Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Well,

I spent this morning preping the Feroza for a day trip that I inteded on doing tomorrow. Changed diff oil, service, greased everything, made stronger shackles. This also follows the installation of around $1300 worth of TJM suspension.

Went down to the local to test in all out to make sure it was all good for the trek tomorrow and what happens.... Bang! A mate that was with me told be via CB to get down off of the hill I was trying to climb as there was fluid coming from under my car.

I rolled back down to the flat to inspect and what do I find? Nice new diff oil dripping from my front diff. It seems to be leaking from the gaping hole now in the bottom of the diff. I'm so glad I went 31" Simex's.

So I'm gonna replace it with a welded one as see how that goes, I recon CV's are easir to replace than diffs! Pics Below, they were taken on my phone, hence the quality.

Big ouch











Good pics

I have never seen a third break like that. Sorry to hear that the day before a planned trip. Better at a local than out in the bush though. Hope you can find one in a wrecker somewhere...cheap.

The place we were heading to was about three hours drive from here and fairly remote, plus its all sand tracks, so getting out of sand with only 2 wheel drive would have been fun!

Thanks to a tip from Crowey, I should be able to pick up and 2nd hand one for about $250! What impressed me though, is that when I took the diff out, the shaft with the pinion gear on it that bolts up to the driveshaft actually came out the side of the diff housing and remained attatched to the drive shaft.

Wow Wee!

Nasty.... So do you reckon the housing let go first- or something internal and then it broke though?

From closer inspection today I recon something smashed the housing from the out side and a piece of the housing then got lodged between the crown wheel and pinion gear. The spider gears are all intact so I've got a spare now, I'm using them to weld up and I'll stick them in the new diff.

Heheh sorry, I have to laugh, I did exactly the same thing. Put a rock through the housing, that's how I ended up with a welded diff.

Dave, how's the new suspension? Did you just get rear leafs too?

Murcod,

I got lifted rear leafs, U-Bolts, Bushes, and new TJM XGS shocks all round. Not overly happy with any of it. After being dicked around for almost a month, The shocks, which are meant to be extended length are shorter than my stock monroe ones! The springs are pretty hard but I was expecting that. Thats probably my biggest gripe is the short shocks.

I wish I went something a little cheaper like Lovells or something cause I'm sure that the results would have been the same. I was also told that the springs had friction pads between the leafs and that they have a special coating. Well there is no friction pads and I have some of that special coating too, its calles gloss black spray paint.

Its in there now and I'll leave it in there, I haven't done enough wheelin yet to make a fair evaluation of it all so I'll see how I go once the diffs fixed. But I'm not really one happy customer, they didn't even offer me anything for free for all the rooting around.

Most of the waiting problem was with the TJM head office, I don't think they could organize their own 'breakfast'. The guys at TJM adelaide need a medal, they worked their butts off for me to get the stuff here.

Sorry to hear about the TJM stuff; your shocks must be topping out if they're shorter than the stockies? I know my Bilsteins were struggling with my lift and they're an inch longer than the stockies on my narrow track.

If the springs are as hard as mine were you'll not get any articulation off road. I was even lifting the inside rear wheel around roundabouts at moderate speeds!? The Commodore wagon shocks helped a little bit with that and are the best shock I've found for length (compressed and extended.) But not much use to you Dave, as your widetrack has different mounts.

I'm going to run mine with the lowest leaf removed and the standard Daihatsu overload leaf fitted in place of the one that they came with. The Daihatsu overload leaf is tapered and a lot more progressive than the one that's standard on my Dobinsons. All up I've now got around 20mm lift, and they are just right for hardness- ie. more load carrying capacity but without the crap ride and lack of articulation.

Wished I'd waited the 11 weeks for Lovells- just over 1/2 the price I paid and they couldn't have been any worse..... Or investigated airbags a bit further?

wow... that's some serious carnage!!!

If the springs are as hard as mine were you'll not get any articulation off road. I was even lifting the inside rear wheel around roundabouts at moderate speeds!?

yea i get that. i know the rear leafs are a heavy duty set, but i dont know if the from torsion bars are standard? (if there are different ones available??). i get the feroza lifting the inner front tyre on round-a-bouts and sharp corners, but then i do kinda drive it like the Mr2.
and going over ditches/holes etc when off road on a angle just launches which ever tyre isnt in the ditch/hole up in the air.