Thread: Salisbury Front Axle.. Worth the money?

What's 'the money'?

$1200 plus shipping from Pommy Land.... Are they as strong or is it just a Salisbury diff ctr with Rover ends??

The salisbury differential is stronger than a rover differential, but as far as I can tell there is practically no benefit so far as half shafts and cv strength goes. The Salisbury is heavy and you loose ground clearance.

The weakest part of the rover diff is the 2 pinion centre. Upgrade this to a Jac Mac or Ashcroft locker, or a truetrac and that area is then covered strength wise, and you have the benefit of a locker or LSD.

If you upgrade the rover axles and cv's, that area is now stronger than the Salisbury, but the rover crown wheel and pinion become the weak link, but there are aftermarket (e.g. Ashcroft) solutions to fix that.

I would upgrade the rover axle assembly in preference to the Salisbury. If I had a serious built truck for comps, then I would look at other alternatives. My 120 is being built (slowly) for touring, and all of the rover drive train is being replaced with stuff that I have accumulated over the years.

Contempleted this last year....looked at ebay uk and a second hand Salsibury front with dc prop shaft, radius arms, panhard etc for 750 pounds...then there was freight...

Defender Front Heavy Duty Axle Salisbury axle VERY RARE [RHD] | eBay

After some umming and arghing...I just went ARB Air locker and Ashcroft half shafts and HD CV's for my existing rover type diff.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Bush65

The salisbury differential is stronger than a rover differential, but as far as I can tell there is practically no benefit so far as half shafts and cv strength goes. The Salisbury is heavy and you loose ground clearance.

The weakest part of the rover diff is the 2 pinion centre. Upgrade this to a Jac Mac or Ashcroft locker, or a truetrac and that area is then covered strength wise, and you have the benefit of a locker or LSD.

If you upgrade the rover axles and cv's, that area is now stronger than the Salisbury, but the rover crown wheel and pinion become the weak link, but there are aftermarket (e.g. Ashcroft) solutions to fix that.

I would upgrade the rover axle assembly in preference to the Salisbury. If I had a serious built truck for comps, then I would look at other alternatives. My 120 is being built (slowly) for touring, and all of the rover drive train is being replaced with stuff that I have accumulated over the years.

John,

I have serious respect for you guys technically able to build ground up "hybrids".

The only question I have is how do you keep track of what's inside some of these custom built parts and if something should break, wouldn't it end up more expensive to fix?

I've always wondered about it and just interested to know from someone who's busy building such a vehicle.

Cheers,

Lou

Originally Posted by Loubrey

John,

I have serious respect for you guys technically able to build ground up "hybrids".

The only question I have is how do you keep track of what's inside some of these custom built parts and if something should break, wouldn't it end up more expensive to fix?

I've always wondered about it and just interested to know from someone who's busy building such a vehicle.

Cheers,

Lou

My rear axle is based on a 105 series Landcruiser (stronger diff, half shafts and hubs than 80 seies), with ARB air locker. If any parts fail (less likely than rover because of greater strength), they are easy to source. Is the crown wheel and pinion stronger than Salisbury/Dana 60, I don't know, but they are adequate and the axles are as strong (maybe stronger) as Dana 60, 33 spline axles (not as strong as 35 spline, but they are overkill for me.

My front axle has a high pinion Nissan H233 diff, ARB, 80/105 series half shafts and Longfield cv's. Again if parts fail they are easy to source. The half shafts and cv's are far stronger than rover or Ashcroft, the diff is more than adequate - overall stronger than Nissan Patrol or Salisbury.

I would bet I can get spares easier than a front Salisbury.

My 6 speed gearbox is stronger and has a lower 1st gear than any manual found in a rover, and spares are readily available.

...

Yup, that's the one I was looking at. Very pleasant guy to talk to. Happy to tell me that shipping from UK would be £1200 but that includes the wooden crate.. Had contemplated cutting up a Ser3 rear and fitting Defender flanges,swivels, 354:1 diff etc to it but had come to the same conclusion... Why bother! As said previously, 4 pin or Trutrac (stupidly just let one go when I sold my off roader!), and upgraded shafts wud b the go. Not only that, with the 130 I'd b ploughing two furrows with a front Salisbury!! Cheers all!

A 101 landrover has Salisbury on the front with much heavier half shafts than the normal rover stuff.
The CVs fitted are simply huge compared to any other vehicle in its class.
Any salisbury diff is easily shaved without losing strenght for a extra 25mm of clearence, more can be shaved, but at much extra work.
If a salisbury is used on the front , a after market diff cover needs to be fitted, as the standard pressed metal one wil not hack it.
Two problems in finding a 101 diff is just finding one and the other is the standard drum brake set up with 6 stud bolt pattern.
Rover did make strong diffs and axles for Landies, just they refused to do it for the civie range of vehicles.
I suspect the Salisbury front diffs you were looking at in the UK are from the Armoured car version of a Miltitary Land rover.

It would be worth noting front salisbury diffs are offset from centre.