Rear diff... Issues....

Ok, so im guessing tht by now most of you know that i stuck a rock through my rear diff over the weekend, the leak isnt big, but its a lewk all the same. I did a quick repair in tr field with a big glob of quiksteel, and i cracked that off yesterday and sanded back the surface and degreased it and did a good and proper job with the quicksteel and painted it with some K&H body deadener and protectant.

Ive got two questions;
1.) is the quiksteel going to stay put if i plunge the warm diff into a cold creek? Or is it likely to seperate and drop off?

2.) obviously im going to need to get a replacement diff (if she cant be welded) at some point... Should i just drop a Nav one back in? Or get something... Bigger? If so, what would fit under?

just weld her up... she'll be fine

Got a pic of the damage ?

yeah, I've got a pic, didn't have much time yesterday to upload this one. this is at home on Sunday after I'd cracked the bodge-job off with a cold chisel (didn't take much to get it off; it just kinda peeled and chipped away.)

At the time of this photo I had cleaned, degreased and sanded the area back to try and provide as good a bonding surface as I could.

After this I applied three layers of Quiksteel, 2 coats of metal primer and 2 coats of K&H body Deadener.

The only problem with getting this part of the diff welded up is...you kind of have to remove it from the car...which is MAJOR surgery on my truck... i may as well get a new diff.

you should be able to just drop the oil and then clean up and weld without removing. I'm no boilermaker but they are just mild steel so should take a weld well. Doesn't look like a place that would crack again on the weld.

The problem with trying to weld that part of the diff (as i understand it)... Is that the heat from the welding is likely to warp the housing or pinion bearings. Which would put me in an even worse situation. Im heading out with some other mates this weekend (i think were going to do the condamine river rd like we did as a meet-up im december just gone).

Im realy keen to see how this Quiksteel handles going from being nice and warm then getting dunked in cold water. Im just hoping it stays put and doesnt drop off!

The heat from welding wont warp it.Its a small job, you wont be hanging around in that spot all day. Use mig or tig (I wouldnt use oxy or you might have too much heat).If you can do it or get it done easy enough then do it, if not run with the putty, just keep an eye on it.

You may have to remove it and turn it over so as your not welding overhead as the oil will stuff you around giving porosity and hard to seal over(because of gravity). Tig will be worse as it will spit and jump onto the tungsten tip really pissing you off

Is the housing steel or cast iron????

Steel apparently
Cast would complicate matters somewhat.
Id stick to the putty, its done now anyway.

get it .....stick to the putty..................get it
geez im funny

From what ive heard. The nose cone is either going to be steel, or an alloy.if its steel i'll get it welded, ill also get a 3 or 4mm plate of steel welded over the entire nose cone as a permanent bash plate.

If its alloy... Replace it.

Ok, so ive been in and had it sussed out by a transmision amd diff place, to weld it up is pretty major work - removng diff from vehicel, removing nose cone from diff or at least gettig the diff upside down, and theres no guarantee that tryingnto weld it isnt just going to blow a bigger hole in the housing.

I think i'll be up for a new diff in the long run... And while its out i may as well get an airlocker put in at the same time.

Ok, so ive ordered a replacement diff from a wreckers, should be here early next week.

What i want to do while its out of the car is to weld a 3-4mm bash plate onto the thing.

I'll also drill and tap the breather hole to fit a hydraulic elbow. Then I need to save the moneys up and get a diff locker put into it. Then i want to put it onto the vehicle. Hopefully my quiksteel fix can last that long!

joshman said:

Ok, so ive been in and had it sussed out by a transmision amd diff place, to weld it up is pretty major work

Click to expand...

It is also a highly skilled job that will fsck up very quickly if not done properly, which includes proper preheat and controlled cooling, which could be as long as 24hours. That supposes they know the exact composition of the material.