Front axle rebuild.

[Lexie]

In the next week or so i intend sorting the pinion seal and drive shaft seals as she leaking a little, but its just occured to me am i better to do a rebuild or at least replace all bearings? 194k miles

ie carrier bearings and pinion inner and outer.

Opinions welcome thanks in advance.

 

[clivehorridge]

Well, the wheel bearings are not part of the strip-down but I would recommend replacing the top & bottom swivel bearings.

The oil seals on the drive shafts should be replaced with OEM seals, ‘cos others fail, and the wiper seal kits on the cannon-balls can be got from anywhere, as they do very little.

Next thing to consider is the CVs, are they noisy on full lock, especially in reverse?

If so, they’re the most expensive part of the job.

 

[Lexie]

Well, the wheel bearings are not part of the strip-down but I would recommend replacing the top & bottom swivel bearings.

The oil seals on the drive shafts should be replaced with OEM seals, ‘cos others fail, and the wiper seal kits on the cannon-balls can be got from anywhere, as they do very little.

Next thing to consider is the CVs, are they noisy on full lock, especially in reverse?

If so, they’re the most expensive part of the job.

Both front wheel bearings replaced not so long ago

Only time the driver side CV is slightly noisey is with centre diff locked but in normal road driving its top.

What about the carrier bearings? reason i say pinion bearings is theres a seal to go in there so do i do all when am in?

 

[Lexie]

 

[frank rabbets]

I would have thought to get the front diff hot and drain the oil. If there are no metal particles I would not have thought there was any thing wrong with the diff bearings. That is as long as there is no up/down play in the drive flange and the axle runs quietly. Do you suspect they need replacing?

 

[Lexie]

I would have thought to get the front diff hot and drain the oil. If there are no metal particles I would not have thought there was any thing wrong with the diff bearings. That is as long as there is no up/down play in the drive flange and the axle runs quietly. Do you suspect they need replacing?

Fair enough point on the diff bearings, nope no reason to belive anythings wrong apart from needing seals and thought while am at it do i go ahead and do all. Just being over cauious i suppose

 

[Ben Stratford]

On a 60 the brake back plates need to come off and can disintegrate in the process. If there are plates on an 80, have a good look at them to see if they need replacing

 

[flint]

I haven’t replaced the front diff bearings on an 80, but as Frank said, drain the oil out when hot and look for bits. If there is little to see, then there’s a fair chance that all is well with the bearings and gears. If this is the case, then (after a suitable celebration, party hats optional) the seal can be done without a full strip down, though you will have to reset the pinion pre load when the flange goes back on, either by carefully marking up the shaft, flange and nut and matching up on reassembly or by using a low range torque meter. On my 95 (clamshell diff) there were plenty of shiny bits in the oil, the crown wheel and pinion etc. were fine, but the pinion bearings were shot.

p.s don't overdo the pre load or you might have to strip down to replace the crush sleeve (unless someone has already put a solid spacer in).

 

[Chris]

I've rebuilt a few front diffs now and the main issues are pitting on the ring and pinion faces which lead to a noisy diff, worn out bearings which certainly lead to noise and bodged diffs where people have had a go and not known what they're doing.

The only way you can check the total preload is with a torque gauge without the drive shafts in. However, this only reads the TOTAL pre load and not the pinion preload alone. OK splitting hairs but you could get a correct reading of total load which is not made up of the correct carrier and pinion preloads. The other issue is back lash. This must be set correctly too and can only be done on the bench. At which point you might as well do the bearings too! But it's not always necessary. You can do a decent 'tune up' on an old diff.

I would say that if your diff is quiet, especially when you take your foot off the gas quickly at around 50 mph then it's probably all quite decent in there. But there will have been wear and I'd suspect that at 196k it's not still at factory specs. In terms of putting the companion flange back on, do this with the shafts in and the wheels on the ground. Use the original staking marks to line the nut back up. But approach the original marks with CAUTION. If you over tighten past the original position, you cannot back it off without then removing all pinion preload. IE when you crush the spacer, it doesn't spring back. I forget where in the world you are Lexie. If you weren't far away I'd give it a look over for you if you fancied taking it out. Doing the seal in situ should be pretty easy. It's just the re tightening that you have to watch as I said.

 

[Lexie]

Thanks for the replys and advice lads

As for noise liftin off the gas at 50mph, its as normal in my opinion no noises at all.

Think il check the oil and go from there, and if the oils clean il replace the seals and let it go at that along with swivel bearings.

Am from northern ireland chris

 

[frank rabbets]

Yes it's not just a matter of swapping the bearings. They have to be set up so that the crown wheel and pinion are aligned correctly. It's not just a matter of getting the preload correct. I forget the oil change intervals (in owners handbook) on the diffs but if they are carried out as per the book and the car is driven respectfully the front dif should do very high mileage.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Thanks for the replys and advice lads

As for noise liftin off the gas at 50mph, its as normal in my opinion no noises at all.

Think il check the oil and go from there, and if the oils clean il replace the seals and let it go at that along with swivel bearings.

Am from northern ireland chris

Can you get a diff in the top box Chris? just saying like, any excuse and all that.

 

[Lexie]

Yes it's not just a matter of swapping the bearings. They have to be set up so that the crown wheel and pinion are aligned correctly. It's not just a matter of getting the preload correct. I forget the oil change intervals (in owners handbook) on the diffs but if they are carried out as per the book and the car is driven respectfully the front dif should do very high mileage.

I hope and pray theres no issues but am a firm beliver in doin a job right or not at all, no reasons at all to belive there shud be problem just the plain fact she needs seals n thought what else when am in that far.

I shall update when i get round to draining and checkin the oil

 

[kombivan]

In the next week or so i intend sorting the pinion seal and drive shaft seals as she leaking a little, but its just occured to me am i better to do a rebuild or at least replace all bearings? 194k miles

ie carrier bearings and pinion inner and outer.

Opinions welcome thanks in advance.

If you used a pressure cleaner on it look for a speck of dirt lodged between the seal and axle I learnt long ago hose and detergent only. If you can't find the dirt if its not wear might have to dissassemble and re assemble but if its been leaking for ages then a seal will be needed.