by Eredin » Mon Apr 13, 2015 4:17 pm
Front diff is in! That is quite possibly, one of the dumbest things I've ever had to change in a vehicle. Everything came loose with ease until we got to the last bits. Had to replace passenger UBJ, it was long gone. Grabbed a cheapo at the local parts store to get by until I can order one that isn't way overpriced.
I got lucky on the disconnect, as it was seized, but didn't shatter on us, got it out in about an hour. Stub shaft came out, no issues there. However... the differential wasn't going anywhere. We spent longer dealing with the removal of it than the entire tear down and reassembly of the project. Last night we finally threw in the towel and hit it with the air chisel to break the oil pan sleeve off of the diff. Once out, we were able to chisel the remainder of the pieces out, including the threaded adjuster. We didn't have enough Kroil in the world to penetrate the built up corrosion on the mating surface.
Thankfully, after a heavy coat of antiseize on everything, the assembly went smoothly.
Thanks goes to Fishsticks' old top side removal write up. I have an efan, so I was able to axe a large portion of what he recommends, only removing engine hoist plate, alternator, idler bracket and compressor, along with unbolting the PCM to make a hole to flex some stuff around. All bearings looked great on the disco and diff, so we opted not to rebuild them, but did replace seals and heavily regrease everything.
Bumper and skids will go on later this week, along with a Spohn pan hard bar and a service of the TCase. Thankfully, that'll be it for a bit, only other major item on the agenda before TECORE is a spare tire carrier.
- Attachments
-

-

-

1988 Pontiac GTA WS6 - LSX Swap
2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer LT
2012 Chevrolet Cruze LT
Build Thread