By ken nishikawa on Sunday, May 06, 2001 - 01:37 pm: Edit

needless to say while traveling down the freeway the front differential is toast i think. i pulled over as soon as i could, but im afraid it was to late as the front end groans, skreeches, and makes ugly metal to metal noises...

with that said, has anyone..

A. had this problem... do diff plugs always come loose, killing diffs

B. has anyone had any experience salvaging a diff... i'm SURE my LR dealer is going to tell me that i need a complete front axle assembly... he never "fixes" anything just replaces as much as he can. AKA $$$$$$$

C. can i just replace the diff w/a ARB air locker now... case closed? that would be cool, but i'm sure its to good to be true

D. are there any "rebuild kits" and is it a fairly "striaght forward" thing to do?

E. if replacing the entire diff is the solution, anyone know of a good place to get a replacement?

thanks

KEN

By Ron on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 09:41 am: Edit

Ken,

If it is "just" the differential (ie and not the axles, cvs, ring and pinion, etc.) you can just replace with an ARB or TT or you can swap in the rear one and put the locker in the back. My solution would be to get a used disco axle. They sell for about 400 or about twice that from salvage yards. Swapping an axle is not tough. Otherwise tear it down and see what is broken and get back to us and I can point you where to find stuff cheap (most people with sell the dif for about 100 and a 3.54 R and P for 50) but it is the axles and cvs if bad that will cost you.

Cheers
Ron

By Ken Nishikawa on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 04:45 pm: Edit

THANKS Ron!!

FYI... I checked out British Atlantic because they advertise a "complete differential for $995.00" a supposed complete swap... (in there Spring 2001 catalog) only when I call them up... they said the price is now $2,195.00... I'm sure there "reputable dealers" but this STINKS of "bait and switch...

My guess is that the diff is toast... (it groans, squeaks, and sounds like metal to metal contact...) so I am assuming that re filling the case with oil wont fix anything... I like your idea of finding a used one and swapping out the rear for the front and putting in an arb locker... Can I really swap the rear for the front (are they the same?) and what year and models are interchangeable???

any help is much appreciated!!!!

thanks

By Ron on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 05:01 pm: Edit

Ken,
I just sent you an email. Give me a call. it will take a while to explain if you need more info.

Don't give AB a cent.

Ron

BTW

Yes front and rear are the same so swap is easy.
Front axles from any disco I are interchangeable AFAIK
If it is the dif and not the axles or the CV joints you can just install a used 3rd member (what they call the dif complete) any D90 (not D110 though), disco I or RRC from mid 1993 on will interchange. An earlier one will interchange if you swap the dif for a 24 spline locker like a Detroit, trutrac or ARB.

If you are mechanically inclinded I would take it apart and see what is broken. However, it maybe possible that you don't need to. Fill it with oil and see if it runs without noise. You never know. I have seen series difs run without oil for a long time. Did the bottom plug come out or the fill plug on the back side? If you see shards of metal come out you have problems.

I am guessing since you still have forward progress without the dif locked that the axles and cvs are in one piece so a 3rd member swap looks like the way to go.

Cheers
Ron
Cheers
Ron