Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Well I had to get a sample axle to Geelong Diffs to make up the heavy duty ones as they can't find ny original broken one they were going to measure.
So ringing around the wreckers for 3.0 V6 axles they kept saying the lsd axles are different lengths and I'll need both to match. Hmmm this is at odds to what I'd been told before.........................
Anyway I managed to find a cheap pair from a 93 3.0 V6 with lsd and I can confirm they are absolutely identical in length. This now makes sense as the left hand side axle for the factory locker versions is 7mm shorter.
Grant or Ian can you confirm that the 3.5 V6 lsd axles are the same length and the locker left hand axle is also 7mm shorter ??

Frank.

Hi Frank!
I think (not sure) there r 2 (two) numbers on the outside of each axle. These must be like an id of the axle that confirms its size (diam-length e.t.c).
I don't know if these can help...

Hi frank,

yes the 3.5l axles for the standard lsd are the same length for both sides & are completely interchangeable.

& yes the left side axle is 7mm shorter for the factory locker

cheers

Ok thanks for that Ian.

Cheers, Frank.

Hay Frank
I really think the diff place is not liking me i have rung them like 20 times in the last 4 weeks they are now saying late next week. God i am getting so sad at looking at my car on blocks.

You got a firm date from them?

Are the 3.5 and 3.0 axles the same, WMS to WMS?

No they are not the same length I got a 3.5 axle the other day to compare I'll take some pics over the weekend.
Standing vertical on the wheel studs the 3.5 axles are about 20mm taller than a 3.0 one. Thats 40mm extra width in total but my specs say both models have 1480mm rear track width ???
The bearing arrangement is a bit different but otherwise the same except for thickness and spline count.

Frank,

I just installed the 3.5l NJ factory locker that I managed to get from brisbane and I'm here to tell you that whilst the locker axel is about 7mm shorter than the LSD one, when you try to install it in the locker it sticks out about 15-20 mm.

I tried to cut the excess off the lsd axel - no matter how much you cut off the bearing flange won't mate with the housing flange, I discovered that its the root of the splines that is the real difference - the locker exel splines start much closer to the hub.

the up shot is that (in the NJ at least) you can't fit the LSD axel in the locker diff.

Ado (learning from expensive experience)

Ado, are you sure , thats a real bummer, I thought there was one bloke here who said he had cut his axle down & it just fitted in.

What will you do , get the left axle from the wrecker??

Ian,

yeah i'm sure ...,I think the only one's that you can cut down are for the 3L diffs

The left axel arrived from brisbane today (another $200.oo plus freight) but the bloody wrecker damaged the hand brake assy when he removed it from the wreck so it wasn't a simple "slide it in" job i had remove the bearing collar, fit all my brake gear and press on a new bearing last thing I needed at 3.00 pm today (will this job ever end)

on another point - I removed the lock switch on the diff carrier to fix it and now I can't get the thing back in - it seems to have to hook in behind the pressure plate and i'll be stuffed if I can work it out!!

Was it you that said that yours was stuffed if so how do you get these suckers in

Ado

Ok mate,

well at least we all know for sure now. Would it have helped to have the axle splines lengthened down the shaft??

yeah my switch was buggered but I got my diff guy to put the new one in when he was swapping over the crownwheel & pinion.

From memory the diaphragm has to pull the switch out to make the circuit.

Good luck.

Good news for us USA GenI users - I was over at bretwalda's yesterday and took some measurements between his '95 SR 3.5L rear axle and my '89 3.0L axle and it appears that his version will swap over to the GenI without serious issues. While the measurements were not absolutely precise, the only major difference I saw was about 1/2" between outer axle flanges. You know what that means for us GenI users - factory locker and rear disk breaks!!!

I dont want to get on a high horse here... BUT

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modul ... hp?t=26709

I think I said many times to get the axel as well.... I fawked around for days like you have to realise I needed the axel.

Doesnt matter. As long as its sorted now.

Just fitted a 3.5 rear to my 3.0 J Top plus I had a pair of loose 33.5 mm axles.
The diff assy bolts straight in but the driveshaft flange and bolt pattern are a lot bigger on the 3.5.I removed both pinion flanges to see if they would swap over.
3.0 pinion spline 27.2 mm
3.5 pinion spline 29.37 mm
I dont have the SWB 3.5 driveshaft to try in my transfer but going by everything else I suspect the output spline will be larger.
3.0 litre locker axle #s
L/H 61 length from mounting flange to end of spline 620mm
R/H 62 unfortunately snapped so no length
3.5 litre locker axle #s
L/H 57 length 602mm
R/H 58 length 675mm
3.5 litre loose axle #s {LSD}?
L/H 55 length 616mm
R/H 6 length 663mm

By the way Ado
All 4 of the 3.5 axles fitted in both left and right sides of the 3.5 locker
J Top

Jtop

I'm sure they fit into the locker - so did mine, but definately won't bolt up to the housing flange not in my NJ at least the standard LSD axle is way to long

the NJ has dual bearings on the axel may be that has something to do with it

Ado