As part of my suspension swap over I needed to drop the front diff 20mm (any more would start reducing clearance and defeat the object really!). Why? With the front lifted 50-60mm without a diff drop there will be accelerated wear on the CV's and greater torque steer when pulling away hard, especially up hill. Even just a 20mm drop will put the CV's at an acceptable angle plus improve the CV angle at full droop.
I looked at a spare OEM cross member and considered cutting it up but decided that would be plan B and plan A would be to make a new cross member. Below is what I came up with.
Starting with some 120x60x5mm box section:
I used the OEM part as a template and just cut the box section to put the mounting holes 20mm higher up:
Then a bit more cutting and some 50x6mm flat to close it off:
Cut and folded some plate to make the diff mounting:
All stuck together with an extra plate down the back of the diff mounting same as the OEM version:
Even gave it a coat of paint and turned some spacers for the other 2 mounting points
Works a treat, just got to finish some more spacers to be able to refit the OEM bash plate till I have time to make one of those.
I looked at a spare OEM cross member and considered cutting it up but decided that would be plan B and plan A would be to make a new cross member. Below is what I came up with.
Starting with some 120x60x5mm box section:
I used the OEM part as a template and just cut the box section to put the mounting holes 20mm higher up:
Then a bit more cutting and some 50x6mm flat to close it off:
Cut and folded some plate to make the diff mounting:
All stuck together with an extra plate down the back of the diff mounting same as the OEM version:
Even gave it a coat of paint and turned some spacers for the other 2 mounting points
Works a treat, just got to finish some more spacers to be able to refit the OEM bash plate till I have time to make one of those.
