front axle repair

[brendan321]

A 300tdi defender that a friend bought cheaply after various things went wrong with it and i have been asked to look at an issue on the front axle.

the previous owner said apparently the front diff exploded and the inner workings of it were replaced however this occurence has damaged the axle casing where the diff hat is welded onto the front of the axle casing. it has therefore developed a crack along the edge of the weld and all the oil leaks out...

so the thoughts are..does the axle need to come out to be repaired? is it a safe idea to just weld along the crack?

[Jode]

I seem to recall reading on this forum about welding repairs to precisely your problem. I'm sure someone more in the picture will reply and provide details.

[redrovertdi]

or you could swap it over with a cheap discovery 1 diff and fit your vented discs and calipers