2007 RRS front diff

[lambrover]

A few months ago I noticed a rumble, It has slowly been getting worse so I ordered new bearings and seals from the UK.

I pulled the diff out on the weekend and rebuilt it, the bearings were shot and the oil was thick and very dark even though it had only been changed 4 months prior. I was very relieved that the crown wheel and pinion looked ok.

As some of you may know the inside of the diff housing on the early D3 and RRS were painted black on the inside, this paint flacks off and contaminates the oil. I found this to be true, as the paint was flacking off and could be scrapped off easily as well. The oil was very dark in colour and sludgy, clearly contaminated by the paint braking down.

Before reassembling I sand blasted the diff housings to remove all the paint from the inside. The bearings in the diff were Timkin bearing and the kit I ordered was Timkin as well. I wasn't able to find specs on the diff at all, for preloads or backlash so it was done by feel.

I refitted the diff this morning and so far all good, the rumble noise has gone as expected.

[rar110]

How many Km?

[~Rich~]

Good work, are you going to do your rear diff as well?
Any chance of a link on where to purchase the parts from and what you ordered?
Cheers Rich

[Nomad9]

Hi Lambrover,
Good effort, any lessons learned would be great to hear about. You were asked how many klm's..........would be good to know as a starter. Which Sport was it? V6, V8 supercharged or TDV8?

Cheers Marty

[lambrover]

Hey guys,

The details:

2007 Range Rover Sport, 2.7 diesel.

KM: 168000

The company I used for the bearing kit was, Gear Change and the purchase was made on ebay UK.

The cost was $272.69 delivered, as opposed to $560 from an Australian company.

I was able to use a 4 post hoist for this job.

Method: I un did the skid plates, the prop shaft from the diff flange only. Released the left side upper ball joint, this was enough to remove the CV from the diff.

Removed all the mounting bolts holding the diff inn.

I was able to remove the diff from there, it was a bit of jiggling and twisting with a mate, he held the diff whilst I persuaded the right side CV out.

The diff is quite heavy but I do think it would be possible to use the same method if you had the transmission jack.

If the above will not work for you, you will need to remove the CV & shaft from the right side, this is the long side and will need to be completely removed as well as just slipping the left side out as mentioned. Undo mounting bolts and it should just drop out the bottom with out any rotating or twisting.

I have always used Timkin bearing for the diffs I have rebuilt. It's always worth making note of the feel of the back lash and the amount of effort required to turn the pinion.

As mentioned in my first post, I wasn't able to find spec's on this diff so it was going to be done by feel any way. It is advantages to use the same make of bearings as from factory, and from memory most diffs I have rebuilt have all been Timkin, they are a very good quality bearing.

The pinion preload on this diff is via a crush tube, the kit I ordered didn't come with one so I re used the crush tube, this is not good practice but it does work hahaha.

I hope this has covered enough for you, if not just ask.