Front diff broken

[Craig09]

ok so not long ago i was out in the sand with i mate and got in a pretty crap position trying to get him out,on my way up and out of the gully the front end started bouncing and it all went to shit,both cvs blown and tie rod snapped.
Got home eventually put new cvs in and HD tie rods.then went back out this past week and relised that i dont have drive to the front,i assume this means the front diff is done yea?
anyway my question is what the best way to go is,i am moveing interstate and driveing the nav (Townsville - Nowra,South coast NSW) in a few weeks.i dont have time or the coin to screw about moddifying cv flanges and what not.
so whats the best way to go,from reading the v6 front diff is much stronger,is there a particular yr that will bolt straight into the 3ltr diesel?i need one that is a simple old 1 out new 1 in.
any help much appreciated,last thing i need now is this when im trying to organize a move interstate umong other things
oh its a 2004 DX D22 with a 06 engine,ZD30

cheers

 

[Craig09]

pics of the cvs and tie rod

 

[RustyNav09]

wow mate you certainly did a good job. this is the only thing that gets me worried when wheeling offroad. Did you work out your front diff?

Rusty

 

[Craig09]

yea i knew i couldnt get away with it just breaking the cvs, looking at them i would be suprised if i didnt do anything else.ive seen them break before but never actually blow out of the housing.
i dont know what way to go with the diff,i assume that its completely stuffed and not worth repairing parts so i will just replace the whole thing myself.problem is figuring out what diff to put in.doesnt help im in townsville and finding anywhere that actually know what there talking about is like digging for gold.

 

[Peteyen86]

Gees did a good job of it mate. What size tyres you running out of interest.

Pete

 

[Craig09]

yep sure did,ive got 32 bighorns on 15x8 rims.

 

[robmacca]

if u go the V6 Diff u will also have to change the rear diff ratio as well as the petrol and Diesel ratios are different....

Diesel: 4.375 Diff Ratio 35/8 teeth
Petrol: 4.625 Diff Ratio 37/8 teeth

 

[Craig09]

i thought that might be the case,looks like for now i will have to stick with the stock one

 

[tony d22]

Have you checked your hubs, could be stripped hubs instead of broken diff.

 

[Craig09]

not yet,i only got home from my trip last night,when you pull the hub off is it clear if its stripped??when i was in the sand and the missus was driveing the cvs were just rolling over,if it were the hubs stripped wouldnt the cvs be spinning as fast as you put your foot down so to speak

 

[bods]

If the diff is OK the cv's should be spinning the same speed as the rear wheels, if you had stripped your hubs you would probably have noticed when you changed the cv's. The easiest way to check the diff is stick it in 4wd low and with the hubs unlocked get someone to drive forwards slowly while you look underneath. If the cv shafts are spinning you know your diff is OK. If is is busted it depends what you want to do, get a whole diff out of another one or rip yours apart, if the gears are OK you can just replace the center either with another one or a locker. Unfortunately you can't tell what its like til you rip it apart...

 

[Peteyen86]

yep sure did,ive got 32 bighorns on 15x8 rims.

Noworries. Only asked as alot of guys who are blowing out cv's seem to have 33's or bigger. But thats not a scientific fact, only an observation which im probably wrong.lol

 

[Craig09]

If the diff is OK the cv's should be spinning the same speed as the rear wheels, if you had stripped your hubs you would probably have noticed when you changed the cv's. The easiest way to check the diff is stick it in 4wd low and with the hubs unlocked get someone to drive forwards slowly while you look underneath. If the cv shafts are spinning you know your diff is OK. If is is busted it depends what you want to do, get a whole diff out of another one or rip yours apart, if the gears are OK you can just replace the center either with another one or a locker. Unfortunately you can't tell what its like til you rip it apart...

so i looked at it properly this morning.my left cv is spinning with hubs unlocked and 4x4 engaged but my right cv is not......
does this mean the whole diff is done or just a particular part?

 

[Craig09]

Noworries. Only asked as alot of guys who are blowing out cv's seem to have 33's or bigger. But thats not a scientific fact, only an observation which im probably wrong.lol

yea that was on my mind when tossing up between the 2,i ended up going 32 as i didnt want to muck around with gears and i do alot of ks for hunting and touring in the future.they were the bigger reasons but the extra angle on the cvs tie rods ect ect was on my mind.with my 32s now they already are on a fairly steep angle and with calmini UCAs so im glad i didnt go 33s, i reckon 32s are plenty especially when i get a lokka

 

[Dave]

The VG30E's run the same ratio as the ZD30DDT. 4.375

The VG33E run's 4.626 diff gears.

Both R200A front diffs.

 

[Craig09]

ahh ok.does the VG30Es have the same cv bolt pattern aswell?would anything need to be changed or is it just a straight swap?

 

[Dave]

Apparently some R200A's had the same CV bolting pattern as the R180A, but super rare I hear.

You may aswell count on buying a set of CV's to.

 

[Craig09]

hmm ok,lil menace has a complete diff without the houseing so i think ill get that for now just to get me out of trouble and get the R200 down track.ill just rip the guts out of mine and put the 1 i get from lil menice in my housing.
any idea on what broke in the diff if my left cv still has drive but right doesnt?
cheers

 

[Dave]

Probably the Pinion or a few teeth off the crown wheel.

 

[Craig09]

hmm ok,are they replaceable parts or the whole diff.lil menice wants 150 so im problly best off getting his and putting it in my houseing yea?
cheers