Outer Limits 4x4 Board

is there any trick to welding the sals housing?
last night i cut out the filler and welded in a plate to fill the hole.
when i ground flat and polished the welds - fark me, some nice crack lines showed up along the welded area (along the welds )
I'll be v- grinding the cracks and rewelding, but want to know if I'm missing something ? the housing is just mild steel, isn't it?

i belted the bejesus out of the filled area and it didn't pop out
but i dont like cracks. any thoughts.

thanks

I beleive the housing is Cast not mild steel. Are you Pre-Heating the housing before you weld it?

no i didn't pre heat . Thought welding cast steel was like normal mild steel. looks like i'll have to cut it out and start again.

How hot do i have to pre-heat? glowing?

thanks.

popeye wrote:no i didn't pre heat . Thought welding cast steel was like normal mild steel. looks like i'll have to cut it out and start again.

How hot do i have to pre-heat? glowing?

thanks.

No, just a dark straw colour - have search on pirate for welding cast steel/iron and shaving a d60. Plenty of info.

Edit - you also want to cool it down slowly.

When I shaved mine, I just welded the drain plug in place from the inside then shaved it.

EDIT No.2 Popeye, while you have your Sals out, could you do me a huge favour and measure:

Length of each axle and length of splined area.
Inner and outer diameter of the carrier bearings.
Width of the centre (side gear-side gear).

thanks, will get over to pirate.
in hindsight i should've just ground the lump off rather than cutting it out, but hell thats a lot of metal to grind away.

below measured with a fold out chippies rule - hope they are of some worth.
long shaft = 830mm (from c clip grove)
short shaft = 647mm (from c clip grove)
outer spline long maxi = 30mm (from inner face of c clip grove)
inner spline long maxi = 40mm but 35mm used (worn)
outer spline short stock = 35mm(from grove)
inner spline stock = 45mm / 33mm used
carrier width = 220mm(measured from housing face not from centre)
(measured with a steel rule)

centre bearings = outer cone = 382-s inner race = 387a specs will be somewhere on the net.

spline lengths are the usable length not total

is this needed for the front sals project ?

Thanka a lot popeye, that is what I was after. If you can though, one last measurement would be great - how far inside the edge of the carrier does each side gear start. i.e. you measured 220mm across the housing where the centre sits, but the measurement from side gear-side gear must be a bit less.

You are right it is for the front Salisbury. Also seeing if it is possible to make a 35 spline salisbury locker (of similar design to MD).

EDIT - by cutting a chunk out and welding flat plate in, you can end up with more shaved off. And some of the US guys machine the ring gear down to get even more...

not quite sure if this is what you mean - but from outer most face of edge gear to the part the carrier bearings sit is 49mm. give or take a bit.
from the actual back face of the gear is 60mm.


[[[ 60mm | < outer most part of carrier
[[[[[[[
[[[[[[[ 49 |
[[[[[[[
[[[ <side gear

This might make things clearer - are these dimensions right? What I really want to know, is how wide is the diff centre from side gear outer edge-side gear outer edge (A). You have measured (B) - outside of carrier bearing - outside of carrier bearing, and if you subtract 2x(C) from this measurement you get (A). So is 49mm right for (C).

your picture sux but yeah its right. the ??? measurement i cant realy measure atm without pulling the centre apart. I'll get a vernier tomorrow and measure proper.

How much clearance are you guys gaining by shaving your diffs ?

popeye wrote:your picture sux but yeah its right. the ??? measurement i cant realy measure atm without pulling the centre apart. I'll get a vernier tomorrow and measure proper.

You want a better picture??? Here you go...

Thanks for taking all the measurements.


TCLOR - I gained about 15mm. You can shave a LOT more off though.

115mm between outer most part of side gears. give or take.

TCLOR -I gained about 20mm in clearance, but the main thing is a smooth bottom. smooth, just like a perky young woman's rear. a beautiful thing.

anyone been keen enough to mohawk-shave there sal? or any rover diff for that matter.

popeye wrote:115mm between outer most part of side gears. give or take.

TCLOR -I gained about 20mm in clearance, but the main thing is a smooth bottom. smooth, just like a perky young woman's rear. a beautiful thing.

Thanks a lot popeye, much appreciated. I owe you a beer some time.

mad landie - never seen one in OZ, it is a LOT of work and because of the reduced oil capacity I would only do it to either a front diff or an off-road only truck.

EDIT - oh and a little bit of clearance makes a huge difference. I was once at Big-Boys 4x4 park (now closed) with the Brisbane LR Club. There was one hill that vehicles with rover diffs and 32" or larger tyres could drive straight up. I (also on 32" tyres back then) grounded out on the salisbury (even though it was shaved), and then a mate in a 110 county on 33's with twin lockers tried it - he grounded on his unshaved salisbury. I then put his 33's on my IIA, and walked straight up the hill with no lockers, just like the rover diffed guys with 32's were doing.

Update -
i got some CIG weldall arc rods. These did the trick, no preheating. The original welds i used a gasless mig and stitched it up in little passes letting it cool between, (to avoid warping ). The weldall rods wern't cheap - $25.00 for 15 of them, but they welded beautifully.

The housing is about 5mm lower than the stage 1 front diff, but would be higher than a standard series housing, due to the drain plug.

all happy now.

Any pics please??

Grem

finally got the camera out

some more -

There is around 4mm clearance between the crown wheel and the housing. Hope its enough.

Looking good, what thickness is the plate you welded in???

If you want to get really serious, some guys in the US have put the ring-gear in a lathe and ground it down square.