A not very well documented account of my front ARB diff install adventure
It was going to take a while to sort out a new R&P and all the other parts I'd need so I decided to remove the diff and then put the truck back together enough to use. I didn't photo the dissasembly but to remove the diff you first need to remove the drive shafts each side, goes something like this - with the wheel off, undo a couple of clamp bolts that hold the ABS sensor wire and brake hose and remove the ABS sensor, take the caliper off and zip tie it out of the way with the ABS sensor, undo the two bolts that hold the steering arm on and zip tie it out of the way, take the cap off the end of the hub and remove the snap ring, remove the split pin and loosen the nut on the upper arm ball joint and split the joint, same for lower arm ball joint, remove ball joint nuts and pull the whole hub / swivel assembly off the end of the drive shaft and put to one side, grab end of drive shaft and pull, the plunge joint and CV should act like a slide hammer and pop the drive shaft out With the drive shafts and prop shaft removed the diff itself is just a few mounting bolts more to undo to get it off.
Where the drive shafts go into the back of the hubs now had a big hole so I grabbed a bit of delrin that was handy and turned a plug for each side:
Then I put the hubs back together minus drive shafts and diff, locked the centre diff and drove around in rear wheel drive while I sorted this mess out:
In that last photo you can see my pinion bearing capture plate. I had no plans to reuse any of the old bearings because they were full of swarf but I did want the spacer from behind the big pinion bearing as a starter for the new pinion.
After a long wait and some complications all the bits were in place. The front diff carrier is shimmed and there are a lot of shims and two of each are needed, a big box full in fact!
I cut a new mounting plate for my diff frame:
Turned a solid spacer for the pinion and shimed it with pinion shims for a pre-load of about 12in lbs
Got a good pattern first time out with the origional pinion shim:
Torqued everything up to spec and bench tested for operation and air leaks before putting it back on the truck. Access to the front diff once installed on the truck is pretty limited so it's a good idea to fit the air line before lifting the diff up into place because it looks like it would be a PITA to get at afterwards.
While the front drive shafts were off the truck for this I also service those by stripping, cleaning, regreasing and re-clipping them but no pics
It was going to take a while to sort out a new R&P and all the other parts I'd need so I decided to remove the diff and then put the truck back together enough to use. I didn't photo the dissasembly but to remove the diff you first need to remove the drive shafts each side, goes something like this - with the wheel off, undo a couple of clamp bolts that hold the ABS sensor wire and brake hose and remove the ABS sensor, take the caliper off and zip tie it out of the way with the ABS sensor, undo the two bolts that hold the steering arm on and zip tie it out of the way, take the cap off the end of the hub and remove the snap ring, remove the split pin and loosen the nut on the upper arm ball joint and split the joint, same for lower arm ball joint, remove ball joint nuts and pull the whole hub / swivel assembly off the end of the drive shaft and put to one side, grab end of drive shaft and pull, the plunge joint and CV should act like a slide hammer and pop the drive shaft out With the drive shafts and prop shaft removed the diff itself is just a few mounting bolts more to undo to get it off.
Where the drive shafts go into the back of the hubs now had a big hole so I grabbed a bit of delrin that was handy and turned a plug for each side:
Then I put the hubs back together minus drive shafts and diff, locked the centre diff and drove around in rear wheel drive while I sorted this mess out:
In that last photo you can see my pinion bearing capture plate. I had no plans to reuse any of the old bearings because they were full of swarf but I did want the spacer from behind the big pinion bearing as a starter for the new pinion.
After a long wait and some complications all the bits were in place. The front diff carrier is shimmed and there are a lot of shims and two of each are needed, a big box full in fact!
I cut a new mounting plate for my diff frame:
Turned a solid spacer for the pinion and shimed it with pinion shims for a pre-load of about 12in lbs
Got a good pattern first time out with the origional pinion shim:
Torqued everything up to spec and bench tested for operation and air leaks before putting it back on the truck. Access to the front diff once installed on the truck is pretty limited so it's a good idea to fit the air line before lifting the diff up into place because it looks like it would be a PITA to get at afterwards.
While the front drive shafts were off the truck for this I also service those by stripping, cleaning, regreasing and re-clipping them but no pics