then start on the other side. some people weld right through.

check my members for pics of my braces on the knuckles. im still tossing up on how to do the truss as i need to test the diff with the new engine first. also brace the axle tube to the radius arms on the fronts and plate and/or weld up all the holes in the radius mounts. im pretty sure ill be doing a piece of 75x6 shs on the bottom of the diff with all the radius arm mounts fully welded aswell. if you do the brace ontop keep the centre in as it will make it REALLY hard to get centres in and out if you put to much heat in it.

[nastytroll]

if you do it with knuckles complete, do a small stitch weld n quench it with a soaking wet rag, this will save the inner axle seals.

[steveothedevo]

I just did mine last week on my gq when i went across to GU front and rear housings shaped up some 10mm plate myself and welded in, it took about 2 hrs in total.
I obviously had the housing out of the car anyway (due to the swap) but i couldnt imagine doing it with the swivel hubs still attatched. Strip the diff bare including seals and do it properly.. then put in new seals. Oh and dont forget to mark where you cant weld on the swivel hub (so the seal doesnt hit the weld)